The Bishop and The Missing L Train (A Father Blackie Ryan Mystery)

On its face this narrative appears to be a mystery about the disappearance of a newly appointed auxiliary Bishop and the "L" train upon which he rides. The novel, however, is more about the Bishop than his disappearance. The book focuses on the lives and foibles of its characters and the joy of living. Since I enjoy people, I like this book. The Bishop and the Missing "l" Train covers three general themes. The first topic is the human suffering that is caused by a pedantic and often almost inhuman annulment process in the Roman Catholic Church. The second is the love stories of developing romance between Tommy Flynn and Christy Logan, and Jenny Carlson and her and Ned. The third thesis is the overwhelming unconditional love of God for "Her" beautiful creatures (Greeley insists that God is female and I tend to agree). The annulment question focuses primarily on the handling of appeals. Bishop "Idiot" Quill, when he served with the Sacred Roman Rota, an appeals panel that is the third level annulment court, reversed every annulment he adjudicated. This extremely conservative approach angered the tribunal above him (The Apostolic Signatura, which is like the Supreme Court of the Church), the priests who had helped couples process the annulments, and some of the married persons who were denied annulments. The romantic love stories are also curative cases where the participants need to be healed to love. Tommy must overcome his fear of women. Beth needs to feel accepted by her new family. Jenny struggles with her sexuality. God's unconditional and forgiving love is clearly displayed by both Bishop John Blackwood Ryan, call him "Blackie", and Mary Kate Ryan Murphy, a psychiatrist who is Blackie's sister. When handling sufferers in their respective ministries these wonderful characters willingly listen, care for the people, and share a healthy and loving view of God's kingdom. I enjoyed the simple mystery of the missing "L" and the discoveries about the missing Bishop. I reveled in the marvelous characters and their psychological and spiritual growth. Most of all I celebrated God's expression of unrelenting love for Her children.

This was a very entertaing read; I recommend it to new and old fans alike. I had no clue as to the mastermind but all the clues were there.

Father Andrew Greeley's Bishop John Blackwood Ryan (a/k/a "Blackie") is back! An auxiliary Bishop and the Chicago Transit Authority L train in which he was riding have gone missing. The missing Bishop is Bishop "Idiot" Quill - a pompous puppet of all the sillier positions of the Roman hierarchy. The nickname is a wink and an opportunity for Father Greeley to take literary potshots at Rome - a lighthearted continuing illumination of his theological and sociological convictions as revealed in his works - including _Furthermore!: Confessions of a Parish Priest_.This morally uplifting tale interweaves the lives of clerics and parishioners along the way of solving the mysterious matter of Bishop "Idiot's" disappearance. This reader will admit that I uttered an agonized moan upon the mention of Cindasue (see my previous review of _The Bishop and the Three Kings_) but, "Hallelujah!" she never surfaces enough in this book to open her mouth ;-)I laughed out loud during an interchange between Bishop Blackie and the former chairman of Bishop "Idiot's" parish council: "He (Bishop "Idiot") told us that we had no canonical powers and no right to meet except at his request. He warned us to leave or he would call the police. We left.""And went not gently into that good night?""I beg pardon?""You all were quite angry and so you raged against the failing of the light?"The parish functionary still doesn't "get it" - but we do, Father Greeley. You are an American treasure whose intelligence and wit bode well against the failing of the light.

Andrew Greeley continues his Bishop Blackie Ryan mysteries in The Bishop and the L Train. Greeley's protagonist is a misanthropic Chicago cleric who assists the Cardinal Archbishop in the leadership of the Archdiocese of Chicago. A funny, caustic and insightful character, Blackie is a kind of bumbling uncle whose eccentricities cloud his extraordinary intelligence.In The Bishop and the L Train, Greeley presents a funny story of an assistant or auxilary bishop being passed on to the Chicago Archdiocese by Rome -- despite the fact that he isn't wanted or needed in Chicago. Rome wants to get rid of him! Chicago knows him and would agree with Rome - if they had a choice. Bishop Quinn arrives and proceeds to be disruptive in Chicaqo. He quickly wears away good will on the part of parish members and fellow priests. In fact, Quinn angers many who have crossed his path. Quinn, and the entire train he is riding on disappears one night on his return from Spanish lessons. Cardinal Ryan assigns Blackie to the case. He's to find Quinn and the train.Blackie of course does as he is told and although finding the missing Bishop seems relatively easy; it is a greater challenge to figure out who did it. Greeley presents a clever story, an assortment of unusual characters, laughter, church politics and some good old detective work in each of his mysteries. L Trains fills the bill. The conversations about Bishop Quinn are absolutely hysterical and probably give greater insight into some church appointments than they might appear to. In addition to the central story of Bishop Quinn's disappearance, the story contains two poignant love stories with characters that eventually become significant to the investigation of the perpetrators of the missing Bishop. Greeley should write an ongoing serial featuring Bishop Blackie to keep fans going in between the full-length books. L Train is indeed another fine addition to the series.

Andrew Greeley has written another winner with this book. I love the way he intertwines two or three different stories. In this novel a very dense new bishop with his own agenda is kidnapped while riding an L train. The train, the driver, and the bishop disappear. The bishop has no shortage of people who hate him, so Bishop Blackie has a difficult time finding the kidnappers. The author has a real feel for bringing his characters to life. I don't know how college students in Chicago talk, but they don't sound like that in NY and haven't since the 80's. Other than that, I really enjoyed this novel.