Ralph McInerny, The Third Revelation

The Third Revelation

Ralph McInerny

Jove, Feb 2009, $7.99

ISBN: 9780515145922

At St. Peter's Basilica, Anatoly kills a guard with a knife and uses his uniform to gain entrance to the Apostlytic Palace. There he kills Secretary of State Rampolla by tossing him out the window and does likewise with the Cardinal's assistant. Finally he goes on a rooftop where he stabs to death Cardinal Maguire, head of the archives. As he leaves, Anatoly is noticed by both Russian Ambossid Chekvosky and archivist Father Brendan Crowe. The Russian asks for the files related to the Ali Agia assassination attempt of Pope John Paul II, but is stonewalled again.

The Vatican does a great job hiding the four murders. However, they make little progress on solving the mass killings and what the motive was. Retired CIA operative Vincent Traeger, who worked mostly in Rome, is sent to investigate. Along with his Vatican contact Rodriguez, they decide the most likely motive is the Russian interest in the Agia assassination attempt or the so-called third secret of Fatima already revealed by the Vatican, but many believe is a cover-up; however the document is missing.

The first Rosary Chronicles is an exciting investigative thriller that focuses on Christian extremism. The story line is entertaining from the moment Anatoly commits his mass killing and filled with some nice twists such as Traeger and Anatoly meeting up early into the plot, the deep belief that there is more to the third secret than officially revealed and to the Agia assassination attempt. Though it take perhaps too long for the myriad of subplots to begin to cohesively merge as there are more than just the above, fans will relish THE THIRD REVELATION.

Harriet Klausner