In Fox River, Illinois, the St. Hilary Senior Center under the auspices of Father Dowling has become quite an interesting place. The recent addition of two senior citizens, former radio star Jack Gallagher and retired college English professor Austin Rooney have joined the group. These two rivals are simply not the best of friends even though they were related through blood. They both love Jack's daughter Colleen and would do anything for her, perhaps even murder.

After praying endlessly to Saint Anne for a man, Colleen is going to marry attorney Mario Liberati. However, Colleen's elation is disturbed when someone kills legal siren Aggie Rossner, who tries to seduce Mario. The police suspect Jack, but Captain Phil Keegan turns to Father Dowling to help sift through the clues.

Fans of the Father Dowling series will enjoy TRIPLE PURSUIT though the tale seems even more leisurely than the usual cozy. The story line slowly simmers as readers meet all the key players in such a way that the audience comprehends what makes the individual tick. Any person, who relishes action, should pursue a different type of novel. However, those fans of the series or who just likes a gradually evolving who-done-it starring an interesting amateur sleuth will find the latest entry quite the thing.

Harriet Klausner

Ralph McInerny is one of my favorite mystery writers. A philosophy professor who has taught at Notre Dame for forty years, he is a noted scholar whose novels reflect his knowledge of the vagaries and virtues of the human heart. In "Triple Pursuit" we are again in Fox River with Father Dowling, his staunch housekeeper, Marie Murkin, and his pal Detective Phil Keegan. This is a marvelous yarn whose theme might be "cherchez la femme." Once again McInerny treats us to the interior lives of characters large and small, like the pretty young mother, Jane, who looks forward to private morning time after her husband is off to work and her children to school; or to the aging priest who continues to serve a parish despite nearly crippling arthritis. McInerny is a mature fiction writer who writes equally well of women and men, something that cannot be said for a lot of younger male writers. Kudos to him for this latest novel, and may he give us many more to enjoy!

TRIPLE PURSUIT is one of the better Father Dowling mysteries. Readers who are familiar with this series will feel right at home with the usual cast of regular characters and some interesting new ones. There are 3 murders involved (plus another possible one, disguised as a suicide), and several of the more sympathetic characters take turns as suspects. Father Dowling doesn't really get involved in the actual investigation until near the end, and then his involvement is rather rashly independent. A suitable culprit is finally nabbed, and everyone lives happily ever after.

If this sounds rather flippant, it is very affectionately so. I really don't read the Dowling novels for the mysteries, but for the interplay among the fascinating people who inhabit the books. The warm, intelligent and conscientious Dowling himself, his nosy, officious housekeeper, his close friend detective Captain Keegan, Keegan's calm and capable assistant Cy Horvath, the rascally shyster Tuttle (who turns out to be something of a hero in this novel), and Tuttle's empty-headed cohort Peanuts Pianone, who is both an inept cop and a member of the local mob family, all play appropriate and believable parts in the plot. The additional characters for this novel add humor, love, sex, betrayal, and basic human emotions in a realistic blend of events and relationships.

If you want a blood and thunder action mystery, this is not it. The violence is there, but it is downplayed, and the emphasis is consistently upon the shifting relationships among the characters. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this latest novel in an intelligent and well-written series.

Sacchi's learned and erudite critique of Heidegger amounts to a complete rejection of Heidegger's insights based on the thesis that Heidegger's system does not allow for fruitful philosophic reflection, whereas the Scholastic-Thomist system does allow for deep reflection on the science of being.

I picked up this book expecting that Sacchi would thematize both the "Apocalptic" or revelatory aspect of Heidegger's thought as well as explicating the "esoteric" and "gnostic" aspects of Heidegger's early and later works. I was sadly disappointed, for Sacchi offers neither.

Instead Sacchi offers a sustained polemic (or more properly an apologia) in favor of Scholastic methods of metaphysics and against Heidegger's seemingly illogical and confusing attempts at approaching the question of being. It seems to me that Heidegger is saying something like: if we thinking about being using the tools and methods of Scholastic thought, we are already looking for a certain kind of being; whereas if we suspend one or more of these methods perhaps another kind of being will disclose itself to us. While this might be a radically different kind of investigation, I find Heidegger's claim not to be entirely disconnected to traditional philosophy as Sacchi wants to claim.

A more troubling quibble, Sacchi repeatedly argues that Heidegger follows in a line of idealistic thinkers from Parmenides to Kant to Hegel. Heidegger himself thought his system completely escaped the realism/idealism debate (we can dispute his claim, but we would need to understand why Heidegger thinks he can claim this).

