posted on 26 Jan 2022

The Seville Communion by Arturo Perez-Reverte

Literate, even literary, page-turners are hard to come by in my experience. One writer who seems able to turn them out with aplomb is the Spanish author, Arturo Perez-Reverte. I’ve already reviewed two of his novels on this site – The Dumas Club and The Flanders Panel – and both were intriguing, engaging reads and this book released in Spanish in 1995 and translated into English in 1998, continues his seemingly effortless ability to spin a yarn.

Looked at objectively, this plot is really a little threadbare and the solution less than astonishing but the twists and turns, the characterisation and the sheer pacing of the action allows Perez-Reverte to conjure-up the illusion of something much more substantial than it actually is.

Set within unending conflict that exists between the political and religious identities of the Roman Catholic church, the story hinges on the fate of a dilapidated church in Seville that its priest and flock seem prepared to do anything they can to keep as a functioning place of worship. They do this in spite of the aspiration of circling development bankers and an indifferent Catholic hierarchy who would be more than happy to see the land sold for redevelopment.

The book begins with a computer hacker finding a way into the Pope’s own email site and leaving him a gnomic message about the fate of Our Lady of the Tears in Seville and the suggestion that two recent accidental deaths there may not have been accidental at all but an attempt to save the church from is seemingly inevitable closure and sale. Enter our hero, Father Lorenzo Quartz, trouble-shooter extraordinary and a man of single-minded focus. He just happens to combine these qualities with the looks of a Catholic James Bond.

Quartz is dispatched to find out who the unstoppable hacker is and he finds himself in the middle of an extraordinary cast of characters – some more stereotypical than others. Quartz has to try his best to uncover the truth of what’s going on despite the reluctance of the old-school priest, Father Ferro, his dedicated assistant, Father Oscar and a sort of plain-clothes nun, Gris Marsala all of who seem determined to confuse the Vatican’s man.

And, of course, there’s the obligatory femme fatale, Macarena, who will test Father Quartz’s vow of celibacy. And she just happens to be the estranged wife of the unpleasant banker, Pencho Gavira,  who stands to gain most from the land deal that will follow the closure of the church – and so the strands entwine and become increasingly complex.

But also in the best tradition of Chandler or Hammett, there’s also some humour that runs through the book and which both simultaneously heightens and deflates the tension of the lurking violence. Gavira has hired a gang of three astonishingly inept hoods to follow Quartz and do eventually undertake an inept kidnapping of Father Ferro. The three are the stuff of absurdity and, ultimately, pity: Don Ibrahim, a defrocked lawyer and Sidney Greenstreet look-alike; El Potro de Mantelete, former punch-drunk boxer who is especially loyal but incredibly stupid; and, former Flamenco singer and dancer, La Nina Punale now a raddled and hopeless drunk.

Will Quartz be able to navigate his way through this maze and uncover the identity of the hacker? Will his vow of chastity remain intact or not? And what will he learn from his contact with this interface between God and Mammon?

Well, I’ll leave you to find this out for yourself because the real pleasure of this book lies in letting go of your critical side and engaging in a good dollop of suspended disbelief. If you can do that I can pretty much guarantee you’ll love the book.

Available in paperback and hardback for under a tenner.

 

Terry Potter

January 2022