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Cass Neary #4
The Book of Lamps and Banners
Acclaimed crime writer Elizabeth Hand returns to her cult-favorite series: Photographer Cass Neary is hard-up for cash and in more danger than she realizes, in the hunt for an ancient, legendary book.
Cass Neary needs cash to get home to New York, and she’s already sold her camera-like losing a limb, for a photographer of her experience. Her best chance is to get in on the deal that Griffin, an old flame, is about cut with a notoriously particular bookseller for a gorgeous, ancient illuminated manuscript: The Book of Lamps and Banners. This Book is more than just a beautiful object-its text and images are said to have a powerful magic capable of life-changing effects on anyone who reads it.
But before the sale can be completed, an intruder brazenly steals the Book out from under the dealer’s nose. Cass and Griff are the only suspects. To clear their names, and keep the missing text out of dangerous hands, Cass plunges into a curious underworld at the intersection of antiquarian books, cutting-edge software, and modern nationalist politics. This breathless psychological thriller, featuring one of the greatest amateur sleuths of the past decade, could only come from the mind of Elizabeth Hand.
Cass Neary needs cash to get home to New York, and she’s already sold her camera-like losing a limb, for a photographer of her experience. Her best chance is to get in on the deal that Griffin, an old flame, is about cut with a notoriously particular bookseller for a gorgeous, ancient illuminated manuscript: The Book of Lamps and Banners. This Book is more than just a beautiful object-its text and images are said to have a powerful magic capable of life-changing effects on anyone who reads it.
But before the sale can be completed, an intruder brazenly steals the Book out from under the dealer’s nose. Cass and Griff are the only suspects. To clear their names, and keep the missing text out of dangerous hands, Cass plunges into a curious underworld at the intersection of antiquarian books, cutting-edge software, and modern nationalist politics. This breathless psychological thriller, featuring one of the greatest amateur sleuths of the past decade, could only come from the mind of Elizabeth Hand.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published September 29, 2020
87 people are currently reading
2976 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Hand
186 books1,313 followersA New York Times notable and multiple award– winning author, Elizabeth Hand has written seven novels, including the cult classic Waking the Moon, and short-story collections. She is a longtime contributor to numerous publications, including the Washington Post Book World and the Village Voice Literary Supplement. She and her two children divide their time between the coast of Maine and North London.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews
September 28, 2020
What a story! I loved how deeply human this novel is, complex and surprising, even it is fast paced and quite electric. One can feel Elizabeth Hand's delight as a writer. She loves story and story loves her right back. Cass Neary is a wonderfully mysterious, unique and fantastically anti-hero heroine.
June 15, 2021
BEST CASS NEARY NOVEL YET!
I’m a long time fan of Elizabeth Hand.
She writes in multiple genres and does it well,
sometimes brilliantly.
The Cass Neary series consists of weird, dark crime novels with a very unlikely heroine/narrator/crime solver. There’s also just a whiff of magical realism thrown in.
CASS NEARY: YOU LOVE HER OR HATE HER
But I get it about her character Cass Neary.
She’s not everyone’s cup of tea. You love her or
you hate her.
Cass is an aging punk leftover. She’s a brilliant, free spirited, iconoclastic photographer who had her
fifteen minutes of fame in the 1970’s during the heyday of punk and CBGB when her book “Dead Girls” (literally depicting overdosed club goers) was a sensation. Then she crashed and
burned after a brutal rape. She self medicates
to deal with the PTSD and worked for years
in the basement of NY City’s Strand Books. She’s
about to be evicted from her NY apartment,
although she’s hardly ever there. Most of her
meager wardrobe is black, and she always
wears steel toed Tony Lama cowboy boots.
She’s got a snarky mouth on her too.
I do understand why some dislike Cass. She
has some objectionable qualities. She does
many things I would never do. She’s a petty
thief, has multiple addictions (amphetamines, alcohol, etc.) She thinks nothing of breaking and entering, forgery,
using false passports, falsifying press credentials, lying, etc. She’s avoiding the
police in several different countries (for obvious
reasons and also because dead bodies seem
to show up around her). Maybe her transgressive, bad girl behavior is part of her appeal. She’s certainly a vividly realized character.
Even when she’s supposedly “lying low”,
she can’t help attracting attention to herself.
She’s very tall, emaciated, androgynous, and wasted looking, which certainly gets her noticed.
HONOR AMONG THIEVES
But there is honor among thieves. Cass has
a strong moral code and sense
of justice in spite of her multiple infractions
of the law. Example: in the London
underground she stands up to White
Supremacists who target a brown man
begging in the train.
Also, even though others often don’t
believe her since she’s so obviously
incapacitated by addiction, her brilliant
mind still works and she notices much
that others miss (maybe it’s that photographer’s
eye).
Cass also has plenty of courage (except when it
comes to facing her own inner demons, which
to her are the scariest thing of all). She’s not
easily frightened or intimidated. She isn’t
cowed by the possibility of a fight.
Cass does attract trouble wherever she goes.
And it’s always the weird variety of trouble.
Which is how, against her better judgement,
she gets drawn into a situation involving the
sale of a very rare, priceless, ancient, occult manuscript, the “Book of Lamps and Banners” of the title.
The book itself seems to create dangerous situations. A top English rare book dealer is
about to purchase the manuscript from another
dealer when the book disappears and havoc ensues.
And once again, Cass feels obligated to stop
a complex, unpredictable, and out of control scenario that takes her to diverse international locations
(New York, London, Sweden, San Francisco, etc.)
while she’s also trying to track down her elusive lost love Quinn.
To her credit, Cass listens to her inner sense
of peril, even when others think
it’s just her addictions talking. In fact, she’s
very stubborn about following her well honed
intuition, even when others advise against it. She senses when other people are in real danger.
There is the usual melange of strange, unique,
and well drawn secondary characters. These
include assorted White Supremacists, an aging
folk singer has been who now raises
sheep; a brilliant, unusual, Swedish, female hacker who heads a tech company; her body guards,
rare book dealers, etc.
The action is nonstop and the plot
takes some bizarre twists and turns and
between the story and Cass’s drug fueled
haze, it all feels like some weird roller coaster
ride.
GREAT AUDIO READER TOO
Carol Monda is the perfect audio narrator
for this (and for any crime novels with damaged
and unconventional main characters). She has a smoky, world weary
voice that can also be surprisingly
expressive when necessary. She read
most of Sara Gran’s
Claire DeWitt books too. Whoever cast her
here was a genius.
