Morris West's new novel is an exciting successor to the ten books he has had on the New York Times bestseller list - five of those at the number one spot!At the heart of this thriller is Pope Leo XIV, a reactionary and forbidding pontiff who emerges from heart bypass surgery with a and "change of heart and " about a lot of things. As he struggles to overcome the policies he himself put into place, he must battle enemies from within the Vatican as well as Islamic terrorists determined to assassinate himThis novel completes West's papa trilogy begun with and "Shoes of the Fisherman and " (1963) and continued with and "Clowns of God and " (1981). It also stands alone as a superb, exciting exploration of theological politics in a world of crises.