THE LAST CONFESSION

History relates that on Rome’s Campo dei Fiori square in February 1600, Dominican monk Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake as a heretic. West gives this historical figure an engaging, fictionalized voice, imagining Brother Bruno obtaining quills and paper from a fellow monk and writing his own story from a prison cell. Unfortunately, because of West’s death, the action stops in January--six weeks before the execution. So Beryl Barraclough, the novelist’s longtime assistant, added an epilogue, which brings things to a satisfying conclusion. Although James Condon trips slightly over Italian names, his voice rings with the prisoner’s indignation at the Inquisitors’ obtuseness. In Condon’s masterful portrayal, one man’s true confession becomes riveting drama. E.V. 2002 Audie Award Finalist © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 02]