Thriller explores Vatican culture

Fast-paced novel never tires readers

THE FIFTH GOSPEL Ian Caldwell Simon & Schuster

The curator of a groundbreaking exhibit at the Vatican dies mysteriously hours before its premiere. Within hours, his research partner’s family becomes victim to a home invasion.

The second novel from Ian Caldwell, co-author of the bestselling The Rule of Four, kicks off at top speed and doesn’t slow. Caldwell’s skill as a writer is evident in his ability to weave detailed descriptions of Biblical scripture, Catholic history and Vatican geography into the story while keeping the action going.

He has a lot of material to work with, having spent a decade on his followup to The Rule of Four. Cowritten with his childhood friend Dustin Thomason, the murder mystery set at Princeton spent nearly a year on The New York Times bestseller list.

Caldwell thanks Thomason, noting that even before their novel was published, the two spent a week in Greece doing research that helped inspire The Fifth Gospel.

Caldwell’s new novel is set in the waning years of the papacy of John Paul II. The protagonist is Father Alex Andreou, a Greek priest who lives inside the Vatican with his 5-year-old son and who has been helping research the upcoming exhibit. The suspect in the curator’s death is Andreou’s brother, Simon, a Roman Catholic priest rising rapidly through the Vatican’s ranks.

Greek Catholics observe the traditions of the Greek Orthodox Church while obeying the Roman Catholic pope. Unlike Roman Catholic priests, Greek Catholic priests can marry and have families. A small group, they are a remnant of the 1,000-year-old split between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.

As Alex Andreou works to clear his brother of their friend’s murder, he learns that information crucial to bringing the churches together could lie in a fifth gospel the curator discovered in the Vatican library.

Ultimately, Caldwell’s novel is about faith — in God and in family. It ends as every Christian story does, with an act of forgiveness.