riages, births, divorces and death fill
the pages and hold the reader's interest.
Jaffe is a skilled writer who conveys
the excitement and the heartbreak of
young people coping with the vicissi-
tudes of life in New York. She has
written another popular piece of light
fiction that will surely and deservedly
become a bestseller. It provides pleas-
ant entertainment while offering some
useful insights into the vagaries of
human behavior.
— Morton I. Teicher
ready to make the movie (already
covers what Stern was working on and
not well received elsewhere in Europe.
optioned). Plenty of sex scenes, from the
what he had learned. Allon's inquiries
Among others, descendants of secret
man's point of view, are sprinkled through take him to Venice, London, the Vatican
Jews who fled from the Inquisition in
the novel, in case anyone was sleeping.
and a convent on Lake Garda.
Spain and Portugal made lives for
That's doubtful. This is an interest-
He incurs the wrath of a clandestine
themselves in Amsterdam, where they
ing tale and plausible enough for non- cabal within the Vatican that is deter-
enjoyed freedom. The Ma'amac4 a
scientist readers. Zeman holds a Ph.D.
mined to maintain secrecy about the
council composed of leading Jews who
from Johns Hopkins University and
actions and inactions of Pius XII.
had absolute authority, governed the
taught at the graduate level at
These conspirators are alarmed not
well-organized Jewish community.
Northwestern, Rutgers and Yale. He
only by Allon but by a new pope who
They employed agents who reported
appears to know his science.
is eager to promote better relations
any infraction of the rules, which then
A problem with the novel is its
between Catholics and Jews.
led to determinations by the council as
cliches, especially concerning women.
One step this pope wants to take in
to whether or not the violator was to
Desirable ones have an appealing,
this direction is to open the archives of be banned.
5-dustjacket vulnerable quality to go along with
the Vatican. In reality, this issue
In addition to the Ma'amad, the
being sexy, but other women are
recently gave rise to considerable con-
other
important establishment for pur-
THE PINOCCHIO SYNDROME
bashed. Why, for example, must over-
tention.
poses
of the story is the Amsterdam
By David Zeman
weight "spinster" Ingrid be given
Similarly, Silva refers to the actual
commodities
exchange, where for two
(Doubleday; 496 pp.; $24.95)
"ugly" slippers, implying no taste, as
attempt to kill John Paul II, the current hours each day salt, woolens, brandy,
she pads through the house?
pope, as backdrop for the nefarious
whale oil, sugar and other commodi-
avid Zeman, a
Another woman in her 40s is faintly scheme to assassinate his fictional pope.
ties were bought and sold.
new talent on
praised as "well-preserved."
Its inclusion in the story is typical of
In addition to trading what was
the scene, has
Also, via Karen, we're told: 'All
the factual underpinning Silva gives to
owned,
the members of the exchange
written an absorbing
reporters are drunks." What decade is
his novels. (In his 2002 book The
invented
gambling in "futures," bet-
thriller that draws
she working in?
English Assassin, Silva based his plot on ting on whether the price of a particu-
upon Western soci-
Luckily, the substance of The Pinocchio the truly scandalous behavior of the
- lar commodity would rise or fall.
ety's fears about ter-
Syndrome is better than its style.
Swiss during World War II.)
"Puts" and "calls," well known to
rorism, particularly
As The Confessor unfolds, the reader's stock market traders today, presumably
— Esther Allweiss Tschirhar
since Sept. 11.
interest is riveted on the exciting devel- had their origins in Amsterdam. This
The Pinocchio Syndrome is set in a
opments of this fast-paced shocker.
THE
CONFESSOR
kind of speculation led to many rumors
world fraught with danger — our
The novel has a special purpose that
By
Daniel
Silva
and
falsehoods designed to influence
world. Enter Colin Goss, a Nobel
goes beyond the substantial entertain-
(G.
P.
Putnam's
Sons);
401
pp.;
prices
by manipulating the markets.