I’m a long time fan of Elizabeth Hand.
She writes in multiple genres and does it well,
sometimes brilliantly.
The Cass Neary series consists of weird, dark crime novels with a very unlikely heroine/narrator/crime solver. There’s also just a whiff of magical realism thrown in.
CASS NEARY: YOU LOVE HER OR HATE HER
But I get it about her character Cass Neary.
She’s not everyone’s cup of tea. You love her or
you hate her.
Cass is an aging punk leftover. She’s a brilliant, free spirited, iconoclastic photographer who had her
fifteen minutes of fame in the 1970’s during the heyday of punk and CBGB when her book “Dead Girls” (literally depicting overdosed club goers) was a sensation. Then she crashed and
burned after a brutal rape. She self medicates
to deal with the PTSD and worked for years
in the basement of NY City’s Strand Books. She’s
about to be evicted from her NY apartment,
although she’s hardly ever there. Most of her
meager wardrobe is black, and she always
wears steel toed Tony Lama cowboy boots.
She’s got a snarky mouth on her too.
I do understand why some dislike Cass. She
has some objectionable qualities. She does
many things I would never do. She’s a petty
thief, has multiple addictions (amphetamines, alcohol, etc.) She thinks nothing of breaking and entering, forgery,
using false passports, falsifying press credentials, lying, etc. She’s avoiding the
police in several different countries (for obvious
reasons and also because dead bodies seem
to show up around her). Maybe her transgressive, bad girl behavior is part of her appeal. She’s certainly a vividly realized character.
Even when she’s supposedly “lying low”,
she can’t help attracting attention to herself.
She’s very tall, emaciated, androgynous, and wasted looking, which certainly gets her noticed.
HONOR AMONG THIEVES
But there is honor among thieves. Cass has
a strong moral code and sense
of justice in spite of her multiple infractions
of the law. Example: in the London
underground she stands up to White
Supremacists who target a brown man
begging in the train.
Also, even though others often don’t
believe her since she’s so obviously
incapacitated by addiction, her brilliant
mind still works and she notices much
that others miss (maybe it’s that photographer’s
eye).
Cass also has plenty of courage (except when it
comes to facing her own inner demons, which
to her are the scariest thing of all). She’s not
easily frightened or intimidated. She isn’t
cowed by the possibility of a fight.
Cass does attract trouble wherever she goes.
And it’s always the weird variety of trouble.
Which is how, against her better judgement,
she gets drawn into a situation involving the
sale of a very rare, priceless, ancient, occult manuscript, the “Book of Lamps and Banners” of the title.
The book itself seems to create dangerous situations. A top English rare book dealer is
about to purchase the manuscript from another
dealer when the book disappears and havoc ensues.
And once again, Cass feels obligated to stop
a complex, unpredictable, and out of control scenario that takes her to diverse international locations
(New York, London, Sweden, San Francisco, etc.)
while she’s also trying to track down her elusive lost love Quinn.
To her credit, Cass listens to her inner sense
of peril, even when others think
it’s just her addictions talking. In fact, she’s
very stubborn about following her well honed
intuition, even when others advise against it. She senses when other people are in real danger.
There is the usual melange of strange, unique,
and well drawn secondary characters. These
include assorted White Supremacists, an aging
folk singer has been who now raises
sheep; a brilliant, unusual, Swedish, female hacker who heads a tech company; her body guards,
rare book dealers, etc.
The action is nonstop and the plot
takes some bizarre twists and turns and
between the story and Cass’s drug fueled
haze, it all feels like some weird roller coaster
ride.
GREAT AUDIO READER TOO
Carol Monda is the perfect audio narrator
for this (and for any crime novels with damaged
and unconventional main characters). She has a smoky, world weary
voice that can also be surprisingly
expressive when necessary. She read
most of Sara Gran’s
Claire DeWitt books too. Whoever cast her
here was a genius.
October 18, 2020
This is the fourth Cass Neary novel by Liz Hand, and it pulls in some of the characters and situations from the first three, answering some questions left open from before. It also circles a priceless book possibly made for Alexander the Great by Aristotle, and rescued from the Library of Alexandria. Somehow the author squeezed in our pandemic situation and white supremacists too.
Cass, as always, is exhibiting self-destructive behavior. And she's left her camera behind.... That's one thing I love about the Cass Neary novels is the details about photography, art, both in the daily routine of Cass's life but as a metaphor.
This came out September 29 and I had a copy from the publisher through Edelweiss. I had read the previous three, so this didn't come out of nowhere for me.
Cass, as always, is exhibiting self-destructive behavior. And she's left her camera behind.... That's one thing I love about the Cass Neary novels is the details about photography, art, both in the daily routine of Cass's life but as a metaphor.
This came out September 29 and I had a copy from the publisher through Edelweiss. I had read the previous three, so this didn't come out of nowhere for me.
April 12, 2024
I don’t write reviews.
And I really don’t like politics, certainly not included in my fiction. Hand goes there immediately in the 4th volume of the Cass Neary series, which is something she steered clear of before and made her stories exist in their own special place. Now they exist in the land of mainstream media and technocratic brainwashing.
Yes, right away she casually mentions MAGA terrorists killing people and climate disasters galore. I wanted to stop reading, but didn’t want to waste my money so on I trod. At one point, right before Cass starts a riot (ugh) she waxes sentimental about ANTIFA. Hand can’t decide what she thinks, in some cases, having Cass despise police ACAB style one minute, then lamenting their absence and begging for court justice the next. Make up your mind! I guess writers take for granted that everyone agrees with all their political opinions and don’t worry about ostracizing their readers or destroying their creations.
The worst had to be the absolute low-hanging fruit of a choice to make the bad guys…. Try and guess. I’ll take Nazis for $500, Alex. That might have been an interesting or thought-provoking idea, oh I don’t know, FIFTY years ago! I also felt like her thought process was shallow. Guy is a nationalist, so of course he’s a monster, hence a Nazi, white supremacist. That leads to him obviously being a criminal. A wife beater, a torturer, a Satanist, a murderer and kidnapper. Because anyone who has differing political views is open to be painted as the most horrible human who ever existed.
Hand saved herself with enough cool settings and fast pacing to keep this from being a total drag. I honestly didn’t hate the story, regardless of the many plot holes. I just don’t like to find preaching hiding under the guise of fiction. Take a damn note, David Duchovny. Oh and Cass is the biggest loser of a main character I’ve ever met.
