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3.1 AVERAGE
3.1 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Well… I feel a bit strange writing this review now in light of Pope Francis’ passing (although I finished the book earlier this month). While this book is set before his Papacy, it’s strange timing on my part as I’ve had this book on my shelf for a little while now.
This book is set around conspiracies surrounding the death of Pope John Paul I. In the present day (now the mid-2000s), Sarah finds herself entangled in the decades-long mystery. Her life is in danger as well as the reputation of the people whose names are on the list in her possession.
Summarizing this book is a struggle. There is no clear timeline and the chapters aren’t dated. They jump from past to present, not always with a discernible narrator. The book draws from different events in the Church in the 20th century, such as the Third Secret of Fatima and Vatican 2. There is also an emphasis on secret societies.
While this book covers a range of common conspiracies, which was initially exciting to read about, without a consistent structure and persistent ambiguity, everything fell flat. By the end, I found it difficult to figure out whether the author was probing legitimate questions and mysteries or poking fun at the Church. Some of the terminology used, for example, in a scene featuring Sister Lucia, it was said she was in a 'trance' and was portrayed as a channeler. I found this extremely strange given there was an evident amount of deep research done by the author.
I enjoyed the first quarter of the book, but I was lost by the end. If nothing else, it was an interesting exploration of conspiracies. As a thriller, it needed fine-tuning.
I enjoyed the first quarter of the book, but I was lost by the end. If nothing else, it was an interesting exploration of conspiracies. As a thriller, it needed fine-tuning.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Murder
This book is in the same vein as the DaVinci Code only it lacks something. The characters' motivations are never fully explored. I'm still not sure why people had to die about something the main villian said didn't really matter anymore. It builds great momentum that fizzles at the end. A quick read that reads more like a screenplay than a book.
Pure dreck...tried to finish it, but struggled. Because I can't stand to know the ending of a book, I skimmed the last 50 pages and was rewarded with...nothing. Yawn. Boring and confusing and poorly written. I still think a much better book could have been created based on the premise, but, sadly, it wasn't. Don't bother...
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Poor imitation of Dan Brown. Skipped backwards and forwards in time without making it clear. Not even sure I understood the ending!
The plot was adequate, but the book read more like a movie script - and not in a good way. The reference to something along the lines of "this was the same man who was recently seen in ____" - referencing the previous chapter when we saw this un-named character. If we were watching this unfold on screen, it would be reasonable for me to see the same character on-screen and say to myself, "Oh, we just saw him in ____." There has to be a better way to get that across on the page.
So many nameless characters, simply referred to as "the man", or if there were two men, "the man with the gun" and "the other man." The master. The assistant.
But don't worry - there's two distinct characters named Hans.
I don't know why I'm so hung up on this.
So many nameless characters, simply referred to as "the man", or if there were two men, "the man with the gun" and "the other man." The master. The assistant.
But don't worry - there's two distinct characters named Hans.
I don't know why I'm so hung up on this.
No geral gostei do livro, inicialmente a escrita muito descritiva do autor irritou-me um pouco, mas ou ele a foi diluindo com a introdução da acção ou eu me fui habituando.
Os personagens de Rafael/Jack e Sarah são interessantes, e o vilão JC tem carácter.
Não acredito em todas as versões oficiais, mas sou pouco dada a teorias conspirativas, talvez por isso tenha demorado tanto tempo a ler este livro.
Gostei do facto de o livro ter apontamentos de humor, por exemplo, o caso dos extintores :)
Os personagens de Rafael/Jack e Sarah são interessantes, e o vilão JC tem carácter.
Não acredito em todas as versões oficiais, mas sou pouco dada a teorias conspirativas, talvez por isso tenha demorado tanto tempo a ler este livro.
Gostei do facto de o livro ter apontamentos de humor, por exemplo, o caso dos extintores :)
This is a good spy/thriller novel and a very quick read. It's the kind of fast-paced book I like to read just for the fun of it, so I didn't go into it with any expectations, other than to be entertained by some "what ifs?" for a few hours.
It's written with a blend of historical fact and fiction - the facts being that Pope John Paul I died after only 33 days as pope in 1978 under circumstances that seem somewhat shady. The author uses this as a jumping off point for the fictional part of the story, setting up a conflict between a shadowy organization and a journalist 30 years later over documents relating to the pope's murder. If you like Dan Brown's novels or are a conspiracy theorist, you will like this one.
I liked the premise and thought this was an entertaining read, but like I said, I didn't go into this with expectations of it being some life-altering experience. Just something fun. I like stories that take well known facts and give them a twist to explore alternate worlds.
I liked that the characters had murky motivations, since I think that characters that are so up-front with their motives really don't belong in spy novels (coughcoughRobertLangdon) - they just don't fit what my idea of life as a spy is like. I imagine spy work to involve a lot of players whose motives aren't always clear and don't go around explaining themselves in great detail, so this book felt more honest than some other spy novels to me. Sarah's character also felt realistic to me, since she's supposed to be a reporter, she's the one that gets to be curious about everything. I liked that she didn't always get the answers she wanted, though.
I did think the book was a little short and that the ending was a little abrupt. I think this was the author's first novel, so I'm willing to forgive that. I have the second book featuring the main characters (it's substantially longer) and I won a copy of the third book from Goodreads, so I'm looking forward to seeing where he takes them next.
It's written with a blend of historical fact and fiction - the facts being that Pope John Paul I died after only 33 days as pope in 1978 under circumstances that seem somewhat shady. The author uses this as a jumping off point for the fictional part of the story, setting up a conflict between a shadowy organization and a journalist 30 years later over documents relating to the pope's murder. If you like Dan Brown's novels or are a conspiracy theorist, you will like this one.
I liked the premise and thought this was an entertaining read, but like I said, I didn't go into this with expectations of it being some life-altering experience. Just something fun. I like stories that take well known facts and give them a twist to explore alternate worlds.
I liked that the characters had murky motivations, since I think that characters that are so up-front with their motives really don't belong in spy novels (coughcoughRobertLangdon) - they just don't fit what my idea of life as a spy is like. I imagine spy work to involve a lot of players whose motives aren't always clear and don't go around explaining themselves in great detail, so this book felt more honest than some other spy novels to me. Sarah's character also felt realistic to me, since she's supposed to be a reporter, she's the one that gets to be curious about everything. I liked that she didn't always get the answers she wanted, though.
I did think the book was a little short and that the ending was a little abrupt. I think this was the author's first novel, so I'm willing to forgive that. I have the second book featuring the main characters (it's substantially longer) and I won a copy of the third book from Goodreads, so I'm looking forward to seeing where he takes them next.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This novel was very average. Its mostly just shoving some true, but mostly concocted facts into your face. There is a “spy-like” storyline however it feels like this story would play out better as a movie rather than a book.
How and why Pope John Paul I died after 33 days after his accession, a journalist Sarah Monteiro receives a mysterious package with a list of names and a coded message inside 30 years later, the vatican shifting money through banks to cartels and other “bad guys” by money laundering, the main villain admits the item isn’t that important but is still killing for it?, secret lodge “propaganda 2 (P2)”, mostly running away and angry CIA dudes