THE BOOK FAIR

James Mercer

The Heretic in the

      New World

Review:

Exploration of the New World in search of spices and riches lured men to danger and glory, men such as Hernandez Cortez.  The Spanish Inquisition drove men from Spain, men such as Andres Crescas.  By coincidence, the two men become friends and business partners.  Sometime later, a planned adventure to the New World emerges.  Andres and Hernando sail to the Caribbean, then eventually strategize the conquest of Mexico.

Hernandez battles political opponents, his greed for wealth and status insatiable.  Andres supports his friend and commander although his views of Spanish dominance against the indigenous peoples do not always coincide.  Andres must keep close to his heart, the lonely secret that he is a Jew, especially from an inquisitor priest who travels with Cortez to the New World.

 

The author based the fast paced, descriptive, and at times graphic novel, on historical fact.  Mercer depicts both real and imaginary figures.  The novel incorporates cruelties of the Spaniards as well as gruesome religious practices of the Aztecs.

 

The author, a hydrologist and geologist, published four novels.  James W. Mercer passed away in 2015.