And I really don’t like politics, certainly not included in my fiction. Hand goes there immediately in the 4th volume of the Cass Neary series, which is something she steered clear of before and made her stories exist in their own special place. Now they exist in the land of mainstream media and technocratic brainwashing.
Yes, right away she casually mentions MAGA terrorists killing people and climate disasters galore. I wanted to stop reading, but didn’t want to waste my money so on I trod. At one point, right before Cass starts a riot (ugh) she waxes sentimental about ANTIFA. Hand can’t decide what she thinks, in some cases, having Cass despise police ACAB style one minute, then lamenting their absence and begging for court justice the next. Make up your mind! I guess writers take for granted that everyone agrees with all their political opinions and don’t worry about ostracizing their readers or destroying their creations.
The worst had to be the absolute low-hanging fruit of a choice to make the bad guys…. Try and guess. I’ll take Nazis for $500, Alex. That might have been an interesting or thought-provoking idea, oh I don’t know, FIFTY years ago! I also felt like her thought process was shallow. Guy is a nationalist, so of course he’s a monster, hence a Nazi, white supremacist. That leads to him obviously being a criminal. A wife beater, a torturer, a Satanist, a murderer and kidnapper. Because anyone who has differing political views is open to be painted as the most horrible human who ever existed.
Hand saved herself with enough cool settings and fast pacing to keep this from being a total drag. I honestly didn’t hate the story, regardless of the many plot holes. I just don’t like to find preaching hiding under the guise of fiction. Take a damn note, David Duchovny. Oh and Cass is the biggest loser of a main character I’ve ever met.
May 5, 2020
This title isn't coming out until September (it's May), but I couldn't resist reading it now. Elizabeth Hand is a new author for me, and having read The Book of Lamps and Banners, I'm now on a mission to find her other titles and read those to.
This mystery novel is set in the present day and focuses on a copy of a mystical book that was believed lost forever. People want that book—there's money, conflict, and scheming. The central character, Cass Neary, really carries this novel. I don't mean this as a complaint about other characters or plot elements; it's just that Cass Neary is a remarkable women, a mix of intellectual and artistic brilliance and sooooo much self-destructive behavior that it's remarkable she's made it to her fifties. She's a photographer; she's also an addict and an alcoholic. Yet, somehow she keeps fighting through the challenges put in front of her, addressing them through means both legal and illegal.
If you enjoy reading any kind of a mystery novel, give The Book of Lamps and Banners a go. You'll probably wind up like me, searching the internet for Elizabeth Hand's other titles.
I received a free electronic review copy of this book from the publisher via EdelweissPlus. The opinions are my own.
This mystery novel is set in the present day and focuses on a copy of a mystical book that was believed lost forever. People want that book—there's money, conflict, and scheming. The central character, Cass Neary, really carries this novel. I don't mean this as a complaint about other characters or plot elements; it's just that Cass Neary is a remarkable women, a mix of intellectual and artistic brilliance and sooooo much self-destructive behavior that it's remarkable she's made it to her fifties. She's a photographer; she's also an addict and an alcoholic. Yet, somehow she keeps fighting through the challenges put in front of her, addressing them through means both legal and illegal.
If you enjoy reading any kind of a mystery novel, give The Book of Lamps and Banners a go. You'll probably wind up like me, searching the internet for Elizabeth Hand's other titles.
I received a free electronic review copy of this book from the publisher via EdelweissPlus. The opinions are my own.
May 28, 2020
I love Elizabeth Hand, and I especially Love her Cass Neary books.
Each one always had an awesome mystery that is steeped in cool real - life tidbits of info.
In her latest, she mentions Arthur Rimbaud, Richard Burton and The Cannibal Club, and Johnny Thunders - just to name a few.
I always stop to Google the bits I don't know, and they are always treasure troves of interesting.
The book of Lamps and Banners starts strong, with an intriguely dark, bookish mystery, and it ends strong as well.
My only complaint (Please forgive me Elizabeth Hand because I adore you) was the bits in the middle with Cass and her boyfriend. Quinn kept telling Cass she was crazy, and her ideas were nuts because of her drug use.
Of course she is NOT crazy (a drug addict, yes) and Cass Neary can solve a mystery wasted better than anyone can sober.
That's why she's such an endearing character; she is so flawed, but so tenacious, raw, and intuitive, that you love her as she is.
Having a boyfriend telling her she doesn't know what she's talking about just made me bristle.
Otherwise, brilliant all over. I sincerely hope to see more of Cass Neary.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Mulholland Books for an ARC of this book.
Each one always had an awesome mystery that is steeped in cool real - life tidbits of info.
In her latest, she mentions Arthur Rimbaud, Richard Burton and The Cannibal Club, and Johnny Thunders - just to name a few.
I always stop to Google the bits I don't know, and they are always treasure troves of interesting.
The book of Lamps and Banners starts strong, with an intriguely dark, bookish mystery, and it ends strong as well.
My only complaint (Please forgive me Elizabeth Hand because I adore you) was the bits in the middle with Cass and her boyfriend. Quinn kept telling Cass she was crazy, and her ideas were nuts because of her drug use.
Of course she is NOT crazy (a drug addict, yes) and Cass Neary can solve a mystery wasted better than anyone can sober.
That's why she's such an endearing character; she is so flawed, but so tenacious, raw, and intuitive, that you love her as she is.
Having a boyfriend telling her she doesn't know what she's talking about just made me bristle.
Otherwise, brilliant all over. I sincerely hope to see more of Cass Neary.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Mulholland Books for an ARC of this book.
May 18, 2021
I couldn't put my finger on why I wasn't enjoying this until I realized that it was the boyfriend gaslighting the protagonist for the entirety of the novel that was the problem. There was so much of you can't do this, you're crazy, you don't know what you're doing that I was pretty turned off by this installation. I didn't sign up for the asshole boyfriend addition to this series -I was pretty happy with just plain old asshole Cass. Not every series needs a romance IMO.
July 5, 2020
4.5 stars - This was my first foray into Hand’s serial character mysteries. I loved her last stand alone, Curious Toys, so figured I’d give this one a shot.
It wasn’t immediately grabbing - I was drawn, initially, to the book mystery aspect of the plot. But it quickly became more of an urban, gritty, drug-polluted story. It weighed the actual mystery and back story of the book for me. But oddly, despite it not being my usual type of mystery, I was completely enthralled until the end.
