Council [Mass Market Paperback]

Greg Tobin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 13, 2003

Council is the riveting story of the first American-born pope, who sends shock waves throughout the Catholic Church when he summons a new gathering of the world’s bishops. His mission: to bring long-needed changes to the life of the Church he loves.

Council is the passionate story of the men and women who are drawn into the maelstrom of faith and politics, passion and power: the pope who faces the most difficult crisis of his life . . . a powerful Irish cardinal who bitterly opposes the pope’s call for a council . . . a South American businessman who once served in a death squad . . . an American priest who is torn from his troubled parish to play a role in the pope’s dream . . . all are front-line soldiers in the battle of good against evil.

Council is an intimate look at the daily life and the crushing responsibilities of the papacy, as conflict and conspiracies whirl around the controversial figure of Celestine VI. Council is a story you’ll never forget.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A gripping read.”—Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Greg Tobin is an award-winning Catholic author of popular fiction and non-fiction. A former editor and senior publishing executive, he is currently a fulltime writer. He is a graduate of Yale University. Tobin lives with his wife and sons in South Orange, New Jersey.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books; 1st edition (July 13, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812579224
• ISBN-13: 978-0812579222
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,096,473 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Needs less pontification and more information, August 29, 2005

By 

Omnibookie (Vidalia, GA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Council (Mass Market Paperback)

If this book, and perhaps the sequel, were put together, with a lot less of the author's message in the thoughts of the characters -- it would be a great book!
I wanted the author to get to the point! I wanted action! Great premise, great promise, needed follow-through.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars High School Compositon, January 17, 2007

By 

Precipitatissimo (Sioux Falls, SD, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Council (Mass Market Paperback)

Given his eye for detail, obviously thorough research, ability to write reasonably well, and obvious commitment as a devout Catholic, this book should be a good read. It isn't. Instead, it is an unfocused mess. It even has digressions that repeat themselves without any intervening material. Did this writer never pass his work beneath the eyes of an editor? If he did, was that editor someone for whom English was a second language? Given the great problems with this book, how does it rise so far in the book distribution world? It's as if a gifted High School student, mentored by a teacher so bemused by the fact that his student knows the difference between a sentence and a paragraph that he fails to notice his student's lack of compositional organization, has suddenly had his second-semester term paper marketed by a bunch of grownups who should know better. It seems to be a trend in the publishing world, but it doesn't change anything: this book does not even rise to the designation of second rate. I am sorry about that, too, because I want to like this book and this author and to buy the other members of the Trilogy. But I cannot. This book is just not worth the money.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Interesting, October 18, 2002

By 

Barbara (South Orange, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Council (Hardcover)

I anxiously awaited the arrival of this book, which is the sequel to Conclave. I felt that the book was very intersting. I felt the calling of a new council was interesting and I also learned a couple of things. I felt that the characters were very interesting. I just love Greg Tobin's writing style. I couldn't put the book down at all. I like the little tibits and the different personalitys that each characater had and I think that is what makes the book very interesting. I would recommend this book to anyone that is interesting to learning what it takes to call a council with all the world's cardinals and bishops.