The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene

It is a curiousity that an avowed atheist such as me should find Greene's novels of spiritually tortured Catholics so powerful. Obviously the quality of the writing has something to do with it, but I think it's the overwhelming sense of humanity that the books demonstrate that is the key. Even characters that flit into the story very briefly are beautifully defined, and the reader can sympathise with their decisions even as we disagree with them.

Superb.