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Conclave

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Conclave

By: Robert Harris
Narrated by: Roy McMillan
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

***Now a Bafta and Oscar winning major motion picture starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini***

What happens behind the closed doors of the Roman Catholic Conclave? The mysterious rituals surrounding the congregation of cardinal electors responsible for electing a new pope is brilliantly researched by Robert Harris, bringing an age old tradition to life. Set against the swirling of religious theory comes an explosive political drama that will have you on the edge of your seat.

The Pope is dead.

Behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, 118 cardinals from all over the globe will cast their votes in the world's most secretive election. They are holy men. But they have ambition. And they have rivals.

Over the next 72 hours, one of them will become the most powerful spiritual figure on earth.

'Unputdownable' Guardian
'Gripping' Sunday Times

©2016 Robert Harris (P)2016 Random House Audiobooks

 Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Political Spies & Politics Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Espionage Exciting Scary

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Critic reviews

Harris’ superlative skill at depicting power politics makes this an irresistibly gripping papal page-turner.
Thriller of the year . . . with a plot so serpentine and sinuous that I could not bear to put it down. (Geoffrey Wansell)
‘I have been waiting for most of my life for Robert Harris to write a novel that is not gripping, insightful and entertaining. I am waiting still. His latest, Conclave, is superb. (Ben Macintyre)
A real page-turner, with a great twist in the final pages. (Libby Purves)
Finishing this splendid and intelligent story, as with all great fiction, brings an acute sense of loss. (Richard Susskind)
Robert Harris is incapable of writing a substandard novel. (Alan Johnson)
Each Robert Harris thriller is different but of exemplary consistency. (Ian Rankin)
Robert Harris is the master storyteller of our time . . . Beautifully constructed . . . it’s dramatically compelling, politically intelligent, beautifully paced and with a lovely twist in the tail . . . narrative doesn’t come better than this.
I am about to use a word I have never knowingly used in any review of any book ever. During my 25-odd years of writing about books I have done my best to avoid cliches, slipshod summaries, oracular pronouncements and indeed anything else that might appear emblazoned on a book jacket. Nonetheless, there is only one possible word to describe Robert Harris’s new novel, and it is this: unputdownable (Ian Sansom)
A master of producing thrillers of ever-tightening suspense, full of insider analysis of political power and the treatment of momentous events . . . gripping . . . more than a crime novel, it is also a psychological and political thriller . . . Conclave is a triumphant addition to Harris’ acclaimed output (David Grylls)
All stars
Most relevant

Robert Harris delivers a very good yarn full of intrigue and ritual, making as feel as if we are part of this private club of men that are served by women they suppress, a gentlemen's club where god whispers his desires into the minds of men that have no concept of a terrestrial reality, sequestered from the world but not uninfluenced by it, in a place where greed and power are as strongly felt as in any other institution of power, except that every idea is attributed to the holy spirit and given a motivation to satisfy men,s kingdom of god's kingdom.

Well written, and entertaining while not being offencive to believers or others, delivering a good story that will work for most people no matter where they stand in the religious spectrum.


The power of illusion, is that people believe

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A real page turner. I found the characters believable and the performance matched the text beautifully.

Couldn't put it down.

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The subject of this novel, the election of a new pope, did not immediately appeal to my interests, however, as someone who has always enjoyed Robert Harris's works, I felt that it was likely to overcome my reservations.

And indeed it did. I was gripped from the word go!

There is a powerful sense of being able to secretly enter a world, which is otherwise totally impenetrable to most of mankind, and to observe the unobservable. I have to admit to being somewhat awestruck by the sense of being there with the cardinals, in the thick of it.

The leading character, Lomelli, is superbly developed, along with a good many others too, providing a depth to the story line which more than compensates for the constraints of writing about a repetitive process of voting sessions. So many twists and turns occur, that I found myself longing for the next round of voting in order to see how things would transpire.

To my mind, the plot was very well paced, never losing its sense of direction or momentum, and typifies Harris's prowess as an outstanding author. The eventual outcome have you tingling with surprise!

I thoroughly enjoyed this delightfully different novel.

As always, Roy McMillan is brilliant in his reading.

I write as someone who is not a Catholic, and who has no knowledge of the workings of the Vatican, and therefore I took everything at face value.

A Tremendously Engaging Novel

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It is one of the best audio books I have listened to and one you could read again . This I highly recommend as one of the best fiction audio books in a long while

A Fantastic Audio Book

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Conclave leaves all other papal thrillers standing. Harris has redefined the genre. Word perfect and masterful.

Conclave Reigns Supreme

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