Conclave by Robert Harris

The book is set post-2018. The pope has died and cardinals from all over the world meet to elect a successor. There are three front-runners and a couple of outsiders who seem to be in with a chance. Some of the hopefuls have a skeleton in the closet that could leak out and dash their chances. The final skeleton was the only thing about the book that I didn't like; it seemed to have been thrown in to please a subset of readers.

I thought I might lose track of the different cardinals but the main characters were easy to follow. Harris is obviously an expert story teller. He included just enough detail of the rooms and the election process to hold my interest and help me picture the scene.

The book is written from the perspective of Cardinal Lomeli whose job it is to run the conclave. Harris's descriptions of Lomeli's thought processes, his struggles with prayer and how snippets of scripture keep popping into his head, struck me as credible. Harris reveals a world of scheming and politics, interspersed with meditation and prayer. He shows how electing a pope is a balancing act between the two. To his credit, he manages to do this in a way that is reasonably respectful of the Church.