The Third Secret by Steve Berry

I like a good conspiracy theory as much as the next guy, but I am getting terribly tired of Marian apparitions, secret societies that control the Church or disagree with the Church, and a rewriting of history in which every event is interconnected in some unexpected way. The Third Secret is not that over the top, but I just had to get that off my chest first. After The DaVinci Code I felt like everyone was a copycat trying to build on Dan Brown’s popularity. I read this book because my husband asked me too. He said that he wanted to talk to me about the “different” final outlook. It solves a lot of the current issues that plague the Church.

There is definitely a sense of the Catholic Church conspiracy theory about this book, but it does have some unique characteristics that I liked. First, the characters are not secondary to the Church. They are in fact the Pope and his chief secretary. Second, Steve Berry has done an extensive amount of research on the papal selection process which is interesting to any Catholic who has thought about what really happens behind closed doors. Third, the answers that Berry suggests at the end of the book have a great appeal to me. As with DaVinci Code, Berry offers solutions that are controversial, but in no way unexpected given the other "revolutionize the Catholic Church" novels that exist.

This isn’t a book I would necessarily recommend, nor would I pan it. It is not terribly original, but it is engaging. It kept me reading, but I didn’t walk away feeling particularly enlightened or encouraged. It fulfills basic “beach reading” material.