Rating: 
Summary: Perez Reverte almost (but not quite) does it again
Review: For those who read The Seville Communion expecting to find in it the same amount of ingenuity and action as that in The Club Dumas, get ready to be dissapointed. Seville Communion does not hold its own when compared to Club Dumas. For those who have not have read the better of these two books, The Seville Communion might be an enjoyable read. The three cuasi-villains are simply charming, and the narration manages to capture the beauty of Seville and the status-conscioussness that so well defines Spanish society. But as for the action itself and the novel's central characters, they are more one-dimensional that one would hope, coming from the writer of The Club Dumas. To the author's credit, the narration and language are rich in allusions and share many intellectual winks with the educated reader. As amusing as this might be at times, it can also seem pompous and superficial at other times when Perez Reverte seems to just be trying to show off that he is wordly, well-read, and educated. The novel is inconsistent in pace, in that it starts off as a page-turner, and then fades into a monotonous and slow pace from which it never really recovers. You'll be lucky if you can muster enough curiosity or perseverance to finish it.
Rating: 
Summary: The Vatican's 007 Plods Along
Review: This, the third of Pérez-Reverte "literate thrillers" to be published in the US, is somehow less satisfying than the previous two (The Flanders Panel and The Club Dumas). Perhaps it because of the predominance of religious themes, or maybe the relative lack of action, I'm not sure. The story kicks off with a hacker breaking into the Pope's PC and leaving a plea to investigate the nefarious attempts to close down a small church in Seville. The Vatican sends one of its "agents," who, like 007 is sharp dresser, good in a fight, and is a lady-killer. He, and all the characters are intriguing and well-developed, as is usual for Pérez-Reverte. Somehow, despite a clicking clock, the whole thing seems to sort of plod along without too much pace to it.
Rating: 
Summary: religion, sex, and murder under the Spanish sun!
Review: This is a terrific intelligent thriller. Lorenzo Quart is a member of the Vatican thought police - handsome, stylish, slightly distant and aloof - think George Clooney in a dog collar. He is sent to investigate some mysterious goings on in a decaying old church in Seville. A major bank wants to buy the church for redevelopment. Against them are the church's old curmudgeonly priest; the sexy wife of the lead banker; and the American nun dedicated to restoring the church. Two people have died - accidentally or murdered? - in the church. Quart finds himself in deeper than he ever could have imagined. The book starts slowly but gathers pace. It isn't just a mystery. It also deals with the life of a cleric - the temptations of sex, and the threat to inner faith; and with the clash in Spain between the thrusting new European ethic and the traditional Andalucian values of church family and old money. It also is wonderful in evoking the beauty of Seville - you want to be there sipping a fino sherry in a cool bar and gazing deep into the eyes of Macarena Brunner (the beautiful bankers wife)/Lorenzo Quart (the handsome priest)(delete according to taste).
Rating: 
Summary: A Sevillean tourist trip with a story.
Review: Went into this book not knowing what to expect since this was my first Reverte-Perez reading, but I was happily surprised. Mr. Reverte-Perez did a great job with the plot and inter-connecting all the characters to it. The novel moved well and kept close to the central theme. The characters were all unique and important to the structure of the story, but I enjoyed the three bumbling hired hands the most because they added a cartoonish comedic depth. I would like to see a sequel to this with Lorenzo Quart returning for another adventure in Seville or wherever they decide to send him.
Rating: 
Summary: The worst of Perez-Reverte's novels
Review: Boredom, more boredom, the argument is not interesting, father Quart is not credible, everything is told several times... I liked La tabla de Flandes and El club Dumas, but I hate this novel.
Rating:
Summary: Cardboard characters, impoverished plot, bad book
Review: After "Club Dumas," I was ready for at least some interesting portions of Perez-Reverte's "Seville Communion." Instead, I got a Catholic "company" man thrown in among cookie cutter characters who prompt him (somehow) to a crisis of conscience leading to a change in life. All this after he conducts some sort of investigation into mysterious deaths inside a Seville church. Fr. Quart's character is quite simply absurd - well, they all are from Gris to Macarena to Pencho to Don Ibrahim. But that's not the problem: it's that they are just not interesting. P-R's problem seems to lie in his inability to make his characters human and likable and he only comes close (well, within a mile) with the "unholy" trio of comical ne'er-do-wells. At least they have some sympathy for one another and so some humanity. In point of fact, all of P-R's characters seem vague and ill-drawn, one imagines, because they are not drawn from life or from the author's life experiences, but are instead tired old figures recycled from other books and, yes, old movies. They just aren't sympathetic or engaging. (After this work, I am also beginning to wonder about P-R's attitude toward female characters: they always seem to be associated with evil. Hmmm.) It was a real slog to get through this book which seemed, in places, to indicate that the author had no story to tell but simply wanted to draw things out to a respectable page number - and of course, the primary "romantic" engagement actually telegraphed from the book's beginning. (What priests are actually toffs?) This book is not recommended. (I would have given it no stars if I could have.)
Rating:
Summary: Read it!
Review: The characters are formed with great detail. By the end, I felt I knew them. The author's desciptions of Rome and Seville transported me to the spot. Great knowledge of the inner workings of the Catholic Church. A very human story.
Rating:
Summary: Read The Club Dumas instead.
Review: I bought this book because I found The Club Dumas to be excellent. I was deeply disappointed. Where The Club Dumas sparkled, The Seville Communion merely exists, and while The Club Dumas transcended its genre, The Seville Communion is deeply rooted in it. And that's a shame, because it means the mastery exhibited in The Club Dumas is a one shot deal rather than the arrival of a major literary talent
Rating:
Summary: Adventure, Mistery, Fun And Much More From Cover to Cover.
Review: This is one of the better written and fun novels-thrillers you will find. As Perez-Reverte has said many times: "literature doesn't have to be superficial to be fun, nor boring to have depth. The two things must be made compatible". An intriguing story line which starts with a hacker who infiltrates in the computer of the Pope in Rome, a journey through the beautiful city of "Sevilla", and a priest that is turned into detective, spy, and... Well, read the book. Skillfully, Perez combines generes like mistery, police-detective, adventure, with a dosis of history, humor, culture, and a personal but critical view at the basis of the faith in god of a set characters who are catholic priests (an intelligent move in order to give form and force to the argument and story line). A faith (argument) that although unorthodox, is a legitimate and interesting one. Because of that, I think this is a very complete and excellent novel-thriller (not just a "thriller"), one of the better (if not the best) works of Perez-Reverte. I do agree with some of the other reviews in that the story lines in the Club Dumas and Flanders Panel, are maybe a little more imaginative, mysterious (or any way they want to put it), but this doesn't take away anything from this book that has much more than a storyline to offer. Suspense, mistery, fun, history (and more) are all showcased in "The Seville Communion", I sinceerly recommend it to all of you.
Rating:
Summary: Totally engaging!
Review: I picked up the "Seville Communion" just because I had so enjoyed "Flanders Panel." I was not disappointed. The twists and turns in the plot were engaging and thought provoking. Further, there wasn't a sense that the author was holding back any of the clues just for the sake of holding back.
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