The Judge Hunter

by Christopher Buckley
348 pgs

Christopher Buckley follows up his last book The Relic Master, which was set in the 16th century, with another historical satire, The Judge Hunter. This time Buckley sets his story in the 17th century, but again, uses historical, but obscure characters from that period to tell his story. Samuel Pepys as a member of the British Parliament and a high-ranking administrator in the Navy, but he is noteworthy because he kept a detailed diary every day for a decade, a diary that has provided insight into what daily life was like in England in the mid-1600s. Pepys had a brother-in-la named Balthasar de St. Michel (Balty), whom little is known about, who Buckley has turned into an aimless, bumbling man who gets sent to the American colonies on a wild goose chase by Pepys, who wants to get him out of his hair for a time.

Balty believes he was sent to New Netherland to hunt down two judges, who were responsible for the death of King Charles I. But his real purpose is to be a distraction to the Dutch long enough for British warships to arrive and wrest control of the colony away from the Dutch.

Buckley seems to have toned down his level of satire in these last two books. It hasn't been nearly as in-your-face and entertaining as it was in his earlier books like Thank You for Smoking, Little Green Men, and No Way to Treat a First Lady. And I'll admit, if I had read either of these last two books first, I probably wouldn't have been interested enough to go back and read his earlier ones. But thankfully, I did read those first, and having enjoyed them as much as I did, I'll keep reading to see where he takes things from here. I understand he's planning to set his next four books in the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, respectively. I'm hoping as the settings become progressively more and more modern, that Buckley will increase his level of wit and satire as well.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

The Relic Master

by Christopher Buckley
380 pgs

In his latest book The Relic Master, Christopher Buckley departs from his usual political satire and instead, writes a story set in 16^th century Europe. Martin Luther is causing headaches for the Roman Catholic Church, posting his Ninety-Five Thesis which criticized the rampant corruption of the Church and its practice of selling indulgences for forgiveness. In connection with the selling of indulgences, the Church went to great lengths to acquire holy relics—finger bones, teeth, thorns, blood from the crucifixion, pieces from the cross—that they would display in cathedrals, attracting thousands of visitors every year, willing to pay to view these small remains tied to Saints and the Savior. The authenticity of the relic was not as important to the church as how many paying pilgrims would come to visit it.

Dismas is a former soldier and ex-monk who now earns his money acquiring relics at fairs and bazaars, selling them to Archbishops and rulers constantly trying to one-up each other with their vast collections. At the top of everyone’s list they’d like to acquire is the shroud Christ was purported to have been wrapped in after his crucifixion—known today as the Shroud of Turin. 

While most relic hunters pay little attention to the authenticity of the relics they acquire, Dismas spent his whole career hunting down only the ones he believed to be genuine. But when he decides it's finaly time to retire, he learns that he's been swindled out of his life's savings by an unscrupulous banker and he decides the best way to replace his lost retirement, and to do it quickly, is to pull off his one and only con. He enlists the help of his friend, the German artist Albrecht Dürer, to create his own shroud and sell it to the highest bidder. Unfortunately Dismas’s plan goes horribly wrong and he finds himself strung up like a marionette in a dungeon and given one chance to earn back his freedom--which involves stealing the “real” shroud. 

The rest of the story is a good example of why I enjoy Buckley's writing so much. It's smart, witty, and full of great characters. Even though this book is notably different from the rest of this books, I enjoyed it a lot. It's probably not the book I'd recommend to someone who has never read one of his books before, but it's not one you should skip if you've read his others.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

They Eat Puppies, Don't They?

They Eat Puppies, Don't They? by Christopher Buckley

I don't know if it's very wise to risk offending a fifth of the world's population when you're trying to sell books, but Christopher Buckley went ahead and threw caution to the wind with They Eat Puppies, Don't They?

When Congress denies funding for a new commercial jet-sized unmanned military drone known as Dumbo, one of the executives of the company that was going to be making them enlists the help of Bird McIntire to try to ignite anti-Chinese sentimentalism throughout the world in order to ensure funding for their next military project. But that's harder than it sounds. During the Cold War, it was always easy to get Americans riled up about the Soviets, but Americans just don't care much about issues dealing with China, with one notable exception -- the Dalai Lama.

Americans love the Dalai Lama and when he's laid up with a stomach bug from eating a bad clam, Bird decides to start the rumor mill going with reports that it was an assassination attempt by the Chinese. In fact, the poison he says they used was created by extracting a deadly enzyme found in dead panda livers. When His Holiness passes away a short time later (from circumstances wholly unrelated to pandas) anti-Chinese sentimentalism, reaches a fever pitch, and Bird is right there to try to take full advantage.

I love satire, and Buckley is one of the best writers of it. Puppies is smart, topical, unapologetic, and will offend more than just the Chinese--members of the Ann Coulter Fan Club: beware.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Supreme Courtship

Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley

President Vanderdamp has polarized Washington D.C. to the point where he's finding it impossible to fill a vacancy in the Supreme Court. The Senate Judiciary Committee repeatedly rejects his qualified nominees out of spite. In an attempt to mock his chief rival in the Senate, he decides to nominate a judge that the American public adores, Pepper Cartwright, a day-time television judge.

This political satire isn't Buckley's best. Thank You for Smoking still holds that spot as far as I'm concerned. But I enjoyed this book a lot.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