When I was reading the dialogue in Nelson DeMille's Cathedral, I couldn't help but think of former state trooper, Michael Proctor. Proctor was raked over the coals and lost his job because of the language he used when texting friends and colleagues. I read the same racial slurs, misogynistic language, profanity, and offensive remarks, and abusive names and slurs, used in Cathedral. That's the way cops talk.
Unfortunately, for Proctor, his texts were read. The cops in Cathedral are fiction. But when you're in war and sometimes cops and the bad guys are at war, one has to demonize the other to work themselves up to battle mode.
Basically, the plot is the IRA kidnapping the Archbishop of New York, and three others. The IRA is holding them inside St. Patrick's Cathedral and threatening to blow the church and everyone in it to smithereens, if their demands aren't met. What do they want? They want the IRA prisoners in Ireland released.
This is a nail biter. You kind of think that it will never happen, but how to solve the situation, had me stumped. There's a little mysticism involved. The leader of this group, Brian, had a mystical experience in Whitehorn Abbey, when he was saved from the police. Near the end, the cop defusing the bomb, felt her fingers dismantling the bomb when she hadn't a clue how to go about it. Also, Brian, when he was dying (spoiler) saw the same priest from Whitehorn Abbey, visit him.
The detailed strategy was excellent. The pace was fast. The dialogue was realistic. It's a classic thriller.
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