The Pope is dead, and it’s time to pick a new one. This is done through a secretive process among the College of Cardinals in an election done away from the eyes of the world. The conclave is held by the Cardinals locked in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. Harris’ novel takes the reader behind the scenes among the politics and backstabbing in this fictionalized (but, I imagine, realistic) political convention.
The paperback tracks the Dean of the Cardinals, Jacopo Lomelei, who is tasked with administering the conclave event and the secret voting that takes place among the participants and candidates. We meet the conservative cardinals and the liberal cardinals jockeying to be the next pope. There are mysteries and revelations that take place along the way as well as an enigmatic Cardinal that no one has ever heard of before.
In many ways, the novel reminded me of Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians where the candidates are being (figuratively) knocked off one at a time by the other attendees. Lomelei is portrayed as a humble and godly servant fighting hard to herd these ambitious cats vying for infallible papal supremacy.
Mostly, the novel worked quite well and was genuinely interesting and suspenseful. That said, I can't imagine anyone being captivated by the book without a personal history rooted in the Roman Catholic tradition. Otherwise, they might as well be choosing the head of a beer-swilling college fraternity. The book is devoid of any physical action, and the suspense derives solely from high-stakes political jockeying and gamesmanship.
After a satisfying ending, Harris throws in a final-page curve ball twist ending that was just bonkers. I can’t decide if it was a good twist or a bad twist, but you’ll never see it coming, and it may ruin the book for some readers. Consider yourself warned. It was certainly an audacious literary choice.
With the stipulations outlined above, this was a great – and very readable – novel. By now you should know if it sounds like your thing or not. It definitely made me want to read more of Harris’ works. Highly recommended. Get it HERE.
For me, Harris is the best contemporary author of historical and political mystery and suspense novels. From his debut dystopic 2nd WW novel FATHERLAND, to his highly recommended trilogy about the life of CICERO in ancient Rome. His novels are spellbinding, historically informative, atmospherically tense and hard to put down. In short, my favourite author alive today (in close competition with JK Rowling, but in a different genre).
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