ROAD TO GANDOLFO, THE(ISBN=9780553271096)

　　A wickedly funny Robert Ludlum you've never met before. All the explosive paving of "The Bourne Identity, the Byzantine treachery of "The Parsifal Mosaic, the relentless action of "The Bourne Ultimatum. The Principal Cast: General Mackenzie Hawkings, legend, hero, rogue. Sam Devereaux, bright young lawyer from Harvard, now in the army, can't wait to get out. General Hawken's four ex-wives, a quartet of incredibly endowed women who've formed a club: Hawkin's Harem. The Premise: Kidnap Pope Francesco I, the most beloved pontiff since John XX III. Ransom: One American dollar for every Catholic in the world. The Problem: Pope Francesco I says: "Gentle souls, why not?"

　　In this wickedly funny novel, Robert Ludlum combines the explosive pacing of The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy with a bitingly witty send-up of everything from government bureaucrats and pandering military men to the mob, the law, and organized religion. War hero and infamous ladies' man, General MacKenzie Hawkins is a living legend. His life story had even been sold to Hollywood. But now he stands accused of defacing a historic monument in China's Forbidden City. Under house arrest in Peking, with a case against him pending in Washington, it looks like the end of Mac's illustrious career. But he has a plan of his own--and it includes kidnapping the Pope. What's the ransom? Just one American dollar--"for every Catholic in the world." Add to the mix a slew of shady "investors," Hawkins's four persuasive, well-endowed ex-wives, and a young lawyer and fellow soldier who wants nothing more than to return to private life--and you've got one relentlessly irreverent page-turner.