Moreover, I particularly want to object to the claim that Parmenides is an "univocist monist" (p. 27). Some contemporary Parmenidean scholars (I'm thinking in particular of P. Curd: The Legacy of Parmenides) argue that the charge of monism is without foundation. Long before our modern debates about monism, dualism and pluralism, Parmenides articulated an original and altogether logical exposition of the meaning of being. I would be very interested if Sacchi or other Thomists could articulate a Scholastic response or commentary on the extant fragments of the Eleatic as it seems that Parmenides might have a lot to offer to philosophers who are rigorously and systematically trained.

Sacchi's claim that Heidegger is an alter Parmenides (p. 35) stands in tension with Sacchi's claim that Heidegger rejects traditional logic. If Heidegger rejects logic, then he would reject Parmenides too, for Parmenides relies above all else on the principle of non-contradiction as the first law of thought and of being to unfold his entire exposition of being. If however Heidegger is to be our alter Parmenides (in the line of idealistic monism as Sacchi claims), then Heidegger cannot reject logic. This tension seems to strike at the heart of Sacchi's treatment of Heidegger as both anti-philosophical and the end of a long line of idealist thinkers.

Stanley Rosen's The Question of Being: a Reversal of Heidegger is a much more sympathetic articulation of what's wrong with Heidegger, and I recommend Rosen's book very highly.

I waited at least 6 months for this book to finally become available. My anticipation was magnified by the remarkably cogent and faithfully Thomistic essays written by Mario Enrique Sacchi and posted at the Jacques Maritain Center. I still consider him to be one of a handful of the sharpest Thomists out there.

But, alas, the book fell far short of my expectations. The previous reviewer mentioned in a review of Caputo's Book on Aquinas and Heidegger that Thomists might prefer this more polemical work by Sacchi. Unfortunately, I think that the only people who will wade through this book at all are dyed-in-the-wool Thomists, which, given the capacities of the Argentine author, is a real disappointment. In fact, I now wish I had rated Caputo's book more highly, so that I would not equate the level of argumentation in the two by a common three-star rating.

This book, short as it is, could have been a lot shorter still. It seems to circle about in the same polemical tracks without showing for this any significant gain in understanding. In fact, Dr. Sacchi really missed the point on which the debate between Aquinas and Heidegger turns. Using Heidegger's terminology of the "ontological difference" between "being" and beings and the "theological difference" between the First Being (God) and beings, the two thinkers give a different priority to them. Aquinas makes the "ontological difference" subordinate to the "theological difference"; Heidegger does the opposite. So the burden of refuting Heidegger is to show that the "ontological difference" is indeed subordinated to the "theological difference". And that would require a deep investigation of the meaning of the "analogy of being" in Saint Thomas. That really does not take place, and I do not recall so much as a single productive reference to Thomas' "analogy of being". Rather, there is too much circular reasoning of the sort which says that Heidegger's mistake was that he was not a Thomist and did not understand the centrality of the act-of-being ("esse"). I think that Caputo in his own work showed decisively that repeating this word like a mantra does not really get at Heidegger's critique, because act-of-being ("esse") and essence ("essentia") would be another pair of poles in which "being" reveals itself, but in no way capture "being" exhaustively. Esse/essentia would merely be a temporally conditioned revelation of "being", but "being" itself withdraws from us.

Perhaps I will read the book again at some point to further sift his arguments. But I am far more inclined to reread Caputo at this point.

Sacchi competently shows how Heidegger's use of the term "Being" is so nebulous that it cannot function as a sufficiently refined notion for a truly penetrating "thinking on being". By contrast, Sacchi explains, Aquinas' doctrine of "esse" (the act of existence) serves well for deep metaphysical reflection on God and His creatures (angels, man, animals, plants, minerals). Heidegger erred in departing from the traditional Scholastic machinery of potency/act, essence/existence, matter/form, substance/accidents. Only with these concepts ready at hand can one lay a firm philosophical foundation for theology and apologetics.
It seems to me that Heidegger's "critique" of the so-called "oblivion of being" by the Scholastics can be answered with a mere shoulder-shrug. I don't see how it is really a negative criticism (at least not anything devastating or monumental) to point out that they are "guilty" of promoting a congealed ontology of "sheer presence" rather than Heidegger's favored "emergence" or "unconcealment" or "presencing within absencing". It is doubtful whether this sort of "thinking about being" goes anywhere that is relevant for either philosophy or theology; it seems to lead to a dead-end, by contrast with the richly honed tools of Thomistic metaphysical analysis.
From my perspective, the question of the "theological difference between God and creatures" versus the "ontological diff-erence between Being and beings" can be answered with Aquinas' doctrine on the analogy of being. "Ens commune" can be truly predicated of both God and creatures (all of whom are "beings"), but in radically diverse ways according to an analogy of proper proportionality (since creatures have an "essence" that is a limiting potency for their "act of existence", which is not the case for God who is "Ipsum Esse Subsistens"). There is no need to seek refuge in a notion of Being as "unconcealment" or "emergence into the clearing" or "presencing within absencing". These insights (whatever their value) do not seem anywhere near as helpful for philosophy and theology as Aquinas' Aristotelian-Platonic Scholastic machinery.

