Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition! - Bibliomysteries #17
Review of the Mysterious Press/Open Road eBook (September 23, 2014) of the Mysterious Press hardcover & paperback (January 20, 2014).

By the time he closed the covers, he had dipped barely a fingertip into the foul well of its waters, but he had read enough to know that this so-called Compendium of Srem was in truth the Compendium of Satan, a library of falsehoods fashioned by the Father of Lies himself.

This one definitely meets the target goal of writing about "deadly books", the avowed mission of the Bibliomysteries series. An apparently enchanted metal covered volume falls into the hands of the Spanish Inquisition led by its Grand Inquisitor Tomás de Torquemada (1420-1498). Examination of the book reveals its likely satanic origins. But attempts to destroy it prove futile. Could it instead be of alien origin?

Note: Although one of the characters in the story is named Abelard, they should not be confused with the earlier philosopher / priest Abelard (1079-1142), whose life predated the Spanish Inquisition by 3 centuries.


Sorry, but I couldn't help but include the catch-phrase from the Monty Python sketch.

Trivia and Links
F. Paul Wilson (1946-) is an American writer of over 60+ horror, science fiction and suspense novels. He is primarily known as the author of the Repairman Jack (1984-2020) series and the Adversary (1981-2012) cycle. Many of those series books crossover into his own all encompassing The Secret History of the World series. His most popular book (based on the number of GR ratings and reviews) is [b:The Keep|62571|The Keep (Adversary Cycle, #1)|F. Paul Wilson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386925088l/62571._SY75_.jpg|3354329] (1981) which was also made into the same-titled film (1983), an early work by director Michael Mann. Sidebar: I thought Guillermo del Toro's/Chuck Hogan's recent [b:The Boy in the Iron Box: The Complete Serialized Novel|215996267|The Boy in the Iron Box The Complete Serialized Novel|Guillermo del Toro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1720025443l/215996267._SX50_.jpg|222409039] (2024) was a bit of a ripoff from the F. Paul Wilson book.

The Bibliomysteries series are short stories commissioned by Otto Penzler's The Mysterious Press to be written around the theme of deadly books. They are individually published in limited edition signed hardcovers followed by paperbacks and ebooks, and periodically collected in anthology editions such as [b:Bibliomysteries|32191848|Bibliomysteries|Otto Penzler|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1478278696l/32191848._SY75_.jpg|56893092] (2013, containing stories 1-15) and [b:Bibliomysteries: Volume Two|36327114|Bibliomysteries Volume Two|Otto Penzler|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1507842055l/36327114._SY75_.jpg|58003435] (2018, containing stories 16-30). There does not appear to be a Goodreads Listopia for them, but on Library Thing the current listing (as of early-October 2024) includes 41 short stories Note that there is a double count of #33 and that book #41 isn't numbered yet in that list.