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| The Secret Cardinal | 
 enlarge | Author: Tom Grace
Publisher: Vanguard Press
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $7.08
You Save: $17.87 (72%)
Buy New/Used from $6.97
Avg. Customer Rating:  (17 reviews)
Sales Rank: 553274
Format: Bargain Price
Language: English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.3
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
ASIN: B0018DPKQW
Publication Date: September 24, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
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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| Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...
 A fast paced, fun thriller for Catholics and Christians October 18, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a book I didn't pick up because of the title. "The Secret Cardinal" just SOUNDS so much like one of those "Da Vinci Code" type thrillers, full of evil albino monks, unbelievable secret conspiracies that have lasted 2,000 years, and starring Mother Teresa of Calcutta as the most evil person in history.
So I have to admit I was wrong, wrong, wrong. This is NOT an anti-Catholic book. It is that rarest of all things: a pro-Catholic action thriller.
You will love this one! Not only is the pacing fast, the characters fun, but everyone, Catholic or not, is going to enjoy the knowledge the author displays about papal elections.
Far from the Vatican, a bishop (secretly made a cardinal by dying Pope Leo) Yin is being held in prison by the Chinese. For two decades Yin has endured beatings and isolation, constantly holding to his faith in spite of everything.
At last Yin is dragged to a large meeting of Chinese Catholics, and told to renounce his faith in front of all the 500 people. If he does not, every one of the Chinese Catholics will be killed. Yin holds to his faith and the 500 are burned alive.
And this is only in the first few pages of this book.
I can only hope the author will continue to write books like this. Bookstores are full of action thrillers. But Catholics--and there are one billion of us worldwide, and about one in five of every American is Catholic--have almost no fiction books aimed at them. This is mysterious. And it would suggest a huge market opportunity.
 A little sappy August 16, 2008
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
There is something about this book that makes it a little annoying; maybe the incessant mentioning of Michigan or the veiled references to religion. Obviously, Mr, Grace is a good Catholic with his five children.
There is also a similarity to "The Shoes of the Fisherman."
The story is not bad, it did keep my interest.
Secret Cardinal July 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is the best book I have read in a long time. It was an "I can't put it down book."
A great religious thriller Catholics can actually enjoy May 20, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Finally a thriller with a religious plot that isn't anti-Catholic! For once the Catholic Church is not the bad guy, traditional, orthodox Catholicism is portrayed favorably, there is no centuries-old cover up, there are no secret writings, relics, etc that supposedly prove Jesus wasn't God or was married or had children, there is no trite love story or sex scene between the main character and his female sidekick, in fact, there are no sex scenes at all. Basically it is just a good thriller that uses the Catholic Church in a respectful and exciting way. The only criticism I would have was that his character, Pope Leo, is identical to Pope John-Paul II. I mean, other than the name, he is identical in every way: background, assassination attempt, lengthy tenure, you name it. I think he should have given the character a little more originality. As for concerns Catholics might have, there is some bad language, there is a graphic martyrdom scene that involves rape, torture and mutilation (but on the other hand, it is a beautiful account of faithful Chinese Catholics), and there are two scenes (one with the main character and one with the Chinese bishop) where the Catholics pray before a Buddhist shrine. Otherwise, an excellent book I highly recommend!
Enjoyable March 16, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
"The Secret Cardinal" is an exciting and interesting story that's a definite step up from many of the suspense books out there. The story focuses on two main threads, the first being an attempt to rescue a Chinese bishop from a long incarceration in prison in China and the second the events taking place in the Vatican as a new pope is being chosen.
The hero of this book is Nolan Kilkenny, an American man who is still trying to come to terms with the death of his wife and unborn child. A close family friend invites him to work for him at the Vatican and very soon Kilkenny finds himself involved in a plot to tell the world about the fate of Yin Daoming, an imprisoned Chinese bishop. Kilkenny's skills are vital to plan to rescue Yin, and soon, and with the death of the pope, who had made Yin a secret Cardinal, the pressure is on to rescue the man.
As the various Cardinals meet to choose the new pope, the story follows Kilkenny and his group of special forces operatives as they break Yin out of prison and try to extract him from China to Rome. The action is always well paced and mostly believable and it's an exciting book to read.
The author writes well with good pacing. He isn't particularly strong on descriptive passages so although parts of this book took place in China, Tibet and India I didn't feel that I got a particularly strong picture of the places about which he was writing. I also found the portrayal of catholicism rather one-sided; almost everyone mentioned in the story is a holy and worthy person who is resistant to torture and willing to be martyred - quite a contrast from most books where people's motives are always suspect. It was good to read a book with a positive view of faith but I found at times it was laid on a bit thick for this reader.
Those who have enjoyed other books by this author will no doubt welcome this book and it was indeed a good read, if at times quite depressing about the state of the world and China's hostility towards people of faith.
Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book Helen Hancox 2008
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