Booklist
The action unfolds against the backdrop of Vatican City, where countless pilgrims have gathered, wholly unaware of the heinous crimes taking place. Some rough spots in the translation distract from this otherwise first-rate thriller. Thomas Harris meets Dan Brown.
—Allison Block
Que Leer (Spain)
Juan Gómez-Jurado is the new pope of Vatican intrigue.
Bookreporter.com
Electrifying. . . . A wild, compelling ride.
Publishers Weekly
A routine plot doesn't do justice to the intriguing premise of this debut thriller, a bestseller in Spain, about a serial killer stalking the cardinals poised to vote on Pope John Paul II's successor. Young, attractive Paola Dicanti, an inspector in an Italian violent crime unit and an FBI-trained profiler, is summoned to a church in Vatican City where a cardinal's mutilated corpse has been discovered. To her outrage, Dicanti learns that the victim is the second in a series, and that the identity of the killer—a pedophilic priest with a history of violence, Victor Karosky—is known to a new and mysterious ally, Anthony Fowler, a former priest and American intelligence operative. The cat-and-mouse game between the police and Karosky is nothing new, while Gómez-Jurado's use of the sex scandals that have rocked the Roman Catholic church is sensational rather than sensitive. American readers may be amused that Bush administration figure John Negroponte plays the part of shadowy backstage conspirator. (Apr.)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information
Library Journal
Madrid journalist Gómez-Jurado hopes to replicate the instant success he enjoyed in Spain with this English translation of his first novel, set during the 2005 Conclave to elect a new pope. Paola Dicanti, Italy's only Quantico-trained certified profiler, is chasing a serial killer targeting cardinals. The arrival of American priest Padre Fowler, who identifies the suspect, provides many layers of intrigue. Fowler is a psychologist, former CIA operative, and persona non grata with the Curia. His deep insight into the case stems from time served as a therapist at a rehab facility for Catholic priests with a history of sexual abuse—another layer of intrigue. Dicanti must learn to trust him if she wants to catch the killer before he strikes again. The Vatican secret police have their own agenda, and Dicanti finds the sovereign nation makes her job nearly impossible. A grisly story in the tradition of Thomas Harris, Gómez-Jurado's richly detailed thriller will appeal more to fans of TV's Criminal Mindsthan to those of CSI. Recommended for most popular fiction collections.
—Laura A.B. Cifelli
Kirkus Reviews
A man and a woman leading a murder investigation discover a dark truth about the Catholic Church in this thriller that . . . oh, you've heard this one before?First published in Spain, G-mez-Jurado's debut is clearly designed to capitalize on the success of The Da Vinci Code, but it wouldn't be fair to call it a knockoff. There's almost no code-cracking (the one instance of cryptology reads like a joking acknowledgment of the author's key inspiration), and instead of focusing on millennia-old theology, its plot revolves around more contemporary concerns about pedophile priests. Shortly after the death of Pope John Paul II, detective Paola Dicanti is called to the Vatican to investigate the gruesome murder of a cardinal. Two more cardinals are found dead in a similar manner soon after, and with more than 100 cardinals set to arrive to elect the next pope, she's under serious pressure to both find the serial killer and keep the murders under wraps. Luckily, she has her top-flight Quantico training on her side, as well as the assistance of Father Anthony Fowler, a former CIA agent and counselor at the Catholic Church's semi-secret rehab facility for priests with histories of sexual abuse. Fowler identifies the likely killer as Victor Karosky, a priest who transcended his own history of abuse by self-righteously offing high-ranking liberal Catholics. Letting the reader know the murderer's identity early doesn't lessen the drama, but it does leave more room for G-mez-Jurado's unsophisticated pop-psych ruminations about what makes a pedophile priest, a silly subplot about a freelance journalist who threatens to break the story wide open and an unconvincing attempt to build a love story out ofDicanti and Fowler's relationship. The climax has the requisite tension, but the characters are ultimately so weakly drawn that it's hard to believe that the future of an entire faith is at stake. Ambitious, but never for a moment inspiring.
