The Confessor

Written by Daniel Silva & Reviewed by The Green Vegetable

Part 1: An Apartment in Munich

Some guy posing as Professor Benjamin Stern is living in Germany. He’s an activist, so he’s frequently targeted for being Jewish. One morning he comes home and some Swiss guy murdered him for contents in a safe.  In Vatican City, Pietro Luchessi is elected Pope Paul VII even though he didn’t want it. He feels compelled to carry out some mission only he can accomplish. His aide Donati then tells him about the Professor Stern murder and Pope is disturbed.

Gabriel poses as a restorer named Mario in the Vatican, then is summoned to meet Ari Shamron, his untrustworthy handler. He is frail and broken over the murder of his child Benjamin. Gabriel will pose as his fake half-brother, who owns an art gallery in order to gain access to Ben’s apartment and snoop for clues or retrieve things that reveal he was a spy. Shamron also asks about Gabe’s girlfriend Anna Rolfe as well as Leah, the ex-wife in the asylum who no longer recognizes him.

Gabriel meets detective Axel Weiss in Munich, who subtly questions him then escorts him to Benjamin’s apartment. Is this guy Stern Shamron’s actual son or a metaphorical one? Gabriel swipes some snapshot of Ben and another dude and notices the flat doesn’t seem like Ben was writing a book. He also noticed a postcard from some hotel in Italy where Ben forgot his glasses. After the visit, Axel calls someone and says we may have a problem, then agrees to surveil “Herr Landau” aka Gabriel.

Cardinal Brandisi is Secretary of State and second in command in Vatican City. He meets with Pietro Lucchesi and they argue. Brandisi says some journalist is picking at the whitewashing of Pope’s childhood and will learn he grew up fighting on the streets and not in some pious home of love. Conversely, Lucchesi wants to repair relationships with the Jews by examining responses to the holocaust. Brandisi is very against it. Father Luigi Donati overhears the fight. Pope is going to some synagogue to announce the endeavor next week.

Carlo Casagrande was like secret service to John Paul II. Now he’s like a secret detective for the Vatican. He meets with Roberto Pucci in Rieti, Italy, a super wealthy industrialist who also manages the Vatican’s portfolio. They’re all having a secret meeting. They’re concerned about “Landau.”  Plus Benjamin Stern apparently had some very sensitive documents that caused his murder, only could’ve been leaked from inside the Vatican. They don’t want Gabriel to find out about it. Cardinal Brandisi is the leader of the meeting! They advise Casagrande to handle it.

Part II - a Convent by the Lake

Gabriel visits the hotel Ben stayed at in Lake Garda and is redirected to the nearby convent of nuns. Sister Vincenza is there and she liked Ben and informed Gabriel (posing still as brother Landau) that he was writing a book about the Jews hiding in the convents during WWII. After being kind and helpful she called someone in Rome after Gabe left to tell them someone was around asking about the professor. Gabe goes back to his hotel and bribes the desk for a phone number Ben dialed while there. Some investigative reporter in London?  Then some random calls Gabe’s hotel phone and says Sister is a liar.  Don’t trust her and leave Italy.

In Grindelwald Switzerland, Eric Lange aka Leopard aka assassin aka Day of the Jackal ripoff drives to Zurich to meet with Casagrande who hires him to hit Gabe. 

In Vienna, Gabriel visits some former Mossad named Eli Lavon. Gabe briefs him then is shown some itinerary from a 1942 Wannssee conference where Nazis and Martin Luther, along with Sister Regina (the two names the anon phone call told Gabe to pursue) conspired to eliminate all Jews from Europe. The Vatican was the only country at the time allied with both Germany and the allies.

Chapter 12 was the first that let me down. Multiple characters whack-a-mole their way into the story through multiple POV’s and multiple chronologies just to advance Gabe’s investigation. Nothing organic.

Peter Malone is some famous reporter in London. Gabe agrees to an interview regarding old missions in exchange for what Peter knows, as Benjamin contacted him during his book writing that got him killed. Peter mentions Crux Vera, some KGB type org within the Vatican that does their dirty work. After Gabe leaves, someone murders Peter. Mordecai, Gabe’s IT guy, manages to snap a pic.

In Rome, Brandisi swaps with a body double and meets with Casagrande. They discuss Peter Malone being killed by their Leopard and wonder how this Landau fellow knew about Sister Regina. (anon phone call!) They agree to use his threat against the Pope (that they fabricated) as a way to control Pope’s movements in the week to come.  Hopefully they can keep his movements restricted, citing security.

In Normandy, Eric Lange aka Day of the Generic Jackal hides out at his assassin friend Katrine Broussard’s house. They do what agents do then he goes thru Peter Malone’s cpu and finds interview notes about Gabe as well as notes about the Ben Stern murder that point to an official agent investigating which makes Lange nervous and mad at Casagrande for hiring him without warning.  Lange meets some guy Rashid Husseini who fills in the gaps to the intel on Malone’s cpu, leading to the conclusion that Landau is Gabriel Allon. Lange tells Husseini to locate Allon by tailing a police officer Rossi back in Rome. Find Rossi, find Allon.

Part 3 - A Pension in Rome

Gabe flees to Rome via Nice then holes up at a cheap hotel and makes multiple attempts to contact inspector Rossi. He also learns of Malone’s death, confirming his suspicion that he’s wanted by authorities. Rossi sneaks into Gabe’s room, pistol whips him and ties him up for questioning.  The guy tailing Rossi alerts Casagrande to the hotel where Gabe is. Casagrande tells Bartoletti they’ve located the papal assassin.  Erik Lange is alerted and buys a tik for Rome.  Rossi warns Gabe every authority is out to kill him. Gabe refuses to abscond until Rossi briefs him on Stern’s case. Rossi briefs him of two priests who disappeared outside of Vatican under his jurisdiction. Vatican stonewalled his investigation and insisted the two had nothing to do with one another, only to discover the pair worked together during WWII…on the German desk, no less. A sister nun later disappeared…her name was sister Regina Carcassi and her case was closed prematurely by Casagrande. And of course she worked at the convent near Brenzone on Lake Garda that Gabe visited.  All the cops arrive and Rossi is killed. Gabe escaped to a river.