I credit Hand’s writing for this. She’s very adept at keeping an audience enraptured with her characters and evolving plot. So I did end up enjoying it.
It wasn’t immediately grabbing - I was drawn, initially, to the book mystery aspect of the plot. But it quickly became more of an urban, gritty, drug-polluted story. It weighed the actual mystery and back story of the book for me. But oddly, despite it not being my usual type of mystery, I was completely enthralled until the end.
I credit Hand’s writing for this. She’s very adept at keeping an audience enraptured with her characters and evolving plot. So I did end up enjoying it.
November 12, 2020
I used to binge watch the tv show 24 with friends from college. In the beginning of the season 1 episodes, Jack Bauer would mournfully reflect on his circumstances and say, “I’m Jack Bauer, and this is the longest day of my life.”
To which one of my friends joked: “What about season 3? Is that the third longest day of his life?”
Generation Loss was published in 2007, which feels like an alternate timeline to what we’ve been through these last thirteen years. Yet Elizabeth Hand has tried to string the four books of her Cass Neary series together as if they have taken place over the course of several months.
I’m not sure it’s necessary and it definitely feels the strain here. Tromping about London high, drunk and trying to find her ex, Cass is suddenly thrust in 2020, where neo-Nazis march and the coronavirus looms over everything. She gets herself caught up in a Dan Brown-esque plot regarding the titular book and has to help one group, which also intersects with someone else of book’s past.
It could be that while I was reading this, the news of Donald Trump’s electoral defeat unfolded and provided a most pleasant distraction. But I found it tough to get into. Hand does such a great job with Cass, with the atmosphere, and other peripherals but the story never gelled for me. Too many coincidences, too predictable, too difficult to shoehorn Cass’ timeline into a contemporary era.
This may be worth another read at some point under different circumstances. If you like the Cass Neary novels, you’ll probably like this one too. It’s certainly not bad. Just didn’t rise to the heights of its predecessors.
To which one of my friends joked: “What about season 3? Is that the third longest day of his life?”
Generation Loss was published in 2007, which feels like an alternate timeline to what we’ve been through these last thirteen years. Yet Elizabeth Hand has tried to string the four books of her Cass Neary series together as if they have taken place over the course of several months.
I’m not sure it’s necessary and it definitely feels the strain here. Tromping about London high, drunk and trying to find her ex, Cass is suddenly thrust in 2020, where neo-Nazis march and the coronavirus looms over everything. She gets herself caught up in a Dan Brown-esque plot regarding the titular book and has to help one group, which also intersects with someone else of book’s past.
It could be that while I was reading this, the news of Donald Trump’s electoral defeat unfolded and provided a most pleasant distraction. But I found it tough to get into. Hand does such a great job with Cass, with the atmosphere, and other peripherals but the story never gelled for me. Too many coincidences, too predictable, too difficult to shoehorn Cass’ timeline into a contemporary era.
This may be worth another read at some point under different circumstances. If you like the Cass Neary novels, you’ll probably like this one too. It’s certainly not bad. Just didn’t rise to the heights of its predecessors.
November 6, 2020
Maybe I just haven’t read any of the other books in the series, but this one was just.... not good. The main character is self destructive to the extreme, and not in a way that makes one sympathize or even romanticize. The plot itself, once you strip down all the embellishments, is interesting enough, but I found myself skimming entire paragraphs while rolling my eyes.
March 13, 2021
What I always enjoyed about this series was the little micro lessons in periods and styles of photography, such as leaning about transgressive photography in an earlier book in this series. This book didn’t have that cool signature.
Also, too much of the story was dependent upon random circumstances rather than on more realistic plot building. Disappointed. :(
Also, too much of the story was dependent upon random circumstances rather than on more realistic plot building. Disappointed. :(
May 12, 2025
Completely unbelievable in any way whatsoever, and continuity continues to be a problem. It's not great through the whole series, but the decision to mention covid totally destroys the timeline of the prior books. However, I am still fascinated with the character of Cass Neary and her catastrophic series of bad choices, and if there is ever another book in this series I will pre-order it and read it in one day.
July 3, 2022
A solid installment in the Cass Neary series. It doesn't end as hopelessly as the previous entries, but I wouldn't call it joyous :P
June 10, 2020
*ARC received from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review*
Cass is back!
Picking up directly after the events of the previous book, The Book of Lamps and Banners finds Cass alone, struggling, and caught up in another misadventure where the future is as uncertain as ever at the same time as her past comes back to haunt her.
This is Cass Neary as we haven't seen her before. Hanging on by a thread, driven forward by drugs and stubbornness, her character feels ragged on the page--tired of running, tired of fighting against ghosts that aren't so easily defeated.
As her personal struggles close in, the world is catching up to Cass as well. The newest chapter of Hand's antihero saga feels shockingly relevant as Cass finds herself navigating a world threatened by disease, torn apart by racial tensions and hate groups newly emboldened to make themselves known. It's a world Cass is not certain how to navigate--and one that she's increasingly unsure she cares to be a part of. But trouble always seems to find her, and the promise of a new mystery with the potential to reshape the world is not so easily cast aside.
Hand's writing remains brilliant--dark and uncomfortable while glimmering with lyricism and moments of stark beauty. As boldly as ever, Hand captures the uncertainty--that feeling that there is something greater and mysterious lingering just out of sight--at the corner of your eye, tucked behind the thin veil of reality, just waiting to be discovered by those willing to take the time to look.
The Book of Lamps and Banners is a striking novel--intimately grounded in its central character while increasingly tied to a harsh modern world. Throughout this series, but with book four in particular, Hand presses into the trauma of her characters as it drives them, shaping how they see the world, leaving a trail of bitter memories and defiant hope in its wake.
Hand is an incredible writer and The Book of Lamps and Banners is a bold new entry in the Cass Neary series. Buckle in for the ride. You won't be disappointed.
Cass is back!
Picking up directly after the events of the previous book, The Book of Lamps and Banners finds Cass alone, struggling, and caught up in another misadventure where the future is as uncertain as ever at the same time as her past comes back to haunt her.
This is Cass Neary as we haven't seen her before. Hanging on by a thread, driven forward by drugs and stubbornness, her character feels ragged on the page--tired of running, tired of fighting against ghosts that aren't so easily defeated.