st. thomas aquinas was not a philosopher. he was religious. nuff said

First of all, I am not Roman Catholic, but a memeber of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, so I have a bias--in the other direction!

However, my denominational difference does not diminish my burning admiration for this theological Godzilla. Gov. Jesse Ventura once commented that religion was for weak-minded people. I don't think "The Body" could last two rounds against "The Dumb Ox." In fact, I would prefer Aquinas over Socrates, Plato, and Aristoltle . . . combined!

This book is the best survey of this Catholic's corpulent corpus of comentary. Included are ample slices of the Summa Contra Gentile and Summa theologica, including selections from his essays on Law and Happiness. Another gem is a selection from Aquinas's comments on Boethius's "On The Trinity."

The selections cross the time and space of Aquinas's life, but morte importantly you get a cross-secton of his thought on everything.

I would reccomed this book to any good Catholic, or any curious non-Catholic. It is also useful for philosophy students, and honest truth-seekers everywhere.

ONLY ONE MISTAKE: Ralph McInerny left out "The Five Ways" of the proof of God's existence. This is like doing a boigraphy on George Lucas and not mentioning Star Wars! An unforgiveable sin! Hence, I took one star off my rating.

This is a compilation of works written by Aquinas. The book is edited by Ralph McInerny (Notre Dame) and contains all the important works of Aquinas. For instance, some of the works (or parts of works) included are: On Being and Essence, Theology, Faith, and Reason. On Boethius, The Meanings of Truth, On Creation, On Human Choice, On Law and Natural Law, The Virtues, The Logic of the Incarnation, Exposition of Paul's Epistle to Philemon, and much, much more. Moreover, McInerny includes a nice introduction that discusses Aquinas's life, works, and the impact of Thomism through the centuries. There is also a Chronology that includes important dates and events. This book is 841 pages of total Thomas. It is a great work to have if you are wanting to simply read some of the more important works by Aquinas or if you are wanting to dig a little deeper into the works of Aquinas. ... I highly recommend this book.

WWWWVT is not true to its title. It devotes perhaps two chapters to the Second Vatican Council, and spends the rest giving a background and the public reaction to Paul VI's encyclical, Humanae Vitae. However, I feel that the issues that arise from HV are the same as those due to Vatican II. The problem with authority in the Church is at the frontline of today's liberal Catholic controversy. The dissenting theologians, priests, and bishops turning their backs on Rome is discussed at length in this book. I believe this is a truly orthodox work, and worthy of study by ALL Catholics. This is the first step to reunion within Church and a reconciling between conservative and liberal Roman Catholics.

. . .about the crisis of authority in the Catholic Church today. Like a previous reviewer, I also note that this book discusses Humanae Vitae far more than Vatican II -- but agree that the fundamental issue IS one of authority in the Church and that the same clerics who wished to deliberately mis-represent the Council are also the ones who protested so vehemently against Humanae Vitae.

From the perspective of this non-Roman Catholic reviewer, it is the authority structure available in the Catholic Church which makes it so attractive and Dr. McInerny's strong call to the Church to exert the authority God has given them is refreshing.

History has demonstrated time and time again that Christianity cannot function either by democracy or by kowtowing to the lowest common denominator. Kudos to Dr. McInerny for bringing to the fore the REAL problem in the Catholic Church over the last 40 years.

The book's central argument is that with the publication of Humanae Vitae in 1968, liberal, progressive and modernist Catholic theologians, who had anticipated that Pope Paul VI would change the church's teaching on contraception, were infuriated with the encyclical's teaching, which supported and reinforced the Church's traditional teaching on marriage, family and contraception. Angered, and emboldened by "the cultural revolution that has shaken the West: the radical liberal ideology with its individualistic, rationalistic, and hedonist cast," these theologians openly, aggressively and maliciously revolted against the Church's Magisterium.

