Overview: Vatican Daughter, from author Joni Marie Iraci, is a novel steeped in Italian culture, unafraid to confront Vatican corruption, and infused with suspense, thrills, and historical facts.

Verdict: Set in Rome and Venice - with a brief stop in Magallanes, Chile, and New York City - Vatican Daughter propels the reader deep into the heart of Italy.

Ensnared by its vivid descriptive language, you will be transported and immersed in this plausible, suspenseful story as it takes you through various cities, tasting their foods along the way, with different characters.

At the same time, you will meander along the medieval palazzos of Rome and Venice, sip the wine, explore the countryside, ride the train, step behind the walls of Vatican City and its papal gardens, and imagine experiencing the loss of a child at the hands of men who would go to any means to avoid the exposure of Vatican corruption, papal indiscretion, and the Vatican’s long-buried secrets.

In what is a wild ride that includes scenically-sculpted prose that takes in the Vatican City, the city-state surrounded by Rome, and, importantly here, the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church and the home of the Pope, along with some breathtaking envisionments of Magallanes, Chile, and a noisy New York City, Vatican Daughter: A Novel is a book that I didn’t know I was going to read in just two sittings - and yet I did.

At all times character driven, yet always mindful to create expansive environments for them to find themselves within for the readers mind’s eye, these aforementioned evocative settings tell one story, sure, but the main one, the spurred on, sometimes spiraling, deliciously complex narrative that drives all we read is just, well, a true blessing to behold upon every page turn.

Engaging, intriguing, profoundly impassioned and never once mundane, sure the captivating settings are a highlight of the storytelling, but without the thrilling prose, the exciting moments, the strong characters and their inert will to continue to push forward, this whole book could have just ended up being a travelogue for those seeking to visit the noted regions!

But it is far, far from being such a thing, as I hope I have successfully brought your attention to, for Vatican Daughter is more than just a thrilling tale, as it also features an artful balance of states - physical and mental - along with a healthy spoonful of historical fiction and family drama, all wrapped up neatly within a very well researched thriller ala The Da Vinci Code.

Simply put, Vatican Daughter by author Joni Marie Iraci is a story of a young woman who relentlessly searches for her child while coming head-to-head with the most powerful entity on earth. It focuses on serious female-centric issues and the Vatican’s controversial, scandalous, and hypocritical behaviors along with amiably taking you along for the ride at the same time.

About the Author - Joni Marie Iraci is a retired Registered Nurse who returned to school in her later years to pursue her love of writing, earning a BA from Sarah Lawrence College and an MFA in creative writing (fiction) from Columbia University. She is a member of the Author’s Guild and American Pen Women. When not writing or buried in a book, she loves tutoring essay writing to college-bound high-school students. She lives in Naples, Florida, and New York City.

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