Bishop Blackie Ryan is feeling more than a bit out of place on the USS Langley, an aircraft carrier on duty hundreds of miles from the nearest dry land. But the ship is in trouble--several of her crew have disappeared without explanation, and one dead officer has seemingly reappeared. The captain is a relative of Blackie's boss, Cardinal Cronin. So Blackie, troubleshooter and problem-solver, has been dispatched to the Langley, where he soon finds a mystery as deep--and dangerous--as the ocean.
A native of Chicago, Father Andrew M. Greeley, is a priest, distinguished sociologist and bestselling author. He is professor of social sciences at the University of Chicago and the University of Arizona, as well as Research Associate at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. His current sociological research focuses on current issues facing the Catholic Church-including celibacy of priests, ordination of women, religious imagination, and sexual behavior of Catholics.Father Greeley received the S.T.L. in 1954 from St. Mary of Lake Seminary. His graduate work was done at the University of Chicago, where he received the M.A. Degree in 1961 and the Ph.D. in 1962.Father Greeley has written scores of books and hundreds of popular and scholarly articles on a variety of issues in sociology, education and religion. His column on political, church and social issues is carried by the Chicago Sun Times and many other newspapers. He stimulates discussion of neglected issues and often anticipates sociological trends. He is the author of more than thirty bestselling novels and an autobiography, Furthermore!: Confessions of a Parish Priest.
