Can a parish priest recruited by the mob survive?
Literary debut novel interweaving Catholicism, the mafia and movies is a read you cannot refuse
SAN FRANCISCO — When a parish priest gets unexpectedly drafted by the mafia to hear the confession of a man about to executed during a White Death tradition, he has no idea of the choices he is going to have to make in the near future. And that’s just the beginning of DEATH IN BLACK & WHITE (Ignatius Press) by first-time novelist Father Michael Brisson, L.C.
Brisson serves as councilor to the superior general of the Legionaries of Christ in Rome. He heads up their Department for Priestly Life. He spent several years working in the New York City metro area as a retreat master, spiritual director and local director for Regnum Christi, as well as supporting parish pastors in Westchester County.
When protagonist Father Christopher Hart gets eerily called on by the kindness of the mafia to guide poor souls to heaven before their impending deaths, he has no idea the ride he’s in for. He was used to caring about his dilapidated parish. Now he must unravel mysteries of betrayal and murder while trying to keep his own life and soul intact. His humor, wit and utter humanity are laid bare for the reader in DEATH IN BLACK & WHITE.
The book is far from preachy, as one may expect from a novel written by a priest. Instead, it is unabashedly human, with the star of the novel crashing from grace while trying to save his own life and the lives of those shoved in his path by the mafia. DEATH IN BLACK & WHITE is a true page-turning thriller that will leave readers guessing till the very end.
“Father Michael Brisson has the touch,” said Amy Harmon, New York Times bestselling author of here the Lost Wander: A Novel. “Death in Black and White is deft, humorous and smart with a constant, pressing tempo. Father Hart leaps from the pages, as real and wonderful as any character I’ve ever read.”
Visit the website for the book, FatherBrisson.com/books, where you can watch the YouTube playlist of trailers for all the movies referenced in the book and listen to a Spotify playlist for all the songs featured in the book; all the chapter titles in the second part of the book are names after classic movie titles, and the chapter titles in the third part of the book are named after songs.
For more information, to request a media review copy, or to schedule an interview with Father Michael Brisson, L.C., please contact Kevin Wandra (404-788-1276 or KWandra@CarmelCommunications.com) of Carmel Communications.
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