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    Cato's return
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    Cato's return
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    Cato's return
    Ebook728 pages13 hours

    Cato's return

    By Matilde Asensi

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    What could the Silk Road, the Sewers of Istambul, Marco Polo, Mongolia and Holy Land have in common? That's what the main characters of "The Last Cato", Ottavia Salina and Farag Boswell, will have to find out, putting their lives at risk yet again to solve a mystery that begins in the first century AD.
    Written with accuracy and a rhythm that keeps readers in suspense page after page, chapter after chapter until the very end, "Cato's Return" is an ingenious combination of adventure and history with which Matilde Asensi once again draws us in and doesn't let us go until the last word.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMatilde Asensi
    Release dateJul 27, 2017
    ISBN9788469751657
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for Cato's return

    3.5/5

    309 ratings12 reviews

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    • 5/5
      The action is great and the development of the story keeps you on your toes. So glad it was translated into English
    • 3/5
      In the vein of "The Da Vinci Code", "The Last Cato" is a mystery in which the main characters follow guideposts written in the Purgatory section of "The Divine Comedy" to find the organization behind thefts of pieces of the cross on which Jesus was crucified - 'Lignum Crucis'. The characters are an anthropologist, historian nun who works in a top secret section of the Vatican translating ancient writings; a Captain of the Guard of the Swiss Guard who works in the inner circles of the Vatican; and an archaeologist, linguist who is an expert in religious studies of the ancient world.The first chapter was very difficult to get through, very wordy and skipping between different topics as the female main character is described. After that, the book read wonderfully. It was fun, albeit a total fantasy of situations. The ending was way off the edge of reality, but still fun. The under-story is one of faith and our place in the world. The events the characters move through cause them to reexamine their lives and make crucial changes by the end.
    • 5/5
      Wonderful book! it is written in the style of "The Da Vinci Code" but it was written before Dan Brown's book. The author is very talented....I couldn't stop reading and then I felt sorry for having raed so fast, because I had fiinished the book!
    • 3/5
      Better than the 'DaVinci Code' but that's not saying alot. The book works up until the last few chapters, then it suffers the same flaw as 'The Divine Comedy' - writing about paradise is less interesting than hell. But that is one kickass nun!
    • 4/5
      I have absolutely no interest in The Da Vinci Code or any books of that sort, but I picked this up for two reasons: my last name is Cato, and it was only $2 for a hardcover at the Phoenix VNSA sale. Personally relevant and cheap!I was pleasantly surprised by this massive book. Once it got going, I was completely snared. The main character, Ottavia, is a high-ranking nun working in the Vatican. She specializes in ancient manuscripts and research, and therefore she's stunned when her superiors need her expertise in a new assignment - identifying unusual tattoos on the corpse of a dead Ethiopian. To complicate things more, the dead man was carrying along bits of the True Cross - the one Jesus died upon - and bears scarification that suggests a long-lost religious order may not be lost after all. Along with a stoic Swiss Army captain and brilliant Coptic Egyptian, the three of them work through linguistic riddles and discover the key to everything is hidden in plain sight - Dante's The Divine Comedy. As other churches around the world reel from the theft of their fragments of the Cross, Ottavia and the others rush to join this hidden order so they can stop the pilfering and confront the enigmatic leader of the group, Cato.Reading the book reminded me of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. This is an intelligent, well-researched book and it was a great deal of fun. The ending had a nice twist that was followed by a bit of a cliche, but that was fine. I was concerned that I'd go through all 458-pages and be disgusted by the ending, as I was recently with Edgar Sawtelle, but that wasn't the case here. It ended like it should. I have no regrets about this $2 purchase.
    • 4/5
      A Dan Brown-esque adventure based on a complicated MacGuffin using Dante's Divine Comedy to provide clues to the whereabouts of the True Cross of Christ. Actually, a pretty entertaining story, plenty of action and characters that are believable and grow as the book unfolds. Definitely a good summer read although not without drawbacks. The story behind the nun's Sicilian family was not really developed.Strangely, I found the passage of time in the book very hard to follow. Most of the action passes in hours, but then a sudden shift reveals months have gone by! The action seems to be described in short bursts with no linking narrative to convey the time passing as the characters follow their quest.A disappointment for me is the translation. The language is stilted and clumsy, most of the jokes falling flat or not being properly told. It may be the troubles with time are a result of this translation rather than the original novel. Asensi has been done a disservice here.
    • 4/5
