James Green (2) (1944–)

The first two thirds of the book are a big improvement on the last book. Was the Archbishop murdered, if so why and by who? Who wants the investigation kept unofficial? Is there really a conspiracy to try and kill the Pope? Does somebody really want to try and control Conclave? While the story sticks to these questions it works just fine, afterall people have tried to kill the Pope before so why wouldn't somebody else have a go.
However the last third is just stupid. The bad guys whoever they might be are not just going to try and kill the Pope they are going to plant a nuclear bomb somewhere in Rome.Two asian students are arrested trying to bring the bomb into Rome. Jimmy however decides that it is not terrorists but instead it is the CIA that is responsible, and their reason for nuking Rome, so that they can move the Vatican to the US.
In the end it turns out that there was no nuclear bomb, although there had been an attempt by a group to obtain nuclear material from China so that they could build one however Vatican intelligence found out about it and I'm not sure what the point of the plot was after that. You've found out about the bomb, you know who was behind it and it wasn't the US why would you then have this whole charade of an investigation and set up these students?… (més)

If I could have I would have given this two and a half stars as that would be a more accurate rating.

For a thriller it was lacking in thrills, and I also worked out who had committed the murders long before the end. I felt this was very predictable also because I already have the sequel on my bookshelf I knew that the lead character would survive no matter what else happened.
I'll be reading the sequel because it is part of a bookgroup challenge but unless it is a lot better than this book I won't be looking out for anymore.… (més)