Bartoletti is the cop on the scene of the mass murder. Casagrande arrives and feigns surprise at Rossi’s death & involvement, but Bartoletti is clearly not buying it.  Gabe completes his escape via some girl on a motorcycle that ends up being Chiara, the rabbi’s daughter from Venice?? Anyway, she takes him to a safe house. Chiara is to escort him to some boat that will return him to Israel, but then there’s a car chase and Chiara changes the plan and tells Gabe she’s hijacking his escape boat and they’re going to find Sister Regina’s daughter together.

Chapter 22 places us in the Mediterranean Sea, where Gabe and Chiara take their boat to France and find the Italian woman aka daughter of sister Regina. Her name is now Antonella Huber and she married some German. She’s aware her mom renounced her faith before being murdered then shows Gabe a letter Regina wrote the night before marrying her father.

The letter is a confession by sister Regina.  While she was at the convent, Crux Vera and Martin Luther the Nazi met there in secret to map out the final solution. The church actually supported the plan and agreed to remain silent because if Pope Pius condemned the Nazis then the Jews would become formidable and displace Palestine and end up with equal diplomatic footing as the catholic on a global stage. So church agreed to remain silent so Nazis have element of surprise. Regina understood the whole meeting because she spoke German but she never told anyone, instead spending most of the meeting comforting some upset boy who was also at the convent.  She renounced and married Antonella’s father just as an excuse to get out of the convent and the Catholicism that betrayed her.  Gabe pleads for the letter as evidence but Antonella only gives it to him on one condition. He murder those responsible. He agrees.

After a slightly silly car chase through the Alps, Gabe and Chiara sneak back to Munich where they fax Eli and Ari a copy of the letter, then toss Ben’s apartment again. Frau Ratzinger the landlord sees them and magically knows to give some Manila envelope to Gabe because he seemed Israeli (even though he’s posing as Herr Landau?) anyway…how convenient for our stalled plot.

Part IV A Synagogue by the River

Some press guy Benedetto is pissed because he finds out there’s a surprise papal visit to a synagogue Friday but he wasn’t alerted. He confronts the Vatican press office reminding them he promised to keep Pope’s real childhood under wraps in exchange for early access. Elsewhere, Casagrande meets with Father Brendisi and Don Pucci. They reluctantly agree that Pope needs killed and want the Leopard for it. Casagrande knows it’s a terrible thing to do but forges ahead with it anyway.

Gabe meets with Eli and Ari in Vienna. They argue over next steps and reveal the latest document. It’s a Nazi memo from Luther to Eichmann confirming the meeting sister Regina wrote about. They panic because making the doc public will just get swept away by the Vatican machine. They must alert the Pope his life is in danger. Gabe claims to know how, but needs back in Venice.

Casagrande visits the Leopard and gives him the Pope file on Brendisi and Pucci’s orders. (Spoiler: It wasn’t the Pope in the file!!)

In chapter 28 after Gabe notifies his fake boss in Venice, Gabe and Shamron lay it out for the Pope and Donati. Pope confirms it all as sister Regina’s letter is read to him. He was the little boy referenced in her letters. He is ashamed of the church’s actions or lack thereof and wants to heal by atoning to the Jews at their synagogue Friday. It’s dangerous, but they agree to send Gabe as his secret service despite Casagrande having labeled him as a papal assassin.

Lange descends on the synagogue while Donati and Gabe go over protocol for the Pope’s speech.  Lange goes to Vatican dressed as a priest and bluffs his way into the Pope’s office where he leaves some Manila envelope.  Brandisi is in his Secretary of State office, ostensibly penning letter of resignation per Pope’s request. Pope makes the speech. Gabe knows he’s safe now because murdering him would make him a martyr. He needed killed before he spoke…Lange finds Brindisi’s office and betrays the man that hired him by killing him in his office.

Chapter 35 closes out Part IV in Vatican City and damn, a well done third act??? Do thine eyes deceive me? Great chapter Mr. Silva. Chaos at Peter’s Square results in a bike chase between Gabe and Lange. Gabe wrecks and the Leopard escapes. Casagrande wanders thru the square, ashamed of his life but proud for “saving the church” by paying Lange to kill Brindisi instead of Pope. Carlo Casagrande finds a Vatican altar and shoots himself.

Part V: A Church in Venice

Gabe recovers in a Rome hospital suite normally reserved for the Pope. Ari and Chiara monitor. Pope and Donati visit. Gabe’s painting hand is the first thing to come out of his coma a week later.  Everything comes out. Brindisi is labeled the head of Vera Crux along with Casagrande and Don Pucci. Pope is cleaning house. Gabe recovers after a month and returns to restoring his Bellini with Chiara supervising. With one day of restoration work left, Gabe requests an audience with the Pope.  Pope tells Gabe the story behind Benjamin Stern. Donati was who gave him the Sister Regina letter. Pope feels culpable for Ben’s murder and seeks forgiveness from Gabriel Allon. Lange left a bullet in the Pope’s office with a note about how it could’ve been for His Holiness.

Five months later in Grindewald, Switzerland, Gabe kills the Leopard at his secret chalet with Chiara watching.

The reviewing is light, and the debriefing was heavy in this one. But by God, I love this franchise.