The Third Secret by Steve Berry

An excerpt from the Prologue:  Fatima, Portugal.  July 13, 1917.  Lucia stared toward heaven and watched the Lady descend.  The apparition came from the east, as it had twice before, emerging as a sparkling dot from deep within the cloudy sky.  Her glide never wavered as She quickly approached.  Her form brightening as it settled above the holm oak, eight feet off the ground.

The Lady stood upright.  Her crystallized imaged clothed in a glow that seemed more brilliant than the sun.  Lucia lowered her eyes in response to the dazzling beauty.

...The form was transparent, in varied hues of yellow, white, and blue.  The face was beautiful, but strangely shaded in sorrow.  A dress fell to Her ankles.  A veil covered Her head.  A rosary resembling pearls intertwined folded hands.  The voice was gentle and pleasant, never rising or lowering, a soothing constant, like the breeze that continued to sweep over the crowd.

...The Lady opened Her clasped hands and spread Her arms.  A penetrating radiance poured forth and bathed Lucia in a warmth much like that of a winter sun on a cool day.  She embraced the feeling, then saw that the radiance did not stop at her and her two cousins.  Instead, it passed through the earth and the ground opened.

This was new and different, and it frightened her.


Backcover blurb:  What is the Third Secret?  It is rumoured to be a prediction so shocking that it has been locked away for over 80 years.  But when it is finally revealed in 2000, it seems puzzling, less than sensational.  Is something being held back?  Could this be what is drawing Pope Clement XV to the Vatican archive, night after sleepless night?

When Father Colin Michener is sent on a secret mission to the highlands of Romania, he is pitched into a vortex of suspicion, deceit, murder and forbidden passion.  Suddenly, he is forced to face the very thing that has so distressed the Pope - and to unravel a mystery that will shake the world.

My thoughts:  As Berry wrote in his note, "The Catholic Church is unique among man's institutions.  It has not only survived for more than two millennia, but continues to grow and prosper.  Yet many wonder what will be its fate in the coming century.  Some want to fundamentally change the Church.  Others want a return to its traditional roots.  But perhaps Pope Leo XIII, in 1881, said it best - The Church needs nothing but the truth."  

There is without argument an imperceptible line between the truth and a lie.  The question that keeps arising is should we know the truth so that we can lie or is the latter used to cover up the former?  To have faith means to accept what the Lord has done without question and to have total devotion to the Lord.  Be happy in the knowledge that God is alive!  Why must we always question the meaning of things?

The Third Secret, a stand-alone book, is part fiction and part fact, but even more so...this one contains a wealth of reality.  I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and have come to rely on Berry's books for the two Es, "education and entertainment."  I think it would be prudent to know how to sieve fact from fiction and not to take certain information too seriously when you read this book.  Instead, have faith, sit back, put your feet up and enjoy this bestseller from a highly knowledgeable author.

More fascinating information, thought-provoking questions, images and others can be found on Steve Berry's official website.

Rating:  5/5