Thriller takes readers inside Vatican, through China’s expanses

“The Secret Cardinal” by Tom Grace. Vanguard Press (New York, 2007). 349 pp., $24.95.

Reviewed by John H. Carroll

Catholic News Service

Editor’s note: The fifth paragraph includes spoilers.

Attention Mr. Bond, James Bond, please move aside for a new special operations hero. He’s Nolan Kilkenny, an ex-Navy SEAL and the creation of best-selling author Tom Grace in “The Secret Cardinal.”

In this international thriller, Kilkenny, who is recovering from the tragic death of his wife and baby, accepts a quiet position to study the operations of the Vatican Library. Suddenly life becomes very complicated for the activist seeking peace and quiet. Cardinal Malachy Donoher, an old friend of Kilkenny’s father and an influential papal official, informs the young man that there is more to his assignment in Rome than cataloging manuscripts and books.

The elderly and ailing Pope Leo and the Vatican establishment already are making preparations for the forthcoming conclave. However, the pope hopes that a holy churchman, Bishop Yin Daoming of Shanghai, China, may be liberated from his imprisonment and brought to Rome for the occasion.

After the initial briefing and Kilkenny’s acceptance of the assignment, the action intensifies. The pope dies. The conclave begins and becomes deadlocked. There are intriguing insights into church politics at the sessions.

Meanwhile, Kilkenny and his special forces team of mostly Chinese-American Catholic servicemen and one female Chinese-American intelligence officer infiltrate one of the world’s most rigid police states to liberate the elderly prisoner. This is a tall order. However, after some team-induced confusion about a prisoner transfer, the operation succeeds. Then the liberators and their freed prisoner must now escape the same police state. This is an even more difficult operation.

At the same time the Chinese secret service has been active in an effort to penetrate the Vatican with the assistance of Mafia contacts. They have been in touch over the years regarding money laundering and other unsavory activities.

Action moves along at a rapid pace in the conclave, the vast expanses of China and the back streets of Rome. However, it would be unfair to reveal the denouement of this fast-moving thriller. Still there are several general observations to be made about the background material.

The author obviously knows Rome well and gives accurate portrayals of many places and religious events. He also presents the action scenes of the escape sequences in a realistic manner as the group moves westward through Mongolia and Tibet toward the Indian-controlled section of Kashmir, with Chinese security in hot pursuit. There are also hints of high-level contacts between Cardinal Donoher and highly placed gentlemen in Washington and northern Virginia.

The author also adds a note that presents helpful material on actual relations among the Vatican, the hierarchy in China and the government of the People’s Republic of China along with useful acknowledgments. This book is an exciting thriller and an informative one as well.