The King James Conspiracy-Phillip DePoy

The King James Conspiracy
Phillip DePoy
St. Martin’s, May 26 2009, $25.95
ISBN: 9780312377137

In 1605, King James I assembles a team of experts to translate the Bible into English under the leadership of Deacon Francis Marbury. However, at the onset, someone brutally murders one of the participating scholars. Marbury asks for an investigator to uncover the identity of the killer before others are murdered.

Pope Clement opposes the project fearing secrets of the Church will be exposed. His agents intercept Marbury’s plea for help; the Pope sends Brother Timon to sabotage the translation. Soon others are killed by a vicious predator. Timon begins to wonder if he is on the wrong side as he assumes some agent of the Pope is the serial killer ferociously murdering scholars who are doing their job.

This is an interesting historical thriller in which most of the cast starting with the monarch and the pope on down to the scholars, etc are a Freudian wet dream as everyone seems to have major psychoses. No one is likable as it appears the fringe lunatics are in power. Still in spite of advanced abnormal psychology, readers who enjoy dramatic renditions of key religious events will relish this entertaining look through the bloody lens of homicide and fanatic fundamentalist insanity at King James I bringing the bible to the masses.

Harriet Klausner