Cathedral

by Nelson DeMille and Nelson De Mille

Book Overview

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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 073940105X
• ISBN13: 9780739401057
• Release Date: January 1981
• Publisher: Delcorte Press
• Length: 575 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Great read, but dated

This is a great page-turner. Typical Demille... interesting story, great dialogue not to mention a twist at the end. Only knock is that reading it now, it deals with some dated issues (the IRA), but that aside it is a really good book.

Outstanding

I've read a number of books by DeMille.I've fouind them to be intelligent, well-written and highly entertaining.Cathedral, which describes an abortive attempt by some IRA defectors to blow up St Patrick's cathedral in New York, has deep resonance in view of the attack on the WTC.The plot was engaging and gripping. Flynn, the Irish protagonist was the perfect anti-hero. Indeed, I found myself longing for him and his band of conspirators to win - odd, as I spent a number of years fighting against the IRA in Ulster.Plots within plots, strings being pulled by unknown puppet-masters, the story drew me from page to page like a driven animal. I just had to find out what happened. The book was unputdownable!One thing i noticed (being English) is that Demille uses English forms of verb past tenses rather than American. Wonderful!! At last an author whose characters 'shone a light' rather than 'shined a light', who 'lit a cigarette' rather than 'lighted a cigarette'.I'd happily buy any book from this author.

An interesting Read!

This was a very interesting book. It had goos heroes,it had evil villains, and a very good plot. DeMille covered the situaion of the Seizing of the Cathedral very well. By using his characters in the story DeMille was able to show both sides of the situation. The history of the Irish scene was shown well by the use of the Irish terrorist Hickey. The use of Saint Patrick's Day as the day of invasion of Saint Patrick's Cathedral also came off very well. DeMille also used his police personnel very skill- fully to make the story interesting.Major Martin,the British Consulate in the story was established as a major villain in the story. The finale,the rescue operation of the Chapel was well done. The sniper,Leary came off as a cold blooded killer. The revenge on Major Martin was also good. This is a very well written book. A definite must read

Another must-read by DeMille

Cathedral is absolutely one of the top ten best books that I have ever read. DeMille gives the reader a great history lesson on the struggles of Northern Ireland, an indepth look into the psyche of the people who know no other world than one of violence begetting violence, and a glimpse at what our government officials will do to further their own careers no matter the cost. This is my fourth Nelson DeMille novel, and I find it interesting, having read some of is later works first,how his style has evolved over the years. I found that Cathedral read much like The Charm School as far as the writing syle went, and possibly Burke's character in Cathedral laid the groundwork for John Corey in DeMille's later works, Plum Island and The Lion's Game.With each novel I have a greater appreciation for DeMille. He may not pump out books every 6 months like some of constituents, but the time in between each novel is obviously spent doing painstaking research. He leaves no stone unturned.Keep 'em coming Mr. Demille

A must-read for any fan of the Irish

As someone who follows the troubles in Northern Ireland, and an addict of Irish legend and history, I found Cathedral truly mesmerizing. Demille captures the essence of Irish nationalism by drawing upon Ireland's unique history. In doing so, he not only brings the characters of Cathedral to life, but Finn Mac Cumail, the Fenians, and the Easter rising of 1916 as well. The book is a fast-paced, heart stopping read. A definate must!