The Assassini

"The Assassini" is a 1990 thriller novel by American author Thomas Gifford, published by Bantam Books.cite book| author = Gifford, Thomas | title = The Assassini | publisher = Bantam Books | year = 1991 | id = ISBN-10: 05532874003]

Plot summary

Set in 1982, while the Roman Catholic Church is preparing to elect a new pope as the old one is dying, the book describes the attempts of lawyer Ben Driskill to solve the murder of his sibling, Sister Valentine, a nun who was an outspoken activist and a thorn in the Church's side. Driskill's world-spannning investigation leads him to the discovery of a document from a forgotten monastery in Ireland, which proves the existence of the "Assassini", an age-old brotherhood of killers, once hired by princes of the Church to protect it in dangerous times; and the person who now controls them in his Machiavellian bid for power.

Inspiration and influences

The novel was inspired by, and weaved together in its dramatic structure, numerous historical controversies about the Roman Catholic Church:

* The Pope John Paul I conspiracy theories.
* The Banco Ambrosiano scandal of the Vatican Bank.
* The involvement of Vatican officials and Catholic priests in ODESSA "ratlines", systems of escape routes for Nazis and other fascists fleeing Europe at the end of World War II.
* The art theft and other items stolen as a result of the organized spoliation of European countries by agents of Nazi Germany.
* The emergence of Catholic clerical fascism in Europe.
* Pope Pius XI and his negotiation of the Lateran Treaty with Fascist Italy and the "Reichskonkordat" with Nazi Germany.
* The legacy of the House of Borgia and their corrupt rule of the papacy during the Renaissance.

imilarities

The "Assassini" (Italian for "assassins"), as an archetype for a lone priest or a secret society of priests involved in the sanctioned killing of (non-supernatural) political opponents of the Roman Catholic Church or a faction within the Church, can be found in several works of fiction.

*"The Judas Testament", a 1994 novel by Daniel Easterman.cite book| author = Easterman, Daniel| title = The Judas Testament| publisher = Harpercollins| year = 2004| id = ISBN 0060177683]

References