Ex-Navy SEAL Nolan Kilkenny is trying to find his way back into life after the death of his wife and newborn baby. He takes an assignment to help out at the Vatican Library, but he learns quickly that the Pope has something else in mind. Right before his death, Pope Leo sets Nolan on a mission to free a "secret" cardinal who's been imprisoned for decades in China. Yin Laoming is a "secret" cardinal because the Pope elevated him to the cardinal position, but did not make it known because the Chinese government would have probably put Yin to death.
Nolan sets out to free Yin, who's suffered in prison for 30 years for his religious beliefs. But as Nolan starts the mission, Pope Leo dies and suddenly, time is crucial. The newly elected pope, whoever that might be, may not allow the mission to go forward, so Nolan's Vatican contact tells him to move quickly. On such a dangerous mission, speed could have deadly consequences.
Nolan Kilkenny is a superb character and you'll feel his heartbreak over the loss of his wife and child in this fifth book in the series. While maintaining its top-level action, THE SECRET CARDINAL is rife with emotions -- the suffering and beautiful dignity of Yin; the suffering, too, of Nolan as he tries to resume a "normal" life; and the power and play of politics at the Vatican. Interweaving these varying aspects with his usual skill, Grace yanks the reader into Nolan's world for an enthralling read. If you aren't reading this series, you're missing out!
Inspired by true events, masterful storyteller Tom Grace
delivers his most provocative novel yet. In The Secret
Cardinal, ex-Navy SEAL Nolan Kilkenny returns in an
adventure that races from the grandeur of the Vatican
across the vastness of Asia, ultimately involving China,
the Mafia, and the conclave of cardinals that will elect
the next pope.
When Kilkenny is invited to Rome to
consult on the functioning of the Vatican Library, he is
still grieving the death of his wife and son and welcomes
the distraction of the seemingly simple assignment. But
Pope Leo XIV has a startlingly different task in mind for
him. In a private audience, Kilkenny learns of an
unreported atrocity committed against the underground
Church in China and its link to Yin Daoming, the long-
imprisoned Bishop of Shanghai who has served thirty years
of a life sentence in a Chinese laogai for refusing
to renounce the Church of Rome. The aging pope then
reveals the dangerous truth about Bishop Yin, a secret
that he has kept for over twenty years. Decades of
diplomacy have failed to end China's persecution of the
Catholics loyal to the pope, or to free Bishop Yin. The
pope wants Yin free and asks Kilkenny to devise a plan to
accomplish this seemingly impossible task.
With help
from the U.S. president, American Special Forces, and the
C.I.A., he assembles a team of ten men and one woman that
will use some of the most advanced weapons, aircraft, and
computer technology to execute this extraordinary mission.
Filled with fascinating detail about the history,
politics, and people of China and the Roman Catholic
Church, and the clever advanced technology and weaponry
that have become hallmarks of a Tom Grace novel, The
Secret Cardinal charges relentlessly toward an
unexpected and unforgettable conclusion.
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