The Sacrifice

The Sacrifice by William X. Kienzle


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This Father Koestler mystery has all the elements found in most of Kienzle's books...murder, the Catholic Church, Detroit and a Catholic aspect to the crime. Father Koestler is aging just as the author has, but the topics are as current as ever. This one involves a married Anglican priest who wants to become a Roman Catholic priest. Twenty years ago, this might have been facetious, but the Episcopal/Anglican church has so lost her bearings that many of the faithful are looking for a spiritual home that still has the form of the Episcopal church but without the wild and radical changes in the new "anything goes" Episcopal Church.

But, of course, there is a problem with the Roman Catholic church. An Anglican who wants to remain true to the tenets of the church as laid out in the "Thirty-nine Articles" almost has to look elsewhere and that would obviously be the Roman church, but there are very strong feelings about this. Obviously, the church can't expect the candidate to abandon his family, but the church is desperate for priests. If the authorities of the Roman Catholic church are ambivalent, many of the parishioners are not and that is the plot of this book.

There is a time bomb in the Sanctuary of the church set to explode just as the ordination should have started, but the procession is late and only one person is at the altar. The obvious intended victim is the Anglican convert, but there are other possibilities to be considered. The tale weaves round and round until we seem to have 3 different crimes with possibly more than one perpetrator. The books gets somewhat convoluted before it winds on to the conclusion, but is very interesting and satisfying.

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Going back in time: The Shoes of the Fisherman, The Clowns of God, Harlequin

I have been going over the lists in "Goodreads" and have found some great books I read long ago. Some of the better ones I am going to post here even though I haven't read them in a long time. They are books that made a big impression on me and in many ways guided my thinking. Maybe I'll find time to read them again.

The Shoes of the Fisherman by Morris West

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
The Pope is also the Vicar of Rome and this pope goes into the city disguised as a simple priest to see his "parishioners." What he finds are problems not solved easily, especially ones that deal with babies being born with severe birth defects due to a medicine for morning sickness. West doesn't let the characters get by with an easy solution.


The Clowns of God by Morris West

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is another great book by Morris West. Jesus has come as Redeemer in the modern age. One of the things that I will always remember is the incident that gives the book it's name. The "clowns of God" are children who are mentally or physically handicapped. The French have given them that name and feel that these children are especially close to God's heart. Jesus pulls one of the children towards him and tells his followers that he knows that they want a sign that he is really the Messiah and they want him to miraculously heal the small group of children in the nun's care.

He tells his followers that they need these children to complete their humanity. I won't spoil the rest by telling what he said, but it has stayed with me all these years.

Harlequin by Morris West

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is another Morris West that I'd like to read again. West poses some difficult moral dilemmas and doesn't let the reader opt for an easy answer.


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