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    The Secret Cardinal
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    The Secret Cardinal
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    The Secret Cardinal
    Audiobook11 hours

    The Secret Cardinal

    Written by Michael J. Rosen

    Narrated by Christopher Lane

    3/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

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    About this audiobook

    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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateOct 10, 2017
    ISBN9781543628098
    Author

    Michael J. Rosen

    Michael J. Rosen was among those involved in the very first days of Thurber House and he continued to serve as its literary director for twenty years. Michael is the author of some 150 other books—poetry, young-adult novels, anthologies, picture books, cookbooks—for readers of all ages. Most recently, he has published James Thurber's Collected Fables, as well as a hefty monograph, A Mile and a Half of Lines: The Art of James Thurber, that coincides with an exhibition at the Columbus Museum of Art that he’s curated in honor of the Year of Thurber (2019).  He’s also an editor, ceramic artist, illustrator, and companion animal to a cattle dog named Chant.  www.michaeljrosen.com   

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    Reviews for The Secret Cardinal

    3/5

    2 ratings4 reviews

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    • 4/5
      The ailing and beloved Pope Leo meets with ex-Navy Seal Nolan Kilkenny to share his concerns about a imprisoned catholic priest in China. This priest is one the Pope has named a cardinal in his heart (not publically) but who he would like to have rescued. Soon after this meeting the pope dies and the cardinals meet to elect his successor--but the secret mission to extract the Chinese cardinal Yin Daoming continues. Will they be able to rescue Yin? And if they do and deliver him back to the conclave how will his appearance affect the election? Wanting to find out the answers to these questions will keep you reading.A good thrill read, not much in the way of character development. I found the details about the inner workings of the vatican and the china scenes interesting. I didn't realize that Nolan Kilkenny is a series character, but I would definitely be willing to try another in this series after reading this one.
    • 2/5
      wanted it to be a fun mindless spy novel but it had more mindless than fun
    • 4/5
      The Secret Cardinal. Tom Grace. 2007. Nolan Kilkenny is an ex-SEAL who is called to the Vatican to consult with a Vatican librarian. He is struggling to recover from the death of his wife and his unborn son and assumes his father was behind the invitation. Once there he is told of the real purpose of his visit. The pope wants him to assemble a team to sneak into China and bring the secret bishop of Shanghai to the Vatican. This bishop has been beaten, tortured, and imprisoned for 30 years (Just last week the real bishop of the underground Catholic Church in Shanghai died.) for remaining loyal to the Vatican. As Nolan is assembling his team, the pope dies, and Nolan is forced to rush his plans. Story moves back and forth between the election of the pope and the rescue. Even though the information on the conclave and the Underground Church in China is true, this is a novel and a very suspenseful one with some odd plot twists. It reminds me of the older Ken Follett novels. This is a series.
    • 2/5
      The premise behind this is a bit far fetched, though it is fiction and is to be expected. The Vatican might or might not carry out such actions. But something, a certain depth of detail maybe, was missing from this book to make it really enjoyable. There was also the religious aspect to this book that I found had to fathom, that part was not to my liking as it was treated in an almost supernatural way. Part of a serious, so I read it.