As her personal struggles close in, the world is catching up to Cass as well. The newest chapter of Hand's antihero saga feels shockingly relevant as Cass finds herself navigating a world threatened by disease, torn apart by racial tensions and hate groups newly emboldened to make themselves known. It's a world Cass is not certain how to navigate--and one that she's increasingly unsure she cares to be a part of. But trouble always seems to find her, and the promise of a new mystery with the potential to reshape the world is not so easily cast aside.
Hand's writing remains brilliant--dark and uncomfortable while glimmering with lyricism and moments of stark beauty. As boldly as ever, Hand captures the uncertainty--that feeling that there is something greater and mysterious lingering just out of sight--at the corner of your eye, tucked behind the thin veil of reality, just waiting to be discovered by those willing to take the time to look.
The Book of Lamps and Banners is a striking novel--intimately grounded in its central character while increasingly tied to a harsh modern world. Throughout this series, but with book four in particular, Hand presses into the trauma of her characters as it drives them, shaping how they see the world, leaving a trail of bitter memories and defiant hope in its wake.
Hand is an incredible writer and The Book of Lamps and Banners is a bold new entry in the Cass Neary series. Buckle in for the ride. You won't be disappointed.
October 28, 2020
Elizabeth Hand’s Cass Neary series began in 2008 with “Generation Loss,” a startling and addictive novel that introduced a protagonist fueled by drugs and post-punk irreverence. The series continues with the fourth Cass Neary novel, The Book of Lamps and Banners, in which Cass becomes embroiled in a crime in London: A book dealer is murdered, a rare book — a lost manuscript rumored to have been written by Aristotle for his student Alexander the Great called “The Book of Lamps and Banners” — is stolen, and the Swedish millionaire who bought it goes missing. The book has a history of causing trouble; it has “left more bodies than the Maltese Falcon.” It also happens to be bound in human skin, a practice known as anthropodermic bibliopegy.
The book, which “could change everything we know about ancient history,” creates an exciting hunt for Cass and her old flame, Quinn. Along the way, Cass burns through neo-Nazis, a bag of crank, a has-been singer from the 1980s turned villain and so many substances that it makes one fear she won’t make it to Book 5.
I hope she does. Cass Neary is a remarkable heroine. As with Sherlock Holmes, her power lies in the act of seeing what ordinary people cannot, only where Holmes brings clues to light, Neary is content to linger in the dark. Her eye catches the liminal spaces between clarity and shadow so well I found myself rereading passages for the beauty of her way of seeing.
Here is Cass upon finding a flock of sheep: “Half a dozen boulders stood in the pasture. Then one of the boulders moved, and another, until all had turned to stare at me. Not boulders but sheep, five black ewes and a black ram with an imposing set of curled horns. They seemed not to blink, each of their eerie amber eyes slashed by a horizontal black pupil. … I focused the lens until the viewfinder held nothing but a single iris, its flattened pupil a portal into an unknowable darkness.”
The darkness lingering in Cass’s psyche is the true mystery of this series. The question isn’t ever if Cass will solve the crime, but if she can overcome her own demons.
The book, which “could change everything we know about ancient history,” creates an exciting hunt for Cass and her old flame, Quinn. Along the way, Cass burns through neo-Nazis, a bag of crank, a has-been singer from the 1980s turned villain and so many substances that it makes one fear she won’t make it to Book 5.
I hope she does. Cass Neary is a remarkable heroine. As with Sherlock Holmes, her power lies in the act of seeing what ordinary people cannot, only where Holmes brings clues to light, Neary is content to linger in the dark. Her eye catches the liminal spaces between clarity and shadow so well I found myself rereading passages for the beauty of her way of seeing.
Here is Cass upon finding a flock of sheep: “Half a dozen boulders stood in the pasture. Then one of the boulders moved, and another, until all had turned to stare at me. Not boulders but sheep, five black ewes and a black ram with an imposing set of curled horns. They seemed not to blink, each of their eerie amber eyes slashed by a horizontal black pupil. … I focused the lens until the viewfinder held nothing but a single iris, its flattened pupil a portal into an unknowable darkness.”
The darkness lingering in Cass’s psyche is the true mystery of this series. The question isn’t ever if Cass will solve the crime, but if she can overcome her own demons.
June 26, 2021
This book has a lot in common with thr Claire DeWitt series. But the main character, Cass Neary, is much darker, sadder and messed up than Claire. And her drug and alcohol habits are rather unbelievably extreme. And the plot is also rather extreme. But the writing is good. And it is a story about my very favorite topic-- the antiquarian book business!!!
September 6, 2023
All of Elizabeth Hand's books are beautifully written, and in lesser hands, Cass Neary would be almost unbearable. As it is, she's hard to take, destroying herself and those around her with her addictions. There's hope at the end, though... It seems as if this is the end of the series, so we can hope that Cass resumes her photography career!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 15, 2020
Alldeles utmärkt
Read
December 18, 2020No rating. I got to page 5 or 6. Her scenarios are politico nonsense. No time for haters.
January 15, 2021
It’s a book full of assholes and the book itself claims it’s
“Dan Brown on really good acid”. Sex, drugs and gaslighting.... Nailed it.
October 5, 2020
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Confession time. I made a mistake when I requested this one for review. I had no idea it was the fourth book in a series! I simply read the summary and saw there was a search for an ancient book, rumored to have been rescued from the Library at Alexandria, believed to contain an otherworldly power. I decided to dive in to the book and see if it was necessary to read the previous books in the series and thought that I'd set this to the side if I got confused. There were a couple references to what I believe were probably earlier storylines but overall this novel stood well on its own. It was full of lots of great characters, especially the protagonist, forty-something photographer Cass Neary. Whew, was she messy! She was also determined to track down the stolen book no matter where it lead--even into some super scary places. I was literally holding my breath turning the pages toward the end of the book as she got closer and closer to the book and the people who had it in their possession. I really did like Cass so much that I'll be circling back around to read the other books in this series.
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Confession time. I made a mistake when I requested this one for review. I had no idea it was the fourth book in a series! I simply read the summary and saw there was a search for an ancient book, rumored to have been rescued from the Library at Alexandria, believed to contain an otherworldly power. I decided to dive in to the book and see if it was necessary to read the previous books in the series and thought that I'd set this to the side if I got confused. There were a couple references to what I believe were probably earlier storylines but overall this novel stood well on its own. It was full of lots of great characters, especially the protagonist, forty-something photographer Cass Neary. Whew, was she messy! She was also determined to track down the stolen book no matter where it lead--even into some super scary places. I was literally holding my breath turning the pages toward the end of the book as she got closer and closer to the book and the people who had it in their possession. I really did like Cass so much that I'll be circling back around to read the other books in this series.
