Due to a passing in the family a few years ago and my subsequent health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for years after the bereavement. Thank you for the opportunity.

This novel is brilliant!

Cal Donovan was called by the Pope again – this time to investigate the debt the Roman Catholic Church owed the Sassoon family. Donovan needed to find the evidence before this 19th-century contract could be destroyed by the enemies of the Pope.

The story began with the financial reports in the Roman Curia, headed by the Pope. There was creative accounting reported by the auditor, and the Pope asked his secretaries to put everything right in the balance sheet. The Church was one of the first organisation to use the double-entry bookkeeping in the 16th century to find who were the corrupting clergies.

Cal Donovan was one of the thousand researchers who had access to the Vatican Archives, the secret place hiding from the public eyes. That place was typically the first location where Donovan usually started investigating the crimes against the Pope. He contacted the Sassoon family and asked them to keep their original document in a safe place.

I love this thriller whether the document was in the enemies’ hands. Well done, Glenn Cooper!

Caesar XIII

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

Cal Donovan is back in Rome during Christmas holidays from his teaching job at Harvard. He's enjoying his special privilege of unlimited access to the Vatican Library and Archives, researching for his next paper. As he's deeply engaged in a document, he comes across an interesting letter and follows its trail. It seems that in 1848 when the Papal States were under attack by revolutionaries, the Vatican borrowed a very large sum of money from the Sassoon Bank. The terms and circumstances all sound a bit shady. Cal continues to research this event but cannot find any evidence that the loan was ever paid back.

Knowing that Pope Celestine VI is concerned with the current financial situation of the Vatican, and Catholic Church in general, Cal pays him a visit. Yes, Cal has that special privilege too, as he and the Pope have developed a very special friendship. Pope Celestine is extremely concerned about this debt, and the mysterious occurrences surrounding it; so, he asks Cal to further research this loan. That research takes Cal back to New York City and almost gets him killed. Bodies are dropping all around him. Can he get to the bottom of this debt for the Pope and stay alive to return to Boston and his safe teaching job at Harvard?

THE DEBT is Glenn Cooper's third book in his A Cal Donovan Thriller series. Cal is a delightful, self- motivated character with many talents and interests. THE DEBT is a fast-paced religious conspiracy thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat and keep you there. Mr. Cooper employs the use of intermittent flashbacks to tell the back story of the ancient loan and the events that surrounded its origin and history. There is plenty of suspense, globe-trotting, blackmail, sabotage and even a little splash of romance in this dynamic thriller. You'll meet new characters, get reacquainted with old ones and learn some important lessons about the true business of the church ... altruism. This book can be read as a stand-alone, but you really don't want to miss the others in this series.

The Debt is third installment in the Cal Donovan series. I received a copy from NetGalley and Severn House Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Cal Donovan is a colorful, intelligent man who appears to be damaged, but, the reader does not really find out how and why until The Debt. I was interested enough in this series that I backtracked and purchased the first 2 books and I will have to double back and read those. The title sort of speaks for itself. The Vatican finds itself owing a debt which was undertaken many years ago from the Sassoon bank. It was not an ordinary debt because the leaders of the Church committed some horrible crimes to find themselves in the place they are in this book.

Cal has a sort of associate friendship that is developing as the series continues and he has been given exceptional rights to almost all the archives and libraries of the Church. He is a scholar at a university that requires research and publishing and he is working on his next work which leads him to find the papers that start everything in this book. He goes right to the Celestine with his findings and the reader is shown just how far some of the leaders of the Church are willing to go to protect what they think is most important, the treasures of the Church which have been gifted and collected over the years. This pope is reminiscent of the current pope who sees the role of the Church as serving the underprivileged and poor in society. Pope Celestine understands the risk of what he is undertaking but sees his calling as protecting the Church's calling which is rooted in the Bible and not in the hoarding of treasures even if it means bankrupting the Church.

The Debt is a great mystery and thriller which does a great job of reminding the reader of the contentious relationship that has existed between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people. It is always great to see stories that look at the history of that relationship and combine it with fiction. It is a great read and I cannot wait for the next installment. But, in the meantime, I have 2 books to backtrack and read before the next Cal Donovan story.

An interesting thriller that sees Professor Cal Donovan find a paper in the Vatican Archives that point to an old debt owed by the Vatican to the Sassoon Bank. Cal then goes on a search to find the original document for the current Pope, Celestine, which proves to be a hazardous occupation. Time and compound interest hasn't been kind to the Vatican and it now owes an astronomical sum to the bank. As Cal and Pope Celestine start negotiations with the bank, it comes to light that not all in the Vatican want the debt repaid...

I did enjoy this book, the main problem I had with it was it tended to get bogged down a bit in the middle. It had an excellent start and a satisfying end, but the in-between was, frankly, quite slow. However, it was all in all a rewarding read.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Harvard professor Cal Donovan, while looking through the Vatican libraries, discovers a 200-year-old-loan which the Vatican owes to a Jewish bank. With interest the sum of the debt is now 25 billion Euros. Pope Celestine asks Cal to meet with the Sassoon family, owners of the bank. Cal soon finds himself involved in more than he bargained for.

This is the 3rd book in the Cal Donovan Thriller series. I have read the other two books (Sign of the Cross and Three Marys) and have enjoyed both of them. This one does not disappoint either. I like the character of Cal Donovan and find him a very positive asset to the series. He is a good friend of Pope Celestine and comes to his aid whenever the Pope requests his help. I find the plots of these books to be very unique and full of interesting history. Glenn Cooper is an excellent writer and his books flow nicely and keeps the reader interested until the very surprise ending. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series and I would highly recommend them to those who love historical thrillers.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Severn House Publishers for a copy of this book for an honest review.

