The Holy Bullet

June 1, 2009
Ponderous prose weighs down Rocha’s sequel to 2008’s The Last Pope
, which centered on a conspiracy to murder Pope John Paul I. This follow-up treads similar ground, but a plausible premise—that the truth behind the 1981 attempt on the life of John Paul II was never revealed—is undercut by a muddled story line and such winks to the reader as naming a British agent Simon Templar (the hero of a popular 1960s TV series starring Roger Moore) and one character telling another that the previous book (i.e., The Last Pope
) is available “for sale in the bookstores.” Long-winded descriptive passages, like the opening set at an expensive restaurant in an unnamed city, dampen the tension in a novel alleging dark doings at the heart of the Vatican. Still, those with a limitless appetite for stories about evildoing involving the Catholic Church may be satisfied.

July 1, 2009
Rochas The Last Pope (2008) posited that Pope John Paul I, who died 33 days into his reign, was murdered. In this sequel, Rocha tackles the attempted assassination of John Pauls successor, John Paul II. In many ways, the two books are very similar, almost identical, in fact, with the same lead characterplucky journalist Sarah Monteiroand the same ancient, villainous organization, the Italian Masonic lodge known as Propaganda Due. But whether you look at this one as a sequel or a rewrite, its a good story either way. Rather than tell the very complex story in chronological order, the author skips around in time, jumping to the present and back to the years before the assassination. We piece together the story as we move through the book, gradually assembling a picture of a vast conspiracy that threatens the very stability of the church itself. The book is preposterous but extremely entertaining and has a bit of a Trevanian flavor to it, especially in the way Rocha often breaks into the story with witty asides to the reader or offbeat editorial commentary. A definite must-read for those devoted to religious conspiracies.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)