Come chat with me about books here, too:
Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest
February 23, 2021
Just not nearly as good as the other cass neary novels. also, way too much of a love story where the tough girl keeps pining for a dude that kinda sucks.
January 13, 2022
CN: rape; CSA
This fourth book in Elizabeth Hand's Cass Neary series feels distinctly different than the others in the series. Whether that's down to the book itself or my own experiences and/or knowledge, I'm not entirely sure. I reread the first three novels in the series back-to-back before reading this one though and they have a certain dark mystique that this novel doesn't entirely replicate. If I can adopt, much less deftly than Hand herself does, the language of photography, the previous novels are a bit darker and out-of-focus while this one is better lit and sharper. I think that's partly due to the novel feeling more grounded in a specific time than the previous ones. Like in the previous novels, Hand does not explicitly give the year in which the story takes place and also does not use brand names. A cell phone is always a "mobile" and never an Android or iPhone. However, there are references to the recent public resurgence of various right-wing reactionary tendencies and the Charleston shooter is mentioned by name. These things, plus the references to an emerging virus, will make it clear to any reader with even a passing familiarity with current events that this novel likely takes place in early 2020. I suppose there are details in the previous novels that could situate those stories more distinctly in particular years, mentions of NYU land grabs, mentions of the speculation-driven economic downturn in Iceland, etc., but to me, the time in which this novel takes place is much more readily identified. It feels almost anachronistic for Cass Neary to have been conjured into a world that so closely resembles the one we're currently living in. On some level though, I think that is kind of the point of this novel. Cass Neary, having never dealt with the trauma in her past, has cut a jag through decades without ever even attempting to change with the times, and that leaves her unprepared to live in the world that now exists.
In the previous novels in the series, Cass's actions were certainly impulsive but there was also a sense of controlled chaos about her. Here though, Cass is less controlled chaos and more desperation. Cass is forced to fully acknowledge the trauma in her past and that drags her to the ragged edge of her ability to control her impulsive behavior. Cass's anger at herself for not trying to fight off the man who raped her impels her to fight to save Tindra Bergstrand from both the man who sexually abused her as a child and also from Tindra's own obsessive need to remove those traumatic memories from her mind. If like me you find Cass Neary deeply sympathetic in spite of her pattern of impulsivity and cultivated detachment (and if you've read this far in the series, I assume you do), then it is hard to witness Cass throwing herself with such abandon into this world of Swedish white nationalists and ancient mind-altering codes, even though her willingness to defy the law and sacrifice her own tenuous well-being is admirable on some level.
The other thing about this novel as compared to the previous entries in the series is that the ending feels less...apocalyptic. "Apocalyptic" is almost certainly not the exact word I am reaching for here, but I can't currently come up with a more fitting one. In any case, the final acts of each of the previous novels take place in settings that feel primordial: an abandoned island in rural Maine; the blasted, frozen outskirts of Iceland; and among the neolithic remains in rural Cornwall. Somehow, rural Swedish hideout of white nationalists does not conjure up that same air of age or isolation. I'm pretty sure though that this has less to do with Elizabeth Hand's ability to evoke that air (she has already proven that she is eminently capable of that task) than with the fact that in the last few years I have learned more about various types of n*zis, Neo n*zis, Neo confederates, European nationalists, white nationalists, and other assorted reactionary types than I ever thought I would want or need to.
While I didn't enjoy this fourth novel in the series quite as much as the previous three, Cass Neary is still one of my very favorite characters in crime fiction and I think it is appropriate that everything in Cass's past leads her to the events in this novel. If, as I suspect it might be, this is the final appearance of Cass Neary, I think this story is a fitting one to go out on.
This fourth book in Elizabeth Hand's Cass Neary series feels distinctly different than the others in the series. Whether that's down to the book itself or my own experiences and/or knowledge, I'm not entirely sure. I reread the first three novels in the series back-to-back before reading this one though and they have a certain dark mystique that this novel doesn't entirely replicate. If I can adopt, much less deftly than Hand herself does, the language of photography, the previous novels are a bit darker and out-of-focus while this one is better lit and sharper. I think that's partly due to the novel feeling more grounded in a specific time than the previous ones. Like in the previous novels, Hand does not explicitly give the year in which the story takes place and also does not use brand names. A cell phone is always a "mobile" and never an Android or iPhone. However, there are references to the recent public resurgence of various right-wing reactionary tendencies and the Charleston shooter is mentioned by name. These things, plus the references to an emerging virus, will make it clear to any reader with even a passing familiarity with current events that this novel likely takes place in early 2020. I suppose there are details in the previous novels that could situate those stories more distinctly in particular years, mentions of NYU land grabs, mentions of the speculation-driven economic downturn in Iceland, etc., but to me, the time in which this novel takes place is much more readily identified. It feels almost anachronistic for Cass Neary to have been conjured into a world that so closely resembles the one we're currently living in. On some level though, I think that is kind of the point of this novel. Cass Neary, having never dealt with the trauma in her past, has cut a jag through decades without ever even attempting to change with the times, and that leaves her unprepared to live in the world that now exists.
In the previous novels in the series, Cass's actions were certainly impulsive but there was also a sense of controlled chaos about her. Here though, Cass is less controlled chaos and more desperation. Cass is forced to fully acknowledge the trauma in her past and that drags her to the ragged edge of her ability to control her impulsive behavior. Cass's anger at herself for not trying to fight off the man who raped her impels her to fight to save Tindra Bergstrand from both the man who sexually abused her as a child and also from Tindra's own obsessive need to remove those traumatic memories from her mind. If like me you find Cass Neary deeply sympathetic in spite of her pattern of impulsivity and cultivated detachment (and if you've read this far in the series, I assume you do), then it is hard to witness Cass throwing herself with such abandon into this world of Swedish white nationalists and ancient mind-altering codes, even though her willingness to defy the law and sacrifice her own tenuous well-being is admirable on some level.