Prize-winning biochemist and inde-
ment it provides. Set in Europe during
The
protagonist of The Coffee Trader
$25.95)
pendent politician. His tough stance
the immediate future, The Confessor
is
Miguel
Lienzo, whose family had
on punishing Arab terrorists appeals to
unmasks the unsavory past of the
he
eye-pop-
been
New
Christians in Lisbon. As a
many Americans, but others regard
Catholic Church while simultaneously youngster there, he had attended
ping
plot
of
him as a racist.
presenting those elements of the
the espionage
secret synagogues, so he particularly
As tensions rise in the country over a
Church that are a contemporary force
thriller
The
Confessor
enjoyed the openness of Amsterdam,
scary mystery illness, Goss seems to be
for good in the world.
builds
on
the
present-
where
he regularly attended study
eclipsing the president in popularity.
The Confessor is Silva's sixth success-
day controversy over
meetings at the Talmud Torah.
The administration is unable to explain
ful book. Each is a product of meticu-
whether or not Pope
He and his brother, Daniel, made
or stop the malady, which puts people
lous research, demonstrating in part
Pius
XII
should
be
their
living by trading on the com-
into a paralyzed, statue-like state.
the author's experience as a journalist.
canonized
as
a
saint.
modities
exchange. They had their dif-
Before their inevitable death, victims
Another aspect of his background
ficulties
financially,
so Miguel was fas-
His
years
as
pope
included
World
War
show the same defining characteristics:
that is reflected in his themes is the
cinated
by
the
possibility
of making a
II,
when
his
advocates
claim
he
quietly
a thickening of the hands and feet,
fact he was raised as a Catholic and
saved
Jews.
killing
in
coffee
futures.
which become like the donkey's
converted to Judaism as an adult.
An alluring Dutch woman, who pre-
But Pius' opponents insist his silence
hooves of the storybook character
All these elements — research, jour-
dicted
a demand for coffee was corn-
gave
approval
to
the
Nazis
as
they
tried
to
Pinocchio's school-skipping boys on
nalism and religious identity — com-
ing,
presented
the idea to Miguel. If
eliminate
all
of
Europe's
Jews.
Moreover,
Pleasure Island.
bine with superb writing skill to pro-
critics
of
Pius
XII
argue
he
helped
the
he
could
find
a
way to profit from this
Of course, there has to be a reporter
duce best-selling novels that properly
forecast,
she
would
invest money with
Nazi
war
criminals
who
escaped
to
South
seeking the truth. The plucky journal-
command attention.
him
and
become
his
partner.
America
post-World
War
II.
ist here is the beautiful Karen Embry,
— Morton I. Teicher
He accepted her offer, conjuring up
In the novel, Benjamin Stern, an
who begins sensing a government
a scheme for a trading combination
Israeli serving as a visiting history pro-
cover-up with the help of a "Deep
THE COFFEE TRADER
that would monopolize the market.
fessor
in
Munich,
is
brutally
murdered
Throat" type informant.
By David Liss
The
intricacies of Miguel's plan are
while
conducting
research
on
the
Another main character is an ambi-
(Random House; 390 pp.; $24.95)
behavior
of
Pius
XII.
matched
by a bewildering series of
tious young politician, Michael
deceptions
in which people are not
Since
Stern
was
once
associated
with
Campbell, often compared to John E
msterdam in
what
they
seem
to be.
the
Israeli
spy
organization
Mossad,
Kennedy, down to having a shy but pub-
the 17th cen-
This
complex
double-dealing is hard
spymaster
Ari
Shamron,
whose
ingenu-
licly admired wife like Jackie. Michael
tury is the
to
follow,
but
the
clear implication is
ity
and
contribution
to
Israel's
security
and his wife, Susan, are beautiful as well.
exotic setting for this
that
today's
financial
scandals had
are
matters
of
legend,
enlists
the
help
of
Joseph Kraig is the detective on the
slow-paced novel of
their
conspiratorial
counterparts
hun-
Mossad
member
Gabriel
Allon,
who
case, with ties to the Campbells and
intrigue. The open
dreds of years ago.
has
appeared
as
the
leading
character
in
attracted to Karen. He is beautiful, too.
hospitality of the
Liss' first novel, A Conspiracy of
two of Silva's previous spy thrillers.
All of these beautiful people will make
Dutch made this city
Paper, also was a convoluted account
Painstakingly
and
perilously,
Mon
dis-
the casting fun when Hollywood gets
vqw
a welcome haven for Jews who were
SUMMER READING on page 68
0 Et
D
T
A
6/20
2003