Description:
Tad Szulc, a veteran foreign and diplomatic correspondent for The New York Times--as well as the author of a critically praised biography of John Paul--has better credentials than most thriller writers to decipher the truth behind the 1981 attempt by a Turkish national to assassinate Pope John Paul II. In To Kill the Pope, Szulc draws a veil of fiction over the actual investigation into the assassination attempt, which was instigated by the Vatican after the Italian government and worldwide intelligence services dropped their inquiries. While the author stipulates that the characters in the book are composites of actual persons, he also says that many are pure invention, which confuses any reader who might attempt to separate fact from fiction. Some of Szulc's fictional trappings are minor quibbles, like renaming Pope John Paul II "Pope Gregory" and making him a Frenchman rather than a Pole. But readers may be left wondering whether the blame the author affixes to a band of right-wing French Catholics, disturbed by the increasingly liberal tone of the Holy See after Vatican II, is an accurate appraisal of what really happened in 1981. Szulc's protagonist is an American Jesuit scholar named Tim Savage, whose wartime CIA service in Vietnam prior to his vows makes him a logical choice to carry out the investigation. Already based in Rome, Savage is an expert on Muslim history and theology. Since speculation about the actual assassination attempt indicated the possible involvement of Muslim fanatics, Savage is doubly blessed with the right stuff for the mission. Although he receives his assignment directly from the Pope's private secretary, his investigation leads him to suspect that Monsignor de Sainte-Ange was deeply involved in the first attempt on the Pope's life, and is ready to try again. Savage's meeting with the excommunicated French archbishop, whose followers seek the destruction of the Mother Church, is the raison d'être for a fascinating excursion into the role of heresies in the Catholic religion. But the growing affection he feels for the nun assigned as his control, and the ensuing affair between them, is a less interesting diversion. Szulc is in command of his facts; one wishes he'd told this story in a more straightforward way, without the clumsy artifices apparently required to protect his sources in the church hierarchy. --Jane Adams
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