The Third Secret by Steve Berry

First book I've read by this author.

There are forces at work that want the Catholic Church to be more progressive, and those that want to go back to the good old days of the dark ages. The timing of this book, released just after the appointment of Pope Benedict XVI, is interesting. The current pope when the story starts is also German. The third secret of Fatima is a closely guarded secret at the Vatican.

A church that sanctions a women's right to choose, gay marriage, women priests and optional celibacy for priests! Not in my lifetime, though I love the vision. I particularly liked the author's reference to the Immaculate Conception as proof that women have the right to choose - after all Mary had a choice!

I enjoyed the background and the inner workings of the Vatican, but all the characters were two-dimensional with no depth. The book started out well, but the ending was rather lame. Comparisons to Dan Brown's "The DaVinci Code" and "Angels and Demons" are inevitable, but Brown's books are faster paced and better written.

I was looking for a quick summer time read, and that it was.