- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing (Mar 1 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0740722298
- ISBN-13: 978-0740722295
- Product Dimensions: 24 x 16 x 2.7 cm
- Shipping Weight: 608 g
- Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
If at times Kienzle seemingly walked in the shadow of that other popular Catholic priest crime author, Andrew Greeley, this highly intelligent, wonderfully human and compassionate novel, the 24th in his Father Koesler series, is a reminder of how good a writer he could be. Sad to say, the author's recent death means that it's the last in the series, which began so strongly with The Rosary Murders (1979). More a coming-of-age story than a mystery, this new outing follows six young people from Detroit four boys intent on the priesthood, two girls on becoming nuns from their entry into religious life until middle age. Two fail in their ambitions, and one is a fraud through no fault of his own. Kienzle brings them all beautifully to life as he focuses on the Catholic Church during a time of change as well as on the trials of growing up in a Catholic family, in particular the painful ordeal of sexual awakening. He also celebrates the friendships that last a lifetime. A death occurs, but those looking for conventional crime-solving should look elsewhere. As ever, some Catholics may not care for the author's challenges to orthodoxy (he left the priesthood after 20 years and later married), but for everyone else this thought-provoking, philosophical last hurrah will provide rich spiritual satisfaction. attack on December 28, 2001.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Shortly before his death in December 2001, Kienzle completed his twenty-fourth Father Robert Koesler mystery. In a fitting finale to a reflective as well as suspenseful series, Koesler reaches back in time and memory to clarify the ambiguous details surrounding the death of an old friend and fellow priest. Father Stan Benson is declared accidentally dead by carbon monoxide poisoning. Nursing his own doubts, Koesler convenes a reunion with the five remaining members of a close-knit group of friends who all initially chose religious vocations as a way of life. Now in their seventies, these three men and two women gather to remember and to reexamine their commitments and their relationships. As their interweaving stories unfold, it becomes increasingly clear that multiple personal and theological motives for either a murder or a suicide exist. Koesler's natural flair for detection is surpassed only by his deep and abiding compassion for the human condition. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
WHEN STUCK WITH AN ELEPHANT, it's best to paint it white, Father Robert Koesler concluded. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
WHEN STUCK WITH AN ELEPHANT, it's best to paint it white, Father Robert Koesler concluded. Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A quietly brilliant, not-to-be-missed mystery,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Gathering (Hardcover)
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.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Guilty of misrepresentation...,
By Pete R "ren0901" (SW burbs Chicago, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Gathering (Mass Market Paperback)
...as this was neither a "Father Koesler mystery" nor did someone die, "...a sudden, violent death". Sadly, this franchise has overstayed its welcome...
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not a mystery at all..but still good,
By
This review is from: The Gathering (Hardcover)
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.
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