The Harrowing
The Harrowing
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Set in 1993 in the fictional Southwestern American city of Alvarado, with flashbacks to events thirty years before, this dark psychological thriller and mystery tells of two brothers, Bruno and Fr. Mike Nolan, and the dark secrets of Msgr. Thomas DeLaval, an irredeemably fallen priest, and his hidden book of black magic.
It begins with Bruno, seeking peace, returning to his old home parish on Good Friday, still run by Fr. Sean Malachy. Now pursuing a graduate degree, Bruno is a barely-recovering alcoholic seeking to rebuild his ties with his ex-wife and their teenage daughter, Marie. In church, however, he realizes in horror that he had been molested while he was an altarboy many years before.
The next day it is revealed that the Pope will come to bless the new cathedral that is still under construction. But DeLaval receives a coded threat from an unknown rival and panics, pausing only to enlist a young male hustler, and to hide a mysterious book.
That night, Bruno attends Midnight Mass at the old cathedral with his family, where his daughter is serving at the altar for the first time. It is difficult for him, made more so when he observes the close relationship she has developed with his brother, Mike. Several years younger than Bruno, Fr. Mike is a rising star in the diocese. At the Mass, Bishop Arturo Chavez announces the papal visit to an ecstatic audience. But as they leave the church, DeLaval’s catamite leaps to his death from the roof, but Mike saves Chavez from being crushed. DeLaval stashes the book and flees.
Mike is celebrated as a hero the next morning at a family gathering. Bruno cannot contain himself and discloses his abuse. When he returns several days later to apologize, a television report causes him to recall his abuser, Fr. Philip Wilson, a crony of DeLaval’s and a notorious pedophile whose murder is still unsolved.
Bruno returns to Dr. Sophia Blackstone, the psychiatrist who had helped him sober up, and more memories surface. Lawsuits are filed. Bruno meets other abuse victims at a demonstration where he goes public with his allegations, and is drawn to a beautiful artist, Cas Mondragon. Meanwhile, Mike is tested when Chavez assigns him to cover up some of DeLaval’s crimes. Malachy is given the task of heading a Review Board to examine the allegations of clergy sexual abuse.
Protests at the Review Board meeting causes other victims to go public. Bishop Chavez’ own sins are revealed on national TV and he resigns in disgrace. The chancellor, Fr. Robert Cruz, takes command of the diocese, setting Malachy the task of trying to contain the damage. The Pope will not come now to Alvarado due to the scandal, so Cruz asks Mike to organize a pilgrimage to see the Holy Father in Denver.
Hearing of this, the fallen bishop enlists Mike in a desperate effort to save himself by relaying secret information to the Pope during the trip.
In the meantime, Cas and Bruno become lovers, even though she alarmingly displays multiple personalities. Bruno is having severe psychological problems himself, as his memories take on an ever more bizarre and sinister cast. He resolves to go to Denver too, there to assassinate the Pope if he can.
In the Mile High City, during World Youth Day, there are dramatic confrontations between Bruno and Mike and DeLaval. Most unexpectedly, Bruno is given his shot at the Pope, while Mike is denied his.
Once back in Alvarado, life gets much harder for all. Cas suffers a mental breakdown. Bruno faces his inner demons and finally realizes the full extent of the horrors he was subjected to by DeLaval and Wilson as a child. He spirals downward and begins drinking again.
Freaking out at a party, Bruno remembers enough to locate DeLaval’s book, the evil Codex de Arcanorum Diaboli, or Book of the Secrets of the Devil, proving his story. DeLaval learns of this, reappears and kidnaps Marie and Mike to get it back.
There is a violent climax at the cult’s gathering where Bruno is betrayed and captured. DeLaval seeks to use the Book to gain power and revive the cult, and the rival leader is revealed at last. In a final heroic struggle, Bruno fights to save his life and the lives of Marie, Mike as well as his own soul.
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Copyright © 2002, J. Nelson. All rights reserved.
