I'm so bummed. I wanted to love this book so much because I love Brian Yuzna's film work. Unfortunately, The Pope didn't grab me the way I expected it to, and after getting about halfway through, I just didn't feel like I cared what happened anymore. This was a DNF for me, but I'm willing to acknowledge that it could be a timing or expectations issue. I might come back to this in a few years and it'll be satisfying and important, but this isn't that time.

Very disappointed with this novel. The premise was excellent; an avenging killer, wearing the vestments of the Pope, sets out to stop the corruption and deviance of the Catholic Church. His solution, to slay the Priest who abuse children or forsake their vows giving into temptation of the flesh.

The first third of the book is interesting, disturbing, bloody, and violent.

The the train jumps the tracks, and suddenly this story makes no sense. The killer makes choices that are illogicalevnfor a psychopathic killer. He exposes himself repeatedly, yet is not caught. There was simply no rhyme or reason to anything that was going go and the story is lost.

So was I. I could not suffer through a other page and after reading 3/4 of this, I just could not take it anymore and did not finish.

Thanks to @netgalley and Crossroad Press for this eArc in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Well unfortunately, this was a dud. I enjoyed the first 50 pages and the rest was downhill and boring. Knowing the killer fro, the get go made the following 200 pages anti climatic but I appreciated the direction this was going in, the execution was poor

While the name Brian Yuzna will be familiar with genre fans for films such as Society and classics from the Stuart Gordon back catalogue, he is venturing into new territory with The Pope.

He has tackled the slasher sub-genre before with The Dentist films, The Pope is slightly more rich in its sub-text.

We follow the residents of a California Catholic parish that is being terrorised by a killer dressed as the Pope plus a mask covering their face.

The violence and the killings are brutal here but Yuzna does attempt to ground matters and focuses on a small number of people all caught in the midst of this rampage. He does make some interesting choices in terms of revelations about the killings and their purpose fairly early on, but this only helps enrich the story as we hurtle towards an action-packed finale.

The Pope is also a brisk read and like all great horror reads it will have you up later than you should be to see what happens next.

Brian Yuzna may be known for his special effects and directing but he could certainly gain a new following if he continues producing quality literary work like The Pope.

A fast, fun and gripping read. Once I started I literally couldn’t put it down and ended up reading it in one day. The story is inventive and unexpected, combining elements of horror, religious history, police procedural, secret sects, and more. It’s obvious that it’s written by someone who has had a lot of experience with storytelling and the horror genre. Deftly written.

I've enjoyed movies by Brian Yuzna, so couldn't wait to read his novel. This was a fast paced book, with characters that I enjoyed. It read a bit like a movie. Can't wait for more from Brian Yuzna. #ThePope #NetGalley