Book Review: God’s Spy by Juan Gomez-Jurado
Translated from Spanish to English by James Graham.
This complicated and twisted book is extremely well written and gripping in content. When a cardinal is murdered in the Vatican City just prior to Pope John Paul’s death, the country’s police quietly cover up the murder in order
to keep peace during an unsettling and tumultuous time of grief and politics, while choosing the next Pope.
Only after a second cardinal is found murdered, in a similar fashion in Rome, does the situation come to light, as
the Italian police and their profiler, Paola Dicanti, are assigned to discover what has happened. The Vatican appoints one of their investigators to the Italian task force, in order to share what information is known, and not
destroyed in the cover-up of the first murder. Then an American priest who is a former Army intelligence officer, who has investigated sexual abuse cases within the Catholic Church, arrives to add further depth to the
investigation. This story brings some interesting insight into the workings of the Catholic Church, as well as their published handling of sexual abusive priests. The descriptions of Rome and the Vatican City are mouthwatering and enough to make a person wish for a long holiday to visit both cities and their historical buildings filled with art. I was engrossed by the book. It captivated my attention from page one and held it right through until the last sentence. This is not a book for those squeamish with grisly murders, but it is intellectually vibrant and a very good read.
Juanita Marshall © 2007 , butyoudontlooksick.com
Juan Gomez-Jurado
Dutton
ISBN # 978-0-525-94994-7
