The Pope’s Men by Rita Dosek & Peter Tarjanyi
Genre : Political thriller
Serious secrets hide within the walls of the Church: priests no longer loyal to the cloth, lobby groups vying for position, underworld connections. The Pope’s Men paints a veryreal portrait of Pope John Paul II’s secret war with the KGB. With tales of conspiracy,recruitment and crimes dating back through the years, the mysterious past of priestsemployed by Moscow is at last out in the open. This thriller presents a detailed and truedepiction of Eastern Europe as the Iron Curtain crumbles, the KGB’s unique methodof pulling informers into its web, and the workings of the secret services as they plana series of strikes that personally involve bishops positioned frighteningly close to thePope. The recent Vatileaks scandal and the ensuing cover-up only represent a fractionof what actually goes on behind closed doors in Rome. By the end of the book, readerswill also know what could possibly lead to a pope resigning his throne.
Even though he makes but a brief appearance in the book, the protagonist of this historical thriller is Pope John Paul II himself. Many of the characters in the book, however, are trying to uncover the mysteries surrounding his life across past and present: Who wanted him dead and why? How did he manage to be such an uncanny religious leader and a determined and rational head of the Catholic Church? The Pope’s Menstands out not only for its unusual subject matter, but also because its multiple plotlines take the reader across several historical periods around the world.