|
City of Secrets: The Truth Behind the Murders at the Vatican | 
 enlarge | Author: John Follain
Publisher: William Morrow
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $1.27
You Save: $24.68 (95%)
New (20) Used (44) Collectible (1) from $0.40
Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 1084413
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.1
ISBN: 0066209544
Dewey Decimal Number: 355.00945634
EAN: 9780066209548
ASIN: 0066209544
Publication Date: January 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Ships SAME or NEXT business day. We Ship to APO/FPO addr. Choose EXPEDITED shipping and receive in 2-5 business days. See our member profile for customer support contact info.
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
On the heels of one of the greatest public scandals to rock the Catholic Church comes an explosive exposé of murder and corruption in the highest reaches of the Vatican, the oldest and most secretive autocracy in the world. On the night of Monday, May 4, 1998, in Vatican territory, the bodies of the commander of the Swiss Guard, his wife, and a young lance corporal were found in the barracks of the picturesque force historically entrusted with protecting the pope. It was the worst bloodbath to take place in more than a century in the heart of the supreme authority of the world's one billion Roman Catholics. Four hours later, the Vatican announced that the lance corporal, twenty-three-year-old Cédric Tornay, had shot the couple, then committed suicide in "a fit of madness" brought on by frutstration with the unit's discipline -- a conclusion it reaffirmed after a nine-month internal inquiry. But as John Follain's hard-hitting exposé shows, the official report was a travesty, a tissue of suppositions, contradictions, and omissions. Based on an exhaustive three-year investigation -- the first independent attempt to establish the truth -- City of Secrets reveals how the Vatican, the oldest and most secretive autocracy in the world, staged an elaborate plot to obstruct justice and hide the scandals it dares not confess. Echoing the pace and plotting of a highstakes thriller, Follain's true-life tale of intrigue moves from the guards' barracks and the pope's palace in Vatican City to Paris, Berlin, and the Swiss Alps, and features a fascinating cast: an old, suffering John Paul II; his chief bodyguard, formerly accused of spying for the Soviet bloc; a mysterious priest punished by the Vatican; and the powerful Opus Dei sect. Timely and explosive, City of Secrets is the story of a still-unsolved crime committed on holy territory, and of a systematic attempt to hide the fatal failings of a security force charged with protecting one of the world's most influential leaders.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 Wake Up Call for Catholics October 31, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
It's so easy being a Catholic in the United States: priests who are your buddies, who stop over for Thanksgiving meals, know your kids by name, offer wholesome, practical advice for marriage and high school football, and who will have a Bud Light with you in the early autumn afternoon.
Not so easy when you're a young member of the Swiss Guards in the Vatican: priests are not your buddies, priests refuse to counsel you, your fellow Swiss guards insult your use of French and give you punishments when you don't deserve them. If you were a Swiss/French Guard, you might never come of age. You might be dead.
As we have found in some public schools throughout the USA, bullying can lead to mass murder when those being bullied see no other way out. Such is the situation in John Follain's CITY OF SECRETS. We Catholic readers have our eyes opened to the reality of the closed-society that is the Vatican.
If you want to keep your eyes closed to the severe problems within our beloved church, don't read this book.
If you think having a secret society, OPUS DEI, propagandizing side-by-side with the true mission of the church, then you absolutely must read the book. You have been sleeping as have I.
Be prepared to be shocked. Or, have the politicizing and manipulations found in the American church's pedophile scandal already opened your eyes wide?
by Larry Rochelle, author of HOME SCHOOLED.
 a pleasant change August 6, 2005
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
In that it gives a look at some other murders outside of the mysterious death of John Paul I, this is a refreshing book. Yet, since it does not invlove a Pope it is likely to suffer unfairly from less interest. I recommend you not pass it up. An alternative is Lucien Gregoire's "Murder in the Vatican" which takes one on a methodical imvestigation of the murder of eight men which combination was the leadership of the progressive movement in Church - including the 'murders' of John Paul I and Paul VI. That all of these men died mysteriously within a few months of each other itself would arouse ones suspicions - but Gregoire offers much more than just that. I would recommend you buy these books as a package.
Great read. January 1, 2005
8 out of 36 found this review helpful
This is another book that deals with the hypocrites in the Vatican.
People seems surprised when their hear of crimes in the Vatican, but this is an organization that supports and promotes priest who molest little boys.
The latest example of the lies and hypocrisy of the Vatican can be found with this week's tsunami.
The official newspaper of the Vatican had a spurious and misleading report that falsely claimed the Israeli government had denied emergency relief for tsunami victims in Sri Lanka.
The official Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano singled out Israeli leaders for declining the country's request for emergency help, when in fact the Israeli government's offer to provide a team of medical and security personnel was rejected by the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry. However, Israel is providing an airlift of food and medical supplies to Sri Lanka.
Can you believe that? The Vatican defends priest who are child molesters yet has the gall to falsely criticize Israel.
 GOOD READING July 4, 2003
3 out of 18 found this review helpful
ALTHOUGH THE BOOK I THINK DOES NOT FINALIZE THE CONCLUSION, I FOUND THE METHODS THE AUTHOR TRIED TO PASTE TOGETHER THE BITS AND PIECES OF TRUTH OR INFORMATION WELL WORTH THE READ. IN THE END I THINK THE BOOK ANALYZES THE CHURCH MORE THAN IT SHOULD BUT THEN AGAIN WHY NOT?
Behind the Vatican murders July 3, 2003
7 out of 12 found this review helpful
The strength of John Follain's book, based on his four-year investigation, is that we end up with a firm understanding of why Tornay did it. City of Secrets is both superb journalism and an outstanding example of forensic psychology.
Secondhand investigations of sensational crimes are often nothing more than instant books. However, Follain not only took the time to contribute something of worth to the canon of crime journalism but also exposed weaknesses in the Vatican that need addressing. In this case it is the fact that the Swiss Guard, supposedly responsible for protecting the Pope, are nothing more than toy soldiers -- Dennis Chute, The Edmonton Journal
|
|
|
Copyright 2008 - RailroadBookstore.com
| |
