The Testament of James

Cat’s Curiosities is now shipping Vin’s brave new novel, “The Testament of James.” Order your signed, numbered, hardcover first printing here! 

The Testament of James is now available via Amazon for Kindle, click here And at Barnes & Noble for Nook, click here (Update: Vin’s ebooks are now available exclusively through Amazon’s KDP Select program — we’re sorry for any inconvenience to Nook or other readers.)

The Testament of James is also available through Apple iBooks (search the bookstore for the title). (Update: see above.)

Reviews! We’ve now moved those to a separate page, and will add more as they come in. 

Click here to see reviews of The Testament of James

We’d love to see more reviews. Email cat (at) vinsuprynowicz.com with comments, links, or whatever. Do away with the spaces and insert an @ … you know; it’s great to hear from people — spammers and robots, not so much. To post, or not to post? … if the answer concerns you, please specify your wishes. Thanks, and a happy new year to everyone!

Buy here: http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=14453647811

(Scroll down the page for links to the free excerpts posted online.)

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The manager of Books on Benefit has died under mysterious circumstances, and one of the rarest books in the world is missing — if it ever existed at all.

Did James the Just, oldest surviving brother of Jesus of Nazareth, write a book about the suppressed secrets of his brother’s ministry, and the plan to help him survive the crucifixion? The number of strange characters descending on the scene, determined to lay hands on the missing volume, indicate powerful forces believe it exists — and are hell-bent on making sure The Testament of James never sees the light of day.

Aided only by a small band of College Hill misfits, can the unorthodox methods of Matthew Hunter, tracer of lost books, find the Testament in time to keep the Forces of Darkness from condemning the Western World to yet another long, dismal night of ignorance and repression?

From the author of “Send in the Waco Killers,” “The Ballad of Carl Drega,” and “The Black Arrow” comes a tale of rare books, hidden sacraments, and strange goings-on in one of America’s oldest cities. With plenty of cats.

* * *

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Deep in the Nevada desert, in a hidden mansion full of old books and anthropomorphic cats, Vin Suprynowicz went cold turkey from a 40-year newspaper career. They said he’d never write anything over a thousand words, again. But with the help of the Brunette and a few close friends, he came back — he proved them wrong. Before his recovery, Vin wrote “Send in the Waco Killers,” “The Ballad of Carl Drega,” and “The Black Arrow.”

* * *

COMING SOON

“No, no.” Suprynowicz disappeared into the dimly lit stacks. “The public isn’t ready.”

“But I thought,” I had to fight my way between two racks of psychedelic ’70s dresses, “they were left to you precisely to make them public.”

“When the time is right,” came the voice from somewhere up ahead.

“Then tell them how he found the lost Shakespeare, at least. How could that hurt?”

“‘Cardenio’?” came the voice from somewhere ahead of me. “We’d sow havoc in every English Department in the Western World! You do know whose handwriting that turned out to be?”

“OK. Write about how Matthew found the lost books of Ed Wood: ‘Lavender Love Rumble,’ ‘Captain Fellatio Hornblower,’ ‘Missionary Position Impossible.'”

“All tied up in court, as you know.”

“The Lovecraft notebook, then.”

“What?” Vin turned and let me catch up, somewhere between Physics and the Occult.

In the fall of 1920, H.P. Lovecraft had written a short story called “From Beyond,” about a machine that enabled the human eye to see things normally visible only in the infrared or ultraviolet spectrum.

What the inventor discovered, Lovecraft wrote, was that there are creatures all around us, not normally visible to the human eye. But once the scientist’s resonator was turned on, not only was he able to see those creatures . . . they were able to see him.

For years, as the evidence piled up, readers figured the horror writer had just made a lucky guess. But then Matthew had been approached to find the missing notebook that proved Lovecraft hadn’t make it up, at all . . . that the resonator had existed, might still exist.

Matthew Hunter and Chantal Stevens found the Miskatonic Manuscript, the first time. Then it, and the client who hired them to find it, disappeared. And that’s when things started to get weird.

Vin grabbed me, his voice a hoarse whisper: “We don’t even talk about the Lovecraft notebook. You want someone to re-build the resonator, start to think about weaponizing it?”

“But that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, Vin. They already have.”

“The fools!”

Coming in 2015, from the case files of Matthew Hunter and Chantal Stevens, “The Miskatonic Manuscript.”

What creatures stalk the fifth dimension? Do they love us just the way we are? Or would they prefer us with a little ketchup?

* * *

Read the first 20,000 words online here:

The Testament of James, first excerpt

The Testament of James, second excerpt

The Testament of James, third excerpt

The Testament of James, fourth excerpt

The Testament of James, fifth excerpt

The Testament of James, sixth excerpt