Title: Rob the Vatican
Author: Robert Gallant
Publisher: Robert Gallant Books
ASIN: B07GVR3FVS
Pages: 287
Genre: Thriller
Reviewed by: Jake Bishop
Hollywood Book Review
Think about a heist. Not just any heist, but a heist of the highest order. Author Robert Gallant has envisioned theft from one of the richest entities of all time, the Roman Catholic Church’s fabled treasures within The Vatican itself. Not only has he envisioned it. He’s brought it to pulse-pounding life on the pages of this high-octane thriller that is as intelligent as it is exciting.
A master thief, Craig Reynolds, decides upon one final job before sliding into cat burglary retirement. He’s going to loot perhaps the world’s greatest collection of art, jewelry, coin of the realm and more, from what most would consider a virtually impenetrable fortress—Vatican City. Intricate and ingenious planning go into his machinations to get past Vatican Gendarmes, Swiss Guards, passionate priests, the College of Cardinals, even His Imminence The Pope. Will Reynolds be successful? Or will his retirement be spent in prison rather than paradise?
Not content to simply depict an incredibly involving robbery, Gallant has also spiced his story with fascinating characters and compelling subplots. A dedicated Interpol agent is on the thief’s trail. A dastardly conspiracy is uncovered by a devoted priest and a gorgeous Italian gymnast. Action sequences are also handled well. Accentuated with the pounding hooves of a steed in flight, hand-to-hand skirmishes, and the crack of gunfire, these scenes have an almost cinematic quality to them.
Gallant is a skilled writer, confident in his story and his genre. He keeps things moving at a lively pace. His prose is taught. His dialogue occasionally lapses into theatricality but certainly not often enough to shatter the pane of one’s willing suspension of disbelief. The author’s widespread use of detail is impressive as well. Multiple Italian locations unfold one upon another, each more illustrative than the one before it. There is an almost encyclopedic quality to his descriptions of the Vatican’s environs, their security operations, and the innumerable holdings of the Holy See. These depictions brim with authenticity.
As in the best of thrillers, just when you think you know where every secret catacomb leads and how every loose end will be tied, surprises are still in store. In this day and age where it almost seems impossible to find a caper tale that’s not derivative, one comes along now and then that reawakens one’s appetite for intrigue. This novel does that. So what are you waiting for? Go ahead. Rob The Vatican.