I love Glenn Cooper's pulse-raising thrillers. They're all heavy on the history, but the action never stops. I'm sorry to say that The Debt was not what I was expecting based on his other novels. The historical component is a big part of the plot, along with financial details of the Vatican and a plot about banking that slowed down the action. I was expecting more of a race against time and the bad guys to save the Catholic church instead of a series of strategic meetings to change its nature. I don't want to say too much because of spoilers but I'm firmly in the art-lover category and the final scene involving one of my favorite pieces of art made me scream in anger. Maybe this colored my perception of the novel and made it impossible for me to really enjoy it. Some parts are suspenseful enough, I was just disappointed in this one.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Severn House!

I've read Glenn Cooper since his first Library novel. His other books were totally on par with his library series. I found, THE DEBT to not be up to his usual standards. The conspiracy really isn't a conspiracy. As it was a researcher who found the "loan" to the Vatican two hundred years prior. It may have been different if it has been the family that found an old IOU. But, even then.. the Church would have just told them.. prove that we didn't pay it back.

**3.5 stars**

Whilst browsing the Vatican libraries, Harvard professor Cal Donovan comes across evidence to suggest that Pope Pius VIII received a loan of £300,000 some 200 years ago, from a Jewish Bank owned by the Sassoon family. With the accrued interest on the loan, it now amounts to an astronomical 25 billion euros!

The whole future of the Vatican, and the Catholic Church as we know it is in doubt if the Sassoons insist on full payment. There’s also concern about the inevitable backlash against those of the Jewish faith, for bringing about the downfall of the Vatican. It’s against this backdrop that Cal finds himself at the centre of the maelstrom involving the wealthy and powerful Sassoon family and the Vatican. The Sassoons include certain members who have their own agenda, and they’re not averse to using whatever methods they see fit, regardless of the legality of their actions. This is also true of certain Cardinals serving Pope Celestine.

Pope Celestine asks Cal to act as mediator, but this will be no easy task as there are spies afoot and rebels plotting and scheming on both sides, and it doesn’t just put Cal’s life in danger, but many others too, including Pope Celestine’s!

Cal doesn’t fit the archetypal image of a Harvard professor, he’s a hard drinking womaniser who’s pretty handy with his fists! Pope Celestine on the other hand is a warm, caring, loveable character, so you’d think these two would have nothing in common, but actually they get on famously. But with greed and corruption both within the Vatican and the Sassoon family, there are dangerous times ahead for both our protagonists, where human life means little when pitted against wealth and power!

Although I found it difficult to get into initially, the storyline picked up considerably, and there were some tense moments towards the end. The narrative flits effortlessly between the mid 1800’s and the present, eventually revealing why this debt was never repaid, and what happened to the Sassoon family 200 years ago, and that in itself makes for a chilling read!

5 stars
 In about 1848, the Vatican borrowed the considerable sum of 300,000 pounds sterling from a Jewish family named Sassoon. This was following the loan from another Jewish family named the Rothschilds. It was to be a completely secret loan; the loan papers were destroyed. Was it ever paid back? This forms the premise for Glenn Cooper's new novel The Debt.
While researching one subject in the Vatican archives, Professor Cal Donovan comes across a copy of the original loan papers that the Vatican had not destroyed. When presented to Pope Celestine, the Pope becomes quite worried. The Vatican finances are in a mess and this possible outstanding loan presents a great conundrum.
Cal is asked by the Pope to continue his research into the loan and while the Pope tells his closest advisors, he swears them to secrecy. But the secret gets out. Cal must now speak to the Sassoon family to whom the debt is owed. But the Sassoon family is entrenched in their own problems and their relationships are very messy.
This is a very well written novel as are all of Glenn Cooper's books. The writing is smooth and invites the reader to keep turning the pages as the story goes along. The transitions are very well done and almost flawless. I very much like Cal and Pope Celestine is a rare treat with his ferocious support of the poor and lesser fortunate in the world. I really like this book, but felt it was not quite as good as some of his others. No worries! It is still a very good read. I am very much looking forward to the next in this series.
I want to thank NetGalley and Severn House/Severn House Publishers for forwarding to me a copy of this very good book for me to read, enjoy and review.

Glenn Cooper has written a "thriller" that pushes all my buttons:
. . . . the hero is an erudite East Coast academic who also has "bad boy" tendencies;
. . .. the plot centers around art and artifacts of historic interest;
. . .. and , the Catholic Church plays a central role (but NOT for religious reasons).

THE DEBT may not be for the fervently religious reader because it presents the Catholic Church (over the centuries) as a less than sacred entity. But, it is a ripping good story and the protagonist, Cal Donovan, is fascinating to follow He is smart, but imperfect and how many fellas have the Pope as a new best friend?

I enjoyed everything about THE DEBT and will look forward to following Cal Donovon on future adventures.

NETGALLEY provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Severn House and the author, Glenn Cooper, for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of The Debt in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.
I was so excited to receive my review copy of this book. I have always been a fan of this author,and the premise of this book sounded so promising. Mr cooper certainly delivered.
I loved the storyline which I thought was well written, descriptive and full of atmosphere. I was hooked from the start, drawn in to the web of intrigue along with the central character, Cal. There were so many OMG! moments that you just don't see coming. This book was certainly worth staying up into the early hours of the morning to finish.
Definately well worth a read.