      Great story involving a Professor, a Nun and a Swiss Guard Captain seeking out, on behalf of the Vatican, the secret sect that is stealing Christian relics. With Dante's Divine Comedy as their guide they negotiate all manner of tests in the pursuit. I found it to be an easy and enjoyable read. There is some predictability but also plenty of surprises. Overall its very well written - although I think that the translation into English stumbled in a couple of spots.
    • 4/5
      A fun "Indiana Jones" kind of novel. It is filled with almost superhuman " tasks" that have to be performed by a Swiss guard, a doctor of ancient documents and a professor. They use Dante " Divine Comedy" as reference. I enjoyed this novel
    • 4/5
      Although a bit hard to follow at times and dealing with some concepts I was not knowledgeable about, I did enjoy reading this book and particularly liked the woman character.
    • 4/5
      Being Catholic in Italy is a huge deal
    • 4/5
      Crossing the Globe in the Name of GodMatilde Asensi?s The Last Cato is a religious history mystery before the dawning of the Da Vinci Code that will certainly stimulate the intellectual reader?s mind. Sister Ottavia Salensi is a brilliant and esteemed paleographer that devotedly toils away for a classified division of religious antiquities in the underground belly of the Vatican. Her forte is deciphering and translating ancient documents. While working on a recent translation project she is interrupted by a resident reverend who informs her that she is being summoned by the powers that be upstairs, and is to report to her superior immediately to assist in the solving of a highly sensitive and secretive crime investigation. As this is not her area of expertise she is puzzled as to why they need her and can?t imagine how she can be of any assistance. The higher echelon of the Vatican, together with the local police, are investigating the death of a young Ethiopian man who has been brutally murdered and disfigured. Autopsy photographs show the man?s body covered with multiple tattoos and scar marks depicting Greek symbols and various styles of religious crosses. Her mission is to decipher and translate the symbols using her award winning expertise, and a sophisticated Vatican database used only by those with the highest level of security clearance. She is assigned a research partner, a Captain of the Swiss Guard named Glauser-Roist, a not so congenial a man who initially appears to have the personality of a pit bull. They are to work side by side in secret, conversing with no one. They are told the project is of the top most priority. She is told nothing about who the deceased man is, or what the case involved. She is to ask no questions.These two unlikely partners in crime work diligently for weeks on end. They finally make progress in the decipherment of the Greek symbols, and find the references they need about the crosses from spending many hours scanning internet databases and Vatican library archives. It all seemed to easy and quick and Ottavia is shocked when she is suddenly dismissed and taken of the case. But as swiftly as she is discharged, within days she is once again contacted and is back on board as new developments have been found. Pieces of the True Cross that have been secreted away in church reliquaries around the globe have been suddenly stolen. This new crime is linked with the dead Ethiopian man who was disfigured with tattooed crosses on his body, and is associated with his part as a member of the secret society group called the Staurofilakes; the Guardians of the True Cross. With a renewed interest in solving this mystery, the Vatican now invites a third party to the team, an Egyptian professor of antiquities from Alexandria, Professor Farag Boswell. This dynamic and often hilarious trio begin an adventure of a lifetime as they globetrot around the world visiting historic cities that are steeped in art and religion such as Rome, Syracuse, Ravenna, Jerusalem, Athens, Istanbul, Antioch and Alexandria. They have one clue to go on, the answer lies within the text of Dante?s The Divine Comedy, and within the pages of that famous literary work, is the answer to solving this villainous violation against the church. One enigmatic puzzle after another nearly drives them insane as in each city that they reach, they are to undergo tests of mental skills, physical pain and endurance, challenging intellectual translations of ancient texts. Their brains are picked for references to mythology, mathematics, literature, history and religious topics, all that when unraveled will bring them one step closer to the answer. Crawling through Roman aqueducts, swimming in Turkish fountains, rock climbing, descending beneath cathedral cloisters, walking through walls of fire and smoke, and running Marathons are just a few of the numerous challenges this trio of nun, guard and professor are asked to endure in the name of God.This novel is pure fun! Full of action, humor, history, world travel, codes and clues for the mystery buff, and a nice little dollop of romance too just to round out the many reasons why a book lover should read this book. I had read the author?s second book, Everything Under the Sky first and fell in love with her style of literary treasure hunts involving interesting and unlikely characters that team up to fight against the odds. Treasure hunts seem to be Asensi?s fictional forte and I look forward to more! Very entertaining novel!
    • 2/5
      Muy recomendable. Te mantiene intrigado hasta el final, que aunque ha sido criticado de demasiado fantasioso, es original e innovador. Además los lugares que describe y las constantes referencias a la Divina comedia de Dante hacen que no puedas dejar de leer ni un momento.