Fun Nun On The Run!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                         When I saw this title I just could not resist it.  I mean, it is SO Catholic.  And I still needed some fun reading after "Anniversaries."

                                           This story is Catholic, all right, but it is not "The Song Of Bernadette."  It is flawed, and more in the genre of suspense than spirituality.

                                             The title eludes me. Because the plot hinges on a killing--the death of a priest suspected of abuse, and whether or not it was murder or suicide.  So, when I think of the title "The Sacrament," I am left wondering what sacrament is being referred to?  Killing is not a sacrament but a violation of the Ten Commandments; possibly, the harshest.  The only thing I can think of is Holy Orders, which is what a priest undergoes when he becomes such.  But the narrative contents deal more with a possible violation of that sacrament.

                                                Which may be the point.  Because, girls, the story involves Sister Johanna, young nun, whose secular name was Pauline, who is sent  by the Vatican to a remote church in Iceland, to investigate the death of a suspicious priest.  The nun has been struggling all her life with feelings of lesbianism; particularly for a girl named Hulla, whom she roomed with, while a student in Paris.  Nothing happened between them, nor has Sister Johanna acted on her lesbian feelings, but they are there, nonetheless.  While in Iceland, she tries to track Hulla down, with tragic, but insightful results.

                                                   The mystery, and the climax, are straight out of Hitchcock's "Vertigo," and there was a point where I figured out where the story was going.  Meaning it is not bad, but not a hallmark of the genre.  I read and enjoyed it, but that is about it,  Having never heard of Olaf Olafsson, who is written many books, I can say, with as little unkindness as possible, that nothing here inspired me to read him again.

                                                     "The Sacrament" will be loved by Catholics.  It is straightforward, not campy, and does engage the reader.

                                                        But is not a match for someone like William X. Kienzle, and his Father Koesler mysteries!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!