I purchased this book for my own personal collection. I listened to this audiobook via my Spotify membership.
Publisher: Vintage Books / Random House Audio
Published: August 6, 2024 (Originally Published September 22, 2016)
Summary:
The Pope is dead.
Behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, one hundred and eighteen cardinals from all over the globe will cast their votes in the world’s most secretive election.
They are holy men. But they have ambition. And they have rivals.
Over the next seventy-two hours one of them will become the most powerful spiritual figure on earth.
My thoughts:
I first heard about this book when my friend Louis reviewed it. And I was intrigued and knew right then that I had to read it and that I would also be watching the movie. While I had the print version on hand, I opted to listen to this one and what a fantastic experience this was on audio – the narrator, Roy McMillan – really did a wonderful job with the voices, giving each of the characters their own personality. It made listening to this one so easy to follow along.
I have always been intrigued by the whole process that goes into picking a new pope and this book gives us such insight into that and so much more! I had no idea it was such a political game in many respects, and but I also felt we were shown the human side of these cardinals, something that isn’t often seen.
I was gripped by this story from start to finish, especially with that shocking twist at the end. I was glad I had the print copy on hand so I could reread that ending again to make sure I had heard it right!
This book is equal parts suspenseful, emotional and just overall intriguing and I loved it. And the movie is such a great adaption of the book, being so true to the page. The actors were amazing and I have not stopped talking about it to my husband since I watched it and know I’ll probably watch it again and again…it’s that good!
This is the first book I’ve read/listened to by Robert Harris but if any of his others are anything like this one, I have found myself a new author to read!
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