Glenn Cooper takes some "Author R&R" (Reference and Research) on In Reference to Murder today. Glenn has a degree in archaeology from Harvard and practiced medicine as an infectious diseases specialist. He was the CEO of a biotechnology company for almost twenty years, has written numerous screenplays and has produced three independent feature films. His novels have sold six million copies in thirty-one languages.
Glenn uses his archaeology background in his latest thriller, The Tenth Chamber. It's set in Abbey of Ruac, rural France where a medieval script is discovered hidden behind an antique bookcase. Badly damaged, it is sent to Paris for restoration, and there literary historian Hugo Pineau begins to read the startling fourteenth-century text. Within its pages lies a fanciful tale of a painted cave and the secrets it contains – and a rudimentary map showing its position close to the abbey. Intrigued, Hugo enlists the help of archaeologist Luc Simard and the two men go exploring.
When they discover a vast network of prehistoric caves, buried deep within the cliffs, they realize that they’ve stumbled across something extraordinary. And at the very core of the labyrinth lies the most astonishing chamber of all, just as the manuscript chronicled. Aware of the significance of their discovery, they set up camp with a team of experts, determined to bring their find to the world. But as they begin to unlock the ancient secrets the cavern holds, they find themselves at the center of a dangerous game. One "accidental" death leads to another. And it seems that someone will stop at nothing to protect the enigma of the tenth chamber.
Glenn talked about the inspiration for the book in this "Behind the Scenes" look:
This painting which hangs over my desk was the inspiration for The Tenth Chamber.
It’s called Lascaux – The Bison Hunter, by the American artist, Thomas Baker, and it’s a faithful adaptation of one of the frescoes from Lascaux cave in France. It’s dated to 18,000 BP and is located in one of the most remote chambers in Lascaux. One of the things that makes it very special is that it’s the only human figure in the entire cave. It shows a strange priapic birdman killing a bison with a spear. Is it a faithful rendition of a warrior in a mask? Or does it represent a spiritual or magical conception? We will surely never know.
But I knew this. Ever since I first began to seriously study archaeology at university I was fascinated with Lascaux and the painted caves of France and Europe. While the birdman is primitive, the bison, horses, deer, and antelope are major works of naturalist art which place the prehistoric painters in the same league as the great masters of the Renaissance. I also knew that I wanted to write a book which had an archaeologist protagonist, not a cartoon archaeologist like Indiana Jones, but a real man, an amalgam of many of the notable archaeologists I’ve known and worked with over the years.
So I had the idea. What if a handsome, young French archaeologist named Luc Simard discovered a new cave in the Perigord, even more spectacular than Lascaux, one that’s been guarded by the residents of the nearby village for hundreds of years? And what if that cave hid a secret so dangerous that everyone involved with the discovery was in mortal danger? And what if the secret of the Tenth Chamber was so devastating that the entire world might be threatened by its revelation?
The book shuttles between the present, medieval France and the Upper Paleolithic period, some 30,000 years ago, to construct a highly researched and fast-paced thriller.
Early on in the book, the fire brigade is called out to an electrical fire at an ancient church in the fictional village of Ruac in the Black Périgord region of France. The books in the small library, including one long-lost medieval manuscript discovered behind a smoldering bookcase, sustain smoke and water damage. The local bishop has the damaged books sent to Paris for cleaning and restoration and there, an expert in medieval manuscripts, Hugo Pineau, picks up the enigmatic damaged manuscript and begins to read the startling 14th century text: “I, Berthomieu, friar of Abbey Ruac, am two-hundred-thirty years old.”
Pineau discovers the manuscript to be a fanciful tale of a painted cave and the secrets it contains. There is mention of potions and infusions and their remarkable effect on body and spirit. Included, is a rudimentary map showing the position of a cave along the Vézère River. The Black Périgord is a region swimming in Paleolithic cave art and home to the famous Lascaux Cave, and Hugo is intrigued enough to enlist the interest of a school chum and archaeologist, Luc Simard, son of an American mother and French father, comfortable in many cultures.
The two of them go exploring and find a long-buried cave mouth in the wooded cliffs above the river. Inside is a wonder, a unique treasure-trove of wildly-vivid cave art – bison, bulls, Chinese horses, stags and evocative human forms together with beautifully-rendered flowers and bushes. Luc immediately recognizes the significance of the find from Chatelperronian stone artifacts on the cave floor: this is 20,000 years earlier than Lascaux, perhaps the earliest example of cave art ever discovered, yet, far from primitive, it exceeds the younger sites in artistic grandeur. Also, the rich depiction of flora in the deepest Tenth Chamber is highly unusual. When they must leave, they cover the cave mouth and climb down to the valley but Luc has a strong sense they are being watched as they descend and stop for a meal in the unfriendly village.
Luc adds one more member to the team, an American paleobotanist, Sara Graham, a visiting professor at the University of Paris, and uncomfortably, an ex-girlfriend. The three of them begin a dangerous journey of discovery where little-by-little they unlock the incredible secrets of Ruac Cave and the Tenth Chamber. The story flashes back and forth through time: to thirty-five thousand years ago to the prehistoric where the DaVinci and Einstein of his time makes a discovery and invents an art form; to the 12th century where a rebellious and brilliant young monk finds a cave above the Abbey Ruac and re-discovers its ancient mysteries; to the 14th century where the knowledge of the cave proves deadly to the local monks; to the present where these secrets, re-discovered yet again, point to an untapped potential locked within the mind and body of modern man. Luc, Sara, and Hugo find themselves at the center of a dangerous game as people within their inner circles are killed one by one. Someone wants them dead and someone wants to desperately protect the secrets of the Tenth Chamber.
Happily, writing the book required a long research trip to the Dordogne region of France. There, I reacquainted myself with the painted caves of the region and toured some for the first time. Unfortunately, access is no longer permitted to Lascaux which has been sealed to protect the cave from environmental mold contamination. However, a replica cave, Lascaux II, is a grand substitute and many original caves can still be toured in the Vézère valley-- Rouffignac cavern, Grotte de Font-de-Gaume, Abri de Cap Blanc, Grotte de Villars, and others. I also wanted to depict the people and villages of modern-day Périgord and while none are so sinister as my fictional village of Ruac, I needed to soak up the culture via food, drink, and conversation (yes, the really tough part of being a novelist).
Back home, there was quite a lot of research to do to write the parts of the book based in medieval France. I chose to anchor this section in the 12th century and populate it with the historical figures of the great cleric, Bernard of Clairvaux and the star-crossed lovers, Abelard and Heloise, whose deeply romantic love letters are still as fresh and powerful today as they were hundreds of years ago. Finally, I brushed up on my Paleolithic archaeology, particularly the transition period between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, and I read extensively on ethnobotany, pharmacology, and herbal medicines.
Most of my books have a kernel of fantasy or mysticism but The Tenth Chamber is 100% rooted in the hard science and fact. It’s not that everything in the book is true, but all of it could be true. The archaeologist and physician parts of me are proud of the book’s bones and the novelist part of me thinks it’s a damned good read.
Tell me what you think.
You can read more about the book and the author via his website, or follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads. The Tenth Chamber is on sale now in bookstores and online.