The other thing about this novel as compared to the previous entries in the series is that the ending feels less...apocalyptic. "Apocalyptic" is almost certainly not the exact word I am reaching for here, but I can't currently come up with a more fitting one. In any case, the final acts of each of the previous novels take place in settings that feel primordial: an abandoned island in rural Maine; the blasted, frozen outskirts of Iceland; and among the neolithic remains in rural Cornwall. Somehow, rural Swedish hideout of white nationalists does not conjure up that same air of age or isolation. I'm pretty sure though that this has less to do with Elizabeth Hand's ability to evoke that air (she has already proven that she is eminently capable of that task) than with the fact that in the last few years I have learned more about various types of n*zis, Neo n*zis, Neo confederates, European nationalists, white nationalists, and other assorted reactionary types than I ever thought I would want or need to.
While I didn't enjoy this fourth novel in the series quite as much as the previous three, Cass Neary is still one of my very favorite characters in crime fiction and I think it is appropriate that everything in Cass's past leads her to the events in this novel. If, as I suspect it might be, this is the final appearance of Cass Neary, I think this story is a fitting one to go out on.
October 4, 2020
3.5 Stars
I'm a sucker for a hot pink cover, and after reading the interesting blurb, I was thrilled to be approved. Some of my favorite Insta bookstagrammers have been talking about this one recently, so I quickly dove in.
Cass is keeping a low profile as she tries to figure out her next move. Drinking too much, doing too many drugs, and concerned about a former flame, Quinn, she ducks into a bookstore and runs into one of her old friends who is about to conduct a sale of a rare, very important book. But the deal goes south when the buyer turns up dead with strange symbols on his forehead. What follows is a Da Vinci Code-esque mystery, Cass and a collection of motley characters with targets on their backs, searching for the stolen Book of Lamps and Banners.
So before I get too far ahead of myself, I will say that I didn't know this book was the fourth in a series when I started reading it. It can be incredibly hard to start in the middle of something, and I was concerned that too much would be lost with three previous books, but Hand does a great job of giving enough information about the past without dragging the plot with summaries. You get that Cass has had a difficult past, has made some tough choices, and is wanted. I'm sure reading her previous adventures would give her character more layered motivational understanding and a deeper investment in her success, but you do not need to have this knowledge to enjoy TBOLAB.
The mystery itself is fun. I enjoyed the kind of rough-and-tumble atmosphere with characters who aren't your typical scholar stereotype. Having read another book this year about the black market of book sales, I loved the attention Hand paid to counterfeit book details and the realm of rare book collecting. The search for the book and the underlying purpose of TBOLAB was also an interesting twist. I find coding fascinating, and Tindra's character gave an eclectic, sharp edge to what finding the book could do.
While some sections of this read a little dense and repetitive, I enjoyed the way the story unraveled and would definitely read the next installment in the series. Cass is a great character with a lot of potential. A little Lisbeth Salandar, a little Tom Hanks in professor mode, I think a lot of readers will have fun with this one.
Big thanks to Mulholland and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for honest review consideration.
I'm a sucker for a hot pink cover, and after reading the interesting blurb, I was thrilled to be approved. Some of my favorite Insta bookstagrammers have been talking about this one recently, so I quickly dove in.
Cass is keeping a low profile as she tries to figure out her next move. Drinking too much, doing too many drugs, and concerned about a former flame, Quinn, she ducks into a bookstore and runs into one of her old friends who is about to conduct a sale of a rare, very important book. But the deal goes south when the buyer turns up dead with strange symbols on his forehead. What follows is a Da Vinci Code-esque mystery, Cass and a collection of motley characters with targets on their backs, searching for the stolen Book of Lamps and Banners.
So before I get too far ahead of myself, I will say that I didn't know this book was the fourth in a series when I started reading it. It can be incredibly hard to start in the middle of something, and I was concerned that too much would be lost with three previous books, but Hand does a great job of giving enough information about the past without dragging the plot with summaries. You get that Cass has had a difficult past, has made some tough choices, and is wanted. I'm sure reading her previous adventures would give her character more layered motivational understanding and a deeper investment in her success, but you do not need to have this knowledge to enjoy TBOLAB.
The mystery itself is fun. I enjoyed the kind of rough-and-tumble atmosphere with characters who aren't your typical scholar stereotype. Having read another book this year about the black market of book sales, I loved the attention Hand paid to counterfeit book details and the realm of rare book collecting. The search for the book and the underlying purpose of TBOLAB was also an interesting twist. I find coding fascinating, and Tindra's character gave an eclectic, sharp edge to what finding the book could do.
While some sections of this read a little dense and repetitive, I enjoyed the way the story unraveled and would definitely read the next installment in the series. Cass is a great character with a lot of potential. A little Lisbeth Salandar, a little Tom Hanks in professor mode, I think a lot of readers will have fun with this one.
Big thanks to Mulholland and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for honest review consideration.
July 27, 2021
Oof! This is what happens to too many serialized books these days. The book becomes entirely too much about the lead character(s) and their milieu/idiom and entirely too little about the mystery/plot/reason for reading a book. We, as loyal Elizabeth Hand Readers, already know all about Cass Neary. Truly. Sadly, this book spends/expends/wastes word after word on repeating/reminding/reiterating all the sordid details, and with Cass most of them are rather of that variety. We get it, EH, we really do. Cass embodies the "punk rock/outsider/artist/lone wolf" aesthetic. Anyway. Where's the fucking plot? 'Cuz this psuedo-Dan Brown fuckery sucks ass, hell, the original - and all his repetitions - sucked for Dan Brown too. I am having a really hard time believing this was written by something other than a feral cat. And I love feral cats. Attempting to shoehorn/background/interweave "current events" into the plot was gawd-awful and unnecessary. I get it that authors, and feral cats!, are all about trying to seem current and aware and "real" (I'm famous but I'm just like you, just with more money and opportunity...), so encasing their fiction in politics and social issues almost feels de rigueur these days. Call me unconvinced that most books require this admixture.
An aside: politics and social issues are complex, complicated, and deeply emotional, all for good (and bad) reasons. Peppering them into your tale when they require lengthy explication is a disservice to those fighting the fight against White Supremacy, Republicans, and other nefarious individuals. Just don't do it. Or do it less, maybe? Or do you, and I'll skip it. Who am I to tell anyone what to do?
I will keep reading Elizabeth Hand, she has too much talent for this to be more than a blip (for this reader anyway), but I hope this ends the Cass Neary books, however dull this final trip would have been.
An aside: politics and social issues are complex, complicated, and deeply emotional, all for good (and bad) reasons. Peppering them into your tale when they require lengthy explication is a disservice to those fighting the fight against White Supremacy, Republicans, and other nefarious individuals. Just don't do it. Or do it less, maybe? Or do you, and I'll skip it. Who am I to tell anyone what to do?
