Conclave
The bestselling Richard and Judy Book Club thriller
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4.3, 153 Ratings
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
Now available to preorder: THE SECOND SLEEP, Robert Harris's new thriller.
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THE POWER OF GOD. THE AMBITION OF MEN.
***SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER***
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.
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‘Unputdownable’ Guardian
‘Gripping’ Sunday Times
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
If you enjoyed Paolo Sorrentino’s decadent and deliciously dastardly TV show, The Young Pope, step right this way. In this utterly gripping thriller, Robert Harris dives into the planet’s most secretive recruitment process: the Conclave to select a new Pope. His cast of viciously ambitious cardinals make for an uproarious rogue’s gallery of characters, while our narrator (Cardinal Jacopo Lomeli) is just the grounded figure the book needs to make order from chaos.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Thriller Award winner Harris (Dictator) successfully dramatizes the selection of a new pope. In the near future, the pontiff dies suddenly of a heart attack, and the Vatican leadership works fast to ensure an orderly transition. The process is conveyed from the perspective of Cardinal Jacopo Lomeli, the dean of the College of Cardinals, a rational and sympathetic figure who a month earlier sought permission to retire to a religious order. As the cardinals gather from around the world to vote, factions quickly develop around the leading contenders, including Joshua Adeyemi of Nigeria, who's seeking to become the first black pope, and Lomeli's successor as the Vatican's secretary of state, Aldo Bellini. Bellini gives Lomeli a glimpse at the hidden turmoil at the Vatican when he reveals that on the day of the Holy Father's death, the dying pope confided to Bellini that he had lost faith in the church. As the maneuvering for command continues, Lomeli must try to steer a path toward consensus. This is another impressive outing from an extremely versatile author.
Customer Reviews
Remarkable
This book is truly remarkable. The subject might appear to many as not interesting enough. The result is a story as beautifully written as it is intriguing, as intense and gripping as any Robert Harris novel. Highly recommended.
Interesting insight but not a gripping read
The ending was so sudden and bland that it made me wonder why I’d been reading to that point. It’s a fascinating insight in to how the conclave elects a new Pope, admittedly with some interesting twists, but it at times felt like a procedural guide rather than a piece of gripping fiction you need to read.
On tenterhooks & not in a good way
I was constantly waiting for something to happen.....
