Lily Albrecht, book dealer and one-time novelist, finds herself in a search for a mysterious book: The Book of the Most Precious Substance. The book is from 1620, not printed but hand written, and only five copies were made. Over the years, two of the five volumes of The Book of the Most Precious Substance were destroyed.
Lily teams up with Lucas Markson, an acquisitions librarian specializing in rare books. As Lily and Lucas investigate The Book of the Most Precious Substance, they learn it has been sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars and may be worth more than a million dollars to the right buyer. They also learn The Book of the Most Precious Substance is a book of sex magic.
The book describes five spells. After each spell, the participants who follow the directions to activate the spell, will get something they desire. Both Lily and Lucas want money…but for different reasons. Lucas has burned through his trust fund and needs money to sustain his lavish lifestyle. Lily’s husband, Abel, suffers from dementia and Lily needs money to take care of him.
As Lily and Lucas follow clues to the locations of The Book of the Most Precious Substance, murders occur. They discover a copy of The Book of the Most Precious Substance, but the pages about the fifth and most powerful spell have been ripped out.
The Book of the Most Precious Substance reminded me of The Ninth Gate, the 1999 neo-noir horror thriller film directed, produced, and co-written by Roman Polanski starring Johnny Depp. If you’re in the mood for an international search for a rare and dangerous occult book, Sara Gran’s erotic thriller, The Book of the Most Precious Substance, takes you on a fascinating and deadly journey. GRADE: B+
I enjoyed this. The Ninth Gate was based on the drastically different novel The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte. I like books like this. There is also several where the quest is for a lost film.
I have read all of Gran’s books and liked them all.
Steve, I like books like THE CLUB DUMAS and THE BOOK OF THE MOST PRECIOUS SUBSTANCE, too. I hope Sara Gran writes more books like this one.
I like Gran’s writing and will be on the lookout for this, although I wonder, isn’t “sex magic ” a redundancy?
Jerry, this brand of sex magic is dark.
I really liked DOPE and COME CLOSE but it seems like DOPE especially was an anomaly with most having elements of fantasy and magic.
Patti, Sara Gran is a writer on the rise!
No NECRONOMICON?
I’ve read and enjoyed a few of her books too, particularly the first Claire DeWitt book.
Jeff, I’m hoping Sara Gran writes a Lovecraft pastiche sometime soon!