Progressive and modern theologians have maintained this position for thirty years, ridiculing and criticizing all letters, teachings and encyclicals of the Church and Magisterium. They espoused questioning all Magisterial authority while asserting their authority to dissent, and the lay Catholic right to "decide everything according to their own conscience." Additionally there have been shameful liturgical abuses that were never anticipated or promulgated by Vatican II, yet all done under the 'spirit of Vatican II.'

Dr. McInerny asserts that Vatican II affirmed and restated the traditional teachings of the Church and all prior councils. What went wrong at Vatican II is "not with the documents that were promulgated, but the false interpretations of them in the post conciliar period." Concomitantly, the dissension of so many theologians has thoroughly confused the Catholic laity and the confusion and dissension infected every aspect of the Church's life and teachings during the past 30 years. Dissent became good, more dissent was better!

What is the crisis in the Church? "The crisis consists in a conflict of authorities. And that crisis has become progressively more complicated. Catholics who took the word of the theologians that they could practice contraception, later had to take their word that they could defy the Magisterium and remain loyal Catholics. Soon they were at ease with their malformed consciences. Their ears grew evermore deaf to the Church's voice as expressed in Vatican II and in so many subsequent pronouncements."

Finally, the intuitive professor states that the crisis can be resolved by referencing Pope John Paul II's encyclical Veritatis Splendor. Christ gave the Church as the means of salvation and the Holy Father the task of teaching to each person who desires salvation. McInerny affirms that we need a change of heart and "that it will be by following Mary's wishes as expressed to the children at Fatima that the promise of Vatican II will be fulfilled. She advised prayer and fasting ... that will drive out the demon of dissent and fill the Church once more with the great hope and optimism of Vatican II."

This work is confused. McInerny tries to separate the logic of analogy from its real foundation in being. His criticisms of Cajetan just don't seem to hit the mark. The confusion can be summed up in his statement that "analogy" is itself used analogously. Well, if there is not some sense in which "analogy" is used univocally, then "analogy" loses any definite meaning. It becomes simply the night in which all cows are black. If you want to read something better by McInerny, read his translation and commentary on Aquinas' Disputed Question on Virtue. Ethics appears to be his forte.

This work is confused. He tries to separate the logic of analogy from its real foundation in being. If you want to read something better by McInerny, read his translation and commentary on Aquinas' Disputed Question on Virtue. Ethics appears to be his forte.

I found the book clear enough. To those with an honest desire to understand reality on a sounder basis than many contemporary philosophies allow,I highly recommend this book.To those who want live in a well paid soft focus world I commend the previous reviewers

Ralph McInerny writes good mystery. Notre Dame fans in particular will enjoy this story set on the campus. It shows a delightful understanding of the way major Universities work and the life of the average graduate student. I was not completely comfortable with McInerny's portrayal of women, all of whom seemed willing to do just about anything to get their man. Overall, I enjoyed this mystery and found it very pleasant reading.

Several incidents on campus have worried the University of Notre Dame administration. Three gravestones at Cedar Grove cemetery were knocked over by vandals. Native Americans disrupt a wedding ceremony at the log chapel. The Blue Cloud Nation kidnaps Chancellor Father Bloom claiming that the university illegally stole the land from their ancestors. At half-time of the nationally televised game with Florida State, a young man parades on the field dressed as a Native American claiming the land belongs to the Blue Cloud Nation. Administration advisor Noonen and Father Anselm are abducted. No one has been hurt yet.

The University turns to insiders Roger and Philip Knight, who have done discrete investigations before. Roger begins making inquiries that leads him to former graduate student Orion Plant, who obsessively feels the land belongs to Native Americans. He has engaged a lawyer to represent him and the Native Americans. Meanwhile Roger and Philip continue with their inquiries trying to find evidence to shut up Orion. Though the "pranks" are dangerous, the ante is dramatically raised when murder occurs.

THE BOOK OF KILLS is an intriguing academic mystery focusing on who owns land that has been questionably taken from ancestors. The story line moves quickly forward as incidents keep occurring. The siblings are wonderful charcaters, though Roger and his golf cart are more prominent. The support cast provides a feel to the university. Though a murder simplifies much of the plot, perhaps too much, Ralph McInerny's fourth Notre Dame novel will attain high rankings in the polls.

