White Smoke — Andrew M. Greeley

A Chicago Cardinal faces sinister plots in the struggle to choose the next pope: “Maybe the best novel written about the intrigue of Vatican politics” (Chicago-Sun Times).

Chicago's Sean Cardinal Cronin and his assistant, Bishop John “Blackie” Blackwood, have travelled to Rome to take part in the next papal election. They lead a reformist coalition that has chosen a gentle and brilliant Spanish scholar as their candidate. But shadowy Vatican forces will do anything to prevent change and maintain their power.

A lone assassin stalks the Vatican, determined to destroy the next pope as soon as the traditional white smoke issues from the cardinals' meeting room -- the Sistine Chapel -- followed by the ancient words Habemus papam. Now the future of the Catholic Church hangs in the balance as Vatican City intrigue meets Chicago-style politics.