I thought this would be more of a dual timeline historical fiction/modern day mystery novel but it is mostly set in the present day with three very brief flashbacks to the 1940s from three different points of view (the main character’s great grandfather, grandmother, and the real-life pilot at the center of the mystery). It took me a while to mentally switch my genre expectations as this is very much a thriller full of suspense and violence which was not what I was expecting when I first picked it up.

Once I was onboard with it being a thriller, I did overall enjoy the plot arc and found myself rooting for the main characters to figure out the truth behind a complex web of deception and murders linking back to the closest confidants of Hitler who were with him in the Berlin Bunker at the end of WWII. I also really like how the main female character, Hannah, was uncovering details of her family history that coincided with aspects of the mystery at the centre of the novel. As a family historian myself, I loved watching her learn more about her great grandfather and grandmother's experiences in the Holocaust and how that impacted her place in the world.

At times I found that the historical information was kind of awkwardly wedged into the plot with long sections of historical expose as the characters were researching without much linking it into the rest of the prose. There were also some factual errors that I caught which then made me distrustful of the rest of the details. For example it is stated that Hannah's great grandfather was in the Luftwaffe in WWI when the Luftwaffe was not formed until the 1930s and was instead called the Luftstreitkräfte during WWI. For a book that seemed to be so immersed in historical research, this was disappointing.

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy fast paced, edge-of-your-seat thrillers that weave in historical facts and religious intrigue. Particularly if you enjoy the sub-genre of “Vatican Thrillers” in the style of Dan Brown or Robert Harris, “The Vatican Candidate” has a very similar vibe with our main characters on a high stakes race across Europe to solve the mystery before events unfold that would have even greater global significance. The subtitle “A Harper & Blake Mystery” implies that this is the start of a series, and I enjoyed this first book enough that I would check out the second book when it is published.

*DISCLAIMER: I received an eARC of this book from Rowman & Littlefield, McBooks Press through NetGalley for the purposes of providing an unbiased review.*

I wanted to love this book. I thriller/mystery surrounding World War 2, set in Rome and Berlin? Where do I sign! The premise is so interesting, but I struggled with the flow of this book. All of the sub plots, characters, trying to follow who had what part in the story...it just took away from such an amazing concept. Sadly, this is a pass for me.

Paul Bryers’ The Vatican Candidate begins from the point of view of an elderly priest living in Sicily, as his idyllic day is interrupted by a violent intrusion. Then it switches to the US, where researcher Hannah Harper is interviewing for a job as assistant to historian Michael Blake, whose fame comes from his books about the persistence of Nazi beliefs and similar (white supremacist) ideas through time and how they continually reemerge. (These books sound fascinating - I would read them if they existed in our world!)

Hannah gets the job, but when she goes to see Michael at his home, she finds his body and that of his partner in a gruesome tableau. The police write it off as a murder-suicide, but Hannah is attacked in her own home soon afterward and when she meets Michael’s brother Aiden, she finds that the official explanation has also left him unconvinced. He believes that it has something to do with the topic of Michael’s next book and hires Hannah to help him investigate what his brother had been working on. Their search takes them to Germany, the Tyrol, and finally to Sicily, where the connection to the earlier massacre is at last revealed. The current Pope, already despised and distrusted among the far right, has decided to open the Vatican archives, which it has always been rumored will contain evidence of collaboration between the Nazis and the highest levels of the Church, and in certain circles, it has been determined that this must not be allowed to happen.

As with most instances of this type of book, there is another murder along the way in which our main characters are implicated, and they find themselves on the run as they race to discover the connection between a flight by a celebrated German aviatrix out of besieged Berlin in 1945 and the modern-day conspiracy. The story was wound up well and the characters had a certain amount of chemistry, though refreshingly no unresolved sexual tension that I noticed. I did find Hannah’s constant testiness at Aiden a bit annoying, although to be fair he did seem to fail to keep her informed about what he was up to without any good reason. He was by far the more interesting character to me. I also appreciated the historical note from the author at the end telling about the real events on which the novel is based.

I received a copy of The Vatican Candidate from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This is a WWII story based on a true story, which I did not realize until the end of the book. The premise is fascinating- who was with Hitler in the bunker during the final days of his life, and what happened to his supporters?
The narrative is a little all over the place - with different individuals in various countries, decades apart. At some points the subplots seemed to take over the story.
The character development was not as strong as it could have been. The female protagonist, especially, needed some work. But as much as I wanted to put it down at times, the author was able to reel me back in. I definitely wanted to know what happened!
I think this novel has great promise! Just needs some reconfiguration for my tastes. Many thanks to NetGalley, Author Paul Bryers, and Rowman & Littlefield, McBooks Press for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

A blend of modern day intrigue mixed with the history of the Nazi war machine turned into a who dunnit across the ages. What happened to Hitlers Nazi sympathizers- those the closest to him once he took his own life? And what impact will the modern day opening of the Vatican Archives mean to those that still believe. How many lives are at stake? These are the questions asked and answered in The Vatican Candidate. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the early read.

I was provided an ARC of this book. The synopsis looked great. I'm a quarter of the way through and I am totally confused. There is no flow to the book, the characters have not been developed and the writing is not keeping my attention. I don't often give up on books, but I'm unable to continue.

“The past is a foreign country.’

What a fantastic novel! Historical fiction lovers will want to put this one on their radar.

There’s so much mystery surrounding Adolf Hitler’s last days and such curiosity surrounding the Vatican Secret Archives; congratulations on uniting these into a fantastic novel. I was truly spellbound listening to Irma Ulbrecht recalling the events of April 1945.

Bryers has taken everything I love about wartime historical fiction and sandwiched it between the beautiful covers of this book; hidden bunkers, assassination plots, castles, partisans, secret documents, and mysterious deaths!

In the modern-day timeline, Aiden Blake, an ex-Royal Marine, and Hannah Harper, a researcher, attempt to discover the connection between (1) a present-day murder of a priest and a plot to kill the pope and (2) Hanna Reitsch’s quick flight in and out of Berlin in April 1945. The two work well together and I’m assuming that the author has plans for a sequel or series.

I loved Hanna Reitsch, the German aviatrix’s character! I could just imagine her in the cockpit flying low as she entered and exited Berlin, taunting the Russian soldiers below. How convenient for Hitler to use her landing as his ‘get out of jail’ card! I was caught up in the mystery surrounding the priest, Johann Winkler, Father Marcus Senner, the Bishop of Merano, and Pope Eugenio Pacelli. I had to know how their stories linked to the Nazis and the Secret Archives.

Was there really a secret back channel between Pope Pius XII and Hitler? Can you keep an open mind? You’ll have to read to find out.

I was gifted this copy by Rowman & Littlefield, McBooks Press and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

A fast-moving thriller you won't want to put down. I found this book to be well-written and the story was believable. I highly recommend this book, and I'll be on the lookout for more from the author.

I had a great time reading this, it was a great start in the Harper & Blake Mystery series. It had what I was looking for in this type of book and loved the mystery within this book. The characters worked in the time-periods used and I was invested in what happened. Paul Bryers has a great writing style and I look forward to more from him.