I will keep reading Elizabeth Hand, she has too much talent for this to be more than a blip (for this reader anyway), but I hope this ends the Cass Neary books, however dull this final trip would have been.
December 11, 2020
The Book of Lamps and Shadows is an ancient papyrus manuscript possibly in Aristotle's own hand. It has surfaced and by happenstance comes on the market and into the hands of an antiquarian bookseller who has a very private buyer for it. He bumps into Cass Neary, not a young woman, but aged not to perfection from her long addictions to drugs and alcohol. She's definitely an anti-hero, but with luck, pluck and some amphetamine fueled energy she's ready to solve the mystery of the missing book and a murdered man while dealing with her own possibly drug-induced reaction to the phone app that a brilliant Swedish coder is writing based on the symbols within the book. Reconnecting with the love of her life--a scarred, equally troubled man-- puts her on the path to recovery, but not before some harrowing moments tracking clues in a freezing forest on a Swedish island in winter. There are references to the previous books in the series, but I didn't need to have read those to get a full picture. Add in some dystopian elements of racial strife with marching neo-Nazis and the approaching virus pandemic and this makes for a different kind of mystery, definitely not of the cozy subgenre.
November 16, 2020
As someone who reads a lot of Victorian and Edwardian literature, this hyper current novel was something of a shock. News of a virus in China haunts the edges of the story, and white nationalism is a powerful driving force throughout the plot. Yet through this eerily familiar landscape the characters are chasing an ancient illuminated manuscript that may hold the power to rewrite the human mind.
Though I haven't yet read the other books in this series, I felt that this story stands well on its own. There is a lot of forward momentum here that helped sweep me along even when the characters' unlikable qualities began to grind a bit. The fabulous manuscript is powerfully described and made me ache to see it--hopefully some artists will be inspired to bring some of these pages to life!
I've read two other books by this author and have enjoyed her vibrant take on musicians and artists, even when they tend toward the self destructive. Each of her books have made me want to go and look up pictures or hunt down music in genres I'm unfamiliar with, and I appreciate her ability to expand my world in this way.
Though I haven't yet read the other books in this series, I felt that this story stands well on its own. There is a lot of forward momentum here that helped sweep me along even when the characters' unlikable qualities began to grind a bit. The fabulous manuscript is powerfully described and made me ache to see it--hopefully some artists will be inspired to bring some of these pages to life!
I've read two other books by this author and have enjoyed her vibrant take on musicians and artists, even when they tend toward the self destructive. Each of her books have made me want to go and look up pictures or hunt down music in genres I'm unfamiliar with, and I appreciate her ability to expand my world in this way.
April 1, 2021
America’s favorite post-punk photographer is back to solve another mystery. She’s more loaded than ever; smack is so yesterday. This time it’s tranquilizers!
In all seriousness, Cass Neary’s character really is something else in this installment. The story is a continuation of “Hard Light”, and Cass ends up in a perilously gloomed London. Far-right nazis are demonstrating in the streets, a smoggy virus is springing up from the Thames, and violent protests are running rampant. It’s quite obvious that Liz Hand is borrowing from some of the more devastating events of 2020 and incorporating them into this novel. Most of the elements work, the pandemic seemed a bit too superficial and I easily could’ve done without it.
Anyways, Cass somehow gets involved with a Grady Hendrix-like book dealer, who is seeking the “Book of Lamps and Banners”, and that’s when things get interesting. Hand is always well versed and cultured when she intermingles various facts, mythology, and trivia with her outlandish and strange characters. Her passion and knowledge for music is also an integral piece for the Cass Neary formula, the hate rock storyline is startling, but effective.
In all seriousness, Cass Neary’s character really is something else in this installment. The story is a continuation of “Hard Light”, and Cass ends up in a perilously gloomed London. Far-right nazis are demonstrating in the streets, a smoggy virus is springing up from the Thames, and violent protests are running rampant. It’s quite obvious that Liz Hand is borrowing from some of the more devastating events of 2020 and incorporating them into this novel. Most of the elements work, the pandemic seemed a bit too superficial and I easily could’ve done without it.
Anyways, Cass somehow gets involved with a Grady Hendrix-like book dealer, who is seeking the “Book of Lamps and Banners”, and that’s when things get interesting. Hand is always well versed and cultured when she intermingles various facts, mythology, and trivia with her outlandish and strange characters. Her passion and knowledge for music is also an integral piece for the Cass Neary formula, the hate rock storyline is startling, but effective.
January 10, 2022
death is everywhere in Cass Neary's world. an aging punk with issues and bad habits, she has a gift for staying alive anywhere, in any circumstances, though it's not in itself a goal exactly, just a side effect of her single-mindedness. except that suddenly there's a complication, the long lost Quinn, and he has only a few rules, but his are not negotiable. so at long last she considers changing. in search of Quinn Cass comes across an ancient book of symbols, and then a damaged girl who thinks code is the answer to everything, and then people who've come into contact with the book start dying. this carries Cass from Iceland, to London, to Sweden, on the trail of white supremacists and the weight of her own past. as usual, the case is pretty flimsy, leads and characters get abandoned along the way, but this is true to Cass's drug-fueled inclinations and a certain tendency for chaos to follow her home. meanwhile as always the writing is perfect, hard to the core but true to the subject matter, and Cass is a character that gets under the reader's skin, however much she is indifferent to her reception.
February 25, 2021
I love just about anything by Liz Hand, and the Cass Neary books are no exception. There are certain writers who can grab me, even when I wouldn't touch a book on the same subject by another writer. For instance, I am not really into horror or the supernatural, and yet I can't put these books down. The anti-hero(ine) is a totally messed up addict, and reading her first person account is somewhat crazy-making. Yet the writing is so good, I'm compelled to go on. This series reminds me of Denise Mina's Garnethill books in that respect, except Cass Neary is way more messed up than Maureen O'Donnell. As screwed up as she is, you can't help rooting for her. Hand throws in white nationalists, Odin cults, arcane books and a story that takes Neary and the reader from London to Sweden in a page-turning, nail-biting journey. And if you are into esoterica, pop-culture, literary, or arcane manuscripts, she gives you an endless stream of tidbits to chew on. Well worth the read, but if you're going to read the entire series, start at the beginning with Generation Loss.
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