The Confessor

In Munich, Professor Benjamin Stern, a Jewish scholar, is assassinated. In Rome, Pietro Lucchesi is elected pope and reluctantly assumes the office as Pope Paul VII. In Venice, Mario Delvecchio (real name Gabriel), an art restorer (real job assassin), is working on a Bellini restoration project.

Gabriel is a loner, doesn’t associate with others on the restoration team, and has been described as Osama bin Laden himself. He’s given false ID by the Israeli Mossad and sent to Munich as Benjamin’s stepbrother to search his apartment to find any evidence of his association with the ‘Office’.

In Switzerland, Crux Vera, a secret society comprised of rich and powerful men throughout Europe, the group that was responsible for Benjamin’s death, meets for a conference. The three guys that run Crux Vera are: Cardinal Brindisi, second in the papal hierarchy and leader of this merry band of crooks; Carlo Casagrande, head of security and operations for the group; and Robert Pucci, the finance man for the group.

During WWII, Pope Pius XII had done nothing to prevent the deportation and elimination of Jews. The new pope wants to resume the program of reconciliation with the Jews his predecessor started before his sudden and mysterious heart attack. Crux Vera will do all it can to prevent the new Pope from opening these dark doors again. They spread the rumor Gabriel is out to assassinate the Pope. One of them hires the assassin known as the Leopard for a special job. Assassin vs. assassin?

This contemporary story set in central Europe. There are a lot of characters in the book, but it’s never hard to keep them straight. The bad guys that run Crux Vera are ruthless and phony when representing the Church. Not everyone is delighted with the new Pope and want to get rid of him (how Christian). Money can buy any office or deed. Lies and deceit are a way of life for these men. Gabriel figures out what’s really going on and being covered up…why Benjamin was murdered, what Crux Vera is covering up… and takes action. Mr. Silva writes intriguing stories that are very interesting to read. There’s enough action; you won’t be bored.

 

 

 

- Bonus Review -

After Ben Walker returned from Vietnam, he accepted the only employment offered--a job flying for the Mob in Las Vegas. When his employers decided his services were no longer needed, they gave a retirement party on his behalf, but he failed to show. His employers did, however, succeed at having his wife murdered. When Walker questioned them about this, they said, "Nothing personal. It was just a routine precaution."

Walker did, however, take it very personally. He asked a friend for help and got it. And this time they would decide the rules of engagement, not some politician.

You are cordially invited to take this Taciturn journey into a world of cruel men with incomprehensible greed pitted against men who are just trying to survive. Though they are from different eras and battlefields, their goal was the same: Coping with P.T.S.D. (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

 

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