Harriet Klausner

This "mystery" begins with more than the usual tangle of coincidences. A female serial killer who is also a bestselling author witnesses the abandonment of an Alzheimer victim. She is being interviewed by a reporter who is the boyfriend of the victim's granddaughter. Oh, did I mention the winning lottery ticket? Nor is there any mystery, as the reader always knows who is guilty. There's a limited amount of suspense as to whether, how, and by whom the perp(s) will be brought to justice. And it's far from a typical "cozy". There are a few of the philosophical tidbits one expects from this author, but really, where's Father Dowling when you need him?

Rosa Subiaco is a world-famous romance/glitz author with the nasty habit of kidnapping lovers and then disposing of them--sometimes permanently. When Rosa sees a woman dropping off a man, she acts impulsively to pick him up, only to learn that 'Grandpa' has Alzheimer's disease and is too old and incapable for romance. Rosa decides to get her revenge on Edna, the woman who abandoned 'Grandpa' and to see what happens from there.

By the time homicide detective Egidio Manfredi is called in, the case has spiraled from a missing person to kidnapping and murder. Lucy, the old man's loving granddaughter, is buffeted by one loss after another. Yet Manfredi knows that the killer won't hesitate to kill again if she feels threatened.

Author Ralph McInerny has created a clever tale of disfunction, misplaced revenge, and an author to whom reality is a somewhat distant concept. SUB ROSA is a quick and enjoyable read--sort of a guilty pleasure. The novel does have its flaws--putting a winning lottery ticket in the old man's pocket makes the whole story less believable without adding much to the story. Also, I was surprised by the loose ends left at the end of the short novel. Does Alex get the girl? Where is Nick? McInerny's quirky characters make up for these lacks.

This book is easy to read in that it contains four short stories or "novellas". However the plots are predictable and the style of writing leaves you saying "What?" The stories could be more original and the writing style more imaginative. If you want a real mystery try "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

On the surface, Wyler, Indiana is a quiet town where everyone knows their neighbors. Homes and cars are never locked and the crime rate is so low it is statistically insignificant. Beneath the veneer of friendliness, Wyler shares much of the social ills beleaguering the nation. There are two competent attorneys living in town, Andrew Broom and Frank McGough, who loath each other. Their feelings towards one other causes Andrew's partner, and Frank's daughter to hide their romance.

Two events shake up the townsfolk. Someone slashes the throat of Andrew's law clerk with her corpse found inside the car of cemetery worker Will Foley. Since the married Will also had an affair with the victim, the police have enough circumstantial evidence to arrest Will. Andrew's nephew accepts the defense role because he believes his client is being framed.

The town is also burying its wealthiest citizens. Frank is handling the affluent estate, but Andrew throws a curve when he produces the grieving widow with a will that gives the multi-million dollar estate to her. The feud is just starting to heat up between Frank and Andrew.

HEIRS AND PARENTS, the sixth Broom novel, retains the fun and enjoyment of the previous five as it highlights Midwestern small town life in a wholesome way. The rivalry between the lawyers is amusing even as it ties together the well-developed double plot lines. Ralph McInerny, author of the Father Dowling mysteries, shows his abilities by using this elaborate technique to develop a delightful novel that enhances a strong series.

Harriet Klausner

It is nothing short of astonishing that the man who wrote the excellent "What Went Wrong with Vatican II" has also written "The Defamation of Pius XII" -- one of the worst books I've ever had the misfortune to read. Amateurishly written -- e.g., "Pius's intervention at this crucial juncture was crucial." (page 129) -- edited, and presented, Ralph McInerny has rendered a disservice to Pope Pius. McInerny is correct: The former Holy Father was NOT Hitler's handmaiden -- quite the contrary. But saying so in a book that appears to have taken less than a week to complete doesn't exactly help the cause.

When Ralph McInerny takes off the gloves and pounds away at Garry Wills and other apostates and dissidents; calumniators of Pius XII; haters and enemies of the Papacy and of the Church and of the absolute moral law and immutable truths she represents...when he does this, he's unbeatable. Unfortunately, only a few pages are devoted to this bulldog attack. The rest of the book reads like the first draft of a college freshman's essay -- very badly written and the editing is pretty much non-existent. McInerny is right, of course -- Pope Pius XII has been outrageously defamed by Wills and others of his ilk. The mystery is why such an intelligent, informed and able writer (do read his work on Vatican II) has written such a terribly clumsy book -- and on such an important topic. Ah, well.

Dr. McInerny starts out slow, but builds to a nice rollicking finish. As an ex-Catholic I have little sympathy for his support of dogma, but I don't appreciate seeing th Church get bashed for things it didn't do either.