Conclave is richly detailed. That can make for slow going in reading some parts. However, the books relatively fast and becomes a page turner toward the end.

What a read! I felt a part of this austere group of spiritual men. Couldn't put it down!

Robert Harris writes well, easy to read. So it isn't his style that falls short here. The plot line moves glacially at the speed the papal Curia moves, probably intentional here. The premise, while entirely au currant, is questionable like so many gender issues today. The book ends abruptly, has no smooth transition to closure. His book Pompeii is a better read.

You needn't be a papist, believer or cynical atheist to be drawn into this thoroughly engaging work. Harris admirably strikes an "information equilibrium" in establishing the background--a targeted level of detail is deployed, enabling a gripping vicarious experience without sacrificing pace and space with theological/ecclesiastical excess. The book taps into Machiavellian intrigue of Catholicism, but avoids simplistic/cynical moral oversimplifications, thus illustrating the good within the bad and the bad within the good.