The Death of a Pope

 General Description:

An intriguing new novel from Piers Paul Read.

The Death of a Pope by the highly acclaimed British writer Read is a novel of intrigue, church espionage, and an attempt to destroy the longest continuous government in the world—the Papacy.

A priest who seems to be the model of compassion for the poor is accused of terrorist activities. His worldwide charitable outreach is suspected of being a front for radicals. A young woman, a reporter and a lapsed Catholic, tries to undercover the truth but in the process she finds herself attracted to the priest and falls in love with him.

Meanwhile, forces conspire within the Vatican and the College of Cardinals to overthrow the Papacy. The death of Pope John Paul II brings the conclave that will elect Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI—only a group of radicals will resort to anything, including blowing up the Vatican, to stop it.

A powerful tale combining vivid characters, high drama, love, betrayal, faith, and redemption, The Death of a Pope races toward an unexpected and unforgettable conclusion.

Reviews

In The Death of a Pope, the versatile Piers Paul Read, who has distinguished himself in many genres, returns to what can be called the ecclesiastical thriller. If the mystery looks to the past to explain a crime already committed, the thriller aims to prevent something from happening. When that something is a terrorist act, planned for the Vatican, drama is assured, and Read, writing in the present tense but in multiple viewpoint, takes us from character to character, from city to city, from continent to continent, with everything converging on the Vatican during the conclave following the death of John Paul II. To say more would rob the reader of his pleasure. The Death of a Pope is a great Read – in every sense of the term.
— Ralph McInerny

The Death of a Pope is a faith-driven theological thriller, narrated by a storyteller of the first order whose unassailable orthodoxy is as refreshing as it is rare among the bedraggled ranks of contemporary novelists.
—Joseph Pearce, author The Quest for Shakespeare

Piers Paul Read has managed to combine sheer storytelling power with great learning and insight about the inner workings of the Church to fashion an entertainment of the highest order. If John LeCarre took on Vatican politics, his book of suspense might aspire to be much like this one
—Ron Hansen, author Exiles

If you love the Catholic Church, you will probably love this book whether or not you love a good story. If you love a good story, you will probably love this book whether or not you love the Catholic Church. But if you love both the Church and a good story, you will certainly love this book.
— Peter Kreeft, author Because God is Real

Piers Paul Read is a best-selling novelist, writer and playright with numeous popular books including Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors, Ablaze: The Story of Chernobyl, Alec Guinness: The Authorised Biography, The Templars, Monk Dawson, A Patriot in Berlin and Alice in Exile. Read is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a member of the Council of the Society of Authors. He has also written a number of television plays, and several of his novels have been filmed for cinema and television. He lives in London.

Don't bother...

I'm an avid reader. I always seem to be in the middle of 2 or 3 books at one time. I'm also a fierce critic of books. I think that comes from the fact that I have a Bachelor's degree in Literature. If I love a book, I will truly rally behind it and recommend it to everyone! However, if I don't like a book, watch out, because you won't like what I have to say about it. I have been known to rip whole sections out of novels because I feel that they don't add anything to the story. That's just the way I am.

Because I'm such an avid reader (and incredibly busy) I don't have much of an opportunity to read novels. When I heard that there was a new, CATHOLIC novel out by Ignatius press, I just had to make time to read it. So I ordered Death of a Pope as a part of the reviewer program on Tiber River and anxiously awaited its arrival. It took a while to recieve it because it was on back order. I thought, "That must be a good sign!"

I received the book a f Full Review...

Liberal vs. Conservative

I'm an avid reader. I always seem to be in the middle of 2 or 3 books at one time. I'm also a fierce critic of books. I think that comes from the fact that I have a Bachelor's degree in Literature. If I love a book, I will truly rally behind it and recommend it to everyone! However, if I don't like a book, watch out, because you won't like what I have to say about it. I have been known to rip whole sections out of novels because I feel that they don't add anything to the story. That's just the way I am.

Because I'm such an avid reader (and incredibly busy) I don't have much of an opportunity to read novels. When I heard that there was a new, CATHOLIC novel out by Ignatius press, I just had to make time to read it. So I ordered Death of a Pope as a part of the reviewer program on Tiber River and anxiously awaited its arrival. It took a while to recieve it because it was on back order. I thought, "That must be a good sign!"

I received the book a f Full Review...

A nice Catholic

With the coming of summer, I was excited to get my copy of "The Death of a Pope" by Piers Paul Read. I am not a big fiction reader, but I do like a good story, and I was hoping that this book would deliver. In some ways it did, but often like a candy bar: enjoyable to consume and initially fills you up, but ultimately not complete satisfying.

What did I like? "Death of a Pope" had many interesting and believable characters - the first criteria of good fiction. No character was a caricature, and the reader could identify with each character easily. Also, the narrative was gripping; right from the beginning I was interested in the story and had a hard time putting the book down. The plot, while fantastic, never fell into unbelievable territory.

But what didn't I like? My first criticism is minor: for some reason Mr. Read decided to write the whole book in the present tense. This might seem inconsequential, but I found that every time I picked up the boo Full Review...

It Could've Been So Much More

A rebel ex-priest, a beautiful reporter, a counter-terrorist agent, members of the Roman Curia, a retired traditional priest, and a plot that would rock the world at its foundations; it sounds like the makings of a real page turner, and yet Piers Read failed to deliver. 

The book read more like Cliff Notes than a best seller.  Plot points were simply told rather than developed.  The test is in a jarring present tense, which according to an interview on The World Over was not Read's first choice, which never quite fits.  The plot was an interesting one, but was never fleshed out.  It felt like he was trying to keep the reader in the dark for some big twist near the end that didn't ever come and just left us feeling like we had missed the best parts of the story.

To his credit, Piers did make very interesting characters.  My favorite was actually one of the main character's grandfather who only appeared in one chapter as a background to th Full Review...

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