Robert Harris' Conclave follows the College of Cardinals as they elect a successor to an unnamed and, the author says, fictional pope. The suspense inherent in finding out who will become pope is a surefire way to keep the reader turning pages, the author's strong writing freshens the familiar with color, and his keen sense of character humanizes the baroque proceedings. In a scene that follows the death of the Holy Father, Harris hands the reader a preliminary scorecard listing possible successors, as three of them, senior cardinals, gather in a sitting room. When they're not casting ballots, the cardinals make threats, cut deals and whisper dark rumors. The activity of the conclave, Lomeli observes, becomes the earthly counterpart to Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling — all that semi-naked pink-grey flesh stretching and gesturing and bending and carrying.
