Cathedral

by Nelson DeMille

1998

Status

Available

Genres

All Topics

Fiction

Collection

Standard Shelves

Publication

Warner Books Inc (1998), Edition: Reprint

Description

Fiction. Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. St. Patrick's Day, New York City. Everyone is celebrating, but everyone is in for the shock of his life. Born into the heat and hatred of the Northern Ireland conflict, IRA man Brian Flynn has masterminded a brilliant terrorist act the seizure of Saint Patrick's Cathedral. Among his hostages: the woman Brian Flynn once loved, a former terrorist turned peace activist. Among his enemies: an Irish-American police lieutenant fighting against a traitor inside his own ranks and a shadowy British intelligence officer pursuing his own cynical, bloody plan. The cops face a booby-trapped, perfectly laid out killing zone inside the church. The hostages face death. Flynn faces his own demons, in an electrifying duel of nerves, honor, and betrayal.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Joles

Cathedral is well written and fast moving. There is no time to put this book down. The story is compelling and very telling of the way things really work among politics.

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LibraryThing member itchyfeetreader

This book was wrtten in the late seventies and early eighties and tells the tale of a hostage situation is Patricks Cathedral by a breakaway Irish group attempting to force the release of a number of IRA prisoners. In the abckdrop is a shady British army officer who appears to influence the

situation for his own, less than clear aims.

Like all DeMille novels this is pacy and well written however the characters are difficult to connect to and on balance this has not dated well

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LibraryThing member creighley

Brian Flynn and other members of the Fenians (IRA) have taken over St. Patrick's Cathedral in N.Y.

LibraryThing member ChrisNorbury

Masterful storytelling, interesting premise. Demille did a nice job keeping all the characters distinct, but to do that he did a lot of POV switches in mid-scene, which took a few chapters to get used to.

LibraryThing member mamashepp

I read this book when it first came out and found it gripping. I got such a vivid picture of the scene that when I went to NYC I made a point to visit St. Patrick's Cathedral and sat there amazed by how closely my mental picture (as painted by DeMille) matched the reality.

LibraryThing member mamashepp

LibraryThing member Carol420

The whole story takes course in just one fateful day. In New York City, while people are happily celebrating St. Patrick's Day, they are unaware of an ingeniously masterminded terrorist act taking place. A renegade group of IRA terrorists have taken over St. Patrick's Cathedral, taking hostage four

VIPs in the city. The leader of the terrorists is Brian Flynn, a man devoted to the cause of freeing his family and friends imprisoned by the English in Northern Ireland. The terrorists threaten to destroy the Cathedral and kill the hostages, if their demands are not met by dawn. The world is watching, waiting for the final outcome of dawn, as the 'electrifying' duel between the Police and the terrorists ensues. This is an exceptional book overall, with a great plot, detailed and interesting characters, and realistic human drama. I strongly recommend this book for everyone, whether you like action, drama, romance, or mystery, Cathedral is all that and more.

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LibraryThing member gaillamontagne

Read by Scott Brick, a master of the male voice with correct accents and distinctions between each character. Written in 1990, this is a story about a dark side of the Irish people. This story is bringing to light the political power struggle of the English and Irish. It is a story of an extremest

group of Irish citizens who call themselves "The Finninians" led by Brian Flynn, who believe they are mystically or naturally descended from the peoples who lived in Ireland pre-St. Patrick. They have no respect for either Protestant or Catholic but are protesting, violently or otherwise against imprisonment of Irishmen and for protesting against English laws.

The festivity of St. Patrick's Day explodes into a nightmare of bloody violence when an extremist offshoot of the IRA takes New York City by siege. They've kidnapped four prominent citizens and are threatening to end all their lives - and demolish the beautiful St. Patrick's Cathedral - unless their fanatical demands are met.

I think DeMille intends to educate Americans about the useless violence and political stubbornness of both the Irish and English. Also, the book speaks of a Special Powers Act, by the British to incarcerate Irish citizens who are suspected of violence or political crimes and put into what the Irish describe as concentration camps. Under this Act, prisoners do not have the same rights as other prisoners. It is interesting, vividly descriptive, but very long winded and drawn out. Many, many police names which are easier to keep track of in a visual format. By the time I got to the end of the story, I lost interest. I still finished it though.

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