Customer Reviews

The Gathering

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I hated The Gathering to be the last mystery William Kienzle wrote. For years I have waited in happy anticipation for the next book, loving Father Koesler and all the characters Kienzle drew with such a fine hand, as well as his even-handed explanations of Catholic doctrine and thought. I grabbed The Gathering with the same joy---only to be tremendously disappointed.
The most difficult part of this book was the endless repetition and back-tracking---explaining and re-explaining the already tedious details. The characters were wooden--I couldn't care less about any of them.... And the dialogue: had Kienzle ever tuned in to a conversation between Catholic teenagers, even in that era? About as unrealistic as I could imagine. And was it necessary to create perhaps the worst priest to ever be ordained as the antagonist here? Having gone all through Catholic school during this era, and knowing hundreds of priests, I can't imagine any of them playing with Church doctrine in this way. Bottom line--an awful book. Save your time and money.

P.S. I seriously wonder if Keinzle's mind was going when he wrote this book. If it was, I do beg his pardon. And in any case I thank him for earlier years of true reading pleasure.

If you picked up this book expecting a good mystery like The Rosary Murders, you will be greatly disappointed. However, if you're interested in a pretty decent character study of 4 young people preparing to enter the religious life, then you might enjoy it. In the last 10-12 years, Kienzle really hasn't written mysteries but rather character studies set against a Catholic background. Taken on that level, this is one of his best in the last few years.

How do you explain growing up Catholic to your non-Catholic spouse, friend?
This book evokes the feelings and isolation of being raised Catholic.
It is written in a timeline any baby-boomer or younger will relate to.
The ending is a tribute to William Kienzle's life.
The story circle back to the beginnings of William Kienzle's choice of vocation and leaves the reader knowing why he left the priesthood.
The question remains where and what do today's Catholic's do with their faith.
Thank you,
William Kienzle
for all the insights about beinging Catholic

I can understand what William Kienzle is trying to do. He wants
to help Roman Catholics and others to understand that their
church has changed, become more human and humane. But there are
minor details like the feast of St. Joseph on March 29 instead of
19 that grate on this reader. Also, after having told each
individual's story, why repeat them in the last chapters? To
take up space? The characters are under-developed to say the
least. Having had IHM sisters for my educators he really does
not do a good job of interpreting them. This is not "The Rosary
Murders", to say the least.

While I have to agree that the teenagers in this book speak like no teenagers ever did - they all sound at least ten years older than they're supposed to be - for me reading a novel set largely in Holy Redeemer parish in Detroit is a bunch of happy. I grew up in Holy Redeemer, though a good twenty-five years later than this story begins, and it's lovely to see the place I knew so accurately recorded here.

I bought this book for my Kindle because I was first reading Judged By Love, Bill Kienzle's biography, and I thought I'd give one of his novels a try. I'm glad I did, even though the consensus seems to be that this is probably his weakest mystery. Since I love mysteries, I'll try another too. =)

How unfortunate that "The Gathering" is the last book that William X. Kienzle wrote. It is nothing more than a vapid retelling, and retelling, and .... (get the picture) of five young people,how they came to arrive at the decision to enter religious life and the events that occurred along the way. The solving of "THE" murder, which really isn't one, doesn't pan out (and at that very weakly) until the very last few pages of the book. Until that point the reader suffers through how Rose and Alice and Mike and Manny and Benny and yes, the hero, Robert Koesler, came to the decision to choose a religious life and the trials and tribulations that played out along the way.
The book begins as Fr. Koesler returns to a now defunct seminary building in anticipation for a reunion with the surviving five religious and former religious who formed the "group". That brief glimpse of the aging priest doesn't last long. The novel then takes the reader back to the time when these young people either made the decision to enter religious life or had the decision made for them. The dialogue is weak, repetitive and lacks any spark of life. It is too bad that Mr. Kienzle discussed the most questionable tactics of one priest who used the "missionary's privilege" to pave the way for a most unwilling candidate to enter the seminary. With all the criticism the Catholic church has received in recent months, this reader wished that Benny's plight had been edited from the book.
It is difficult to believe that the man who penned "The Rosary Murders" and so many other great mysteries has passed away. It is even more difficult to realize that William Kienzle left his fans with arguably the worst story line he ever created. One will just have to chalk "The Gathering" up to the fates that come with a dwindling creative spark. Sorry it was such a poor read, Sir. You deserved to go out with a bang, not a whimper.

I am amazed that the previous review, the book flap, and one of the Editorial descriptions refer to this as a "mystery". It is not. This is a character piece about 6 childhood friends who plan as kids to enter the religious life; the book follows their lives until they are in their 70s. Yes, one of them dies, but only in the loosest of definitions is book a mystery.

Sometimes I wonder if I should go back and re-read one or two of Kienzle's earliest books. I remember them as being so good, but his most recent books have not been very good at all. He has always included long digressions, explaining the arcane points of Catholic theology or Canon Law. However, his more recent books seem to have a mystery plot only for the sake of a framework to hang the digressions upon.

In this book, he also repeats himself constantly. There aren't that many characters; I think I can keep track of who is whose twin, and the significance of choosing this seminary over that seminary (since both are significant plot points). It is almost as if it was intended to be read in installments over a long period of time.

All of this is not to say that I didn't find elements of this book (and other recent ones) interesting -- just that the books are guilty of false advertising of sorts.

The author died in December 2001. Rest in Peace.

I brought this book based on the summary on the book cover. What a mistake.

It is just a human interest story about several friends that aspire to become priests and nuns. As I got close to the end of the book, I kept asking "where is the mystery part of the novel". As I got to the last few chapters, I realized it was either going to be the quickest solved mystery or that it was not a mystery at all.

It turned out to not be a mystery at all, unless the "mystery" is why this book is even categorized as a mystery book.

This was my first Kienzle book. First few pages were a little hard to get into, but when I did, I couldn't put it down. Was the dialogue tedious? Yes at times. However, it doesn't negate the fact that this is a good book worthy of some praise. I didn't go to Catholic school but went to Catholic school for "religious instruction", but I relate to this book nonetheless.

The Gathering is the latest novel featuring Father Robert Koesler, a compassionate Roman Catholic priest with a brilliant insight into solving mysteries of murder most foul. Koesler's adolescent years are brought to light in this tale of deception, internal struggles with faith, and how Koesler found his calling to serve... and seventy years later, one of those closest to him is dead. The Gathering is another quietly brilliant, not-to-be-missed mystery from the pen of William X. Kienzle.