Catholic apologetics?

My brother and sister-in-law are in the process of joining the Catholic Church. Yay for them, seeing as they were alternately Buddhist, Agnostic, and Atheist. However, Catholic wouldn’t have been my first choice. I have been doing some heavy-duty research into Catholic doctrine, as I think a family should be as ecumenical as possible, and I want to really understand what they believe. So, I’ve been perusing various Magisterium-approved websites on Catholic apologetics, and been on a steady diet of books provided by my sil.

So far, all I can say is that the quality of the defenses of doctrine that I’ve seen so far leaves much to be desired. Even on the points where I agree with the topic at hand I find that the “proofs” provided are sloppy and full of holes. Now, it could be just that the authors are going for brevity and don’t want to loose their audience (the dumbing down that plagues all the corners of Christendom), but I expected more. I mean, this is the same Church that nurtured Chesterton and Aquinas, right?

Which leads me to the conclusion that I am going to have to break down and read them. I have always intended to, but don’t really have time to slog through a translation right now and I don’t have the Latin skills yet to comprehend the original. I guess I will have to start with Chesterton, but I’m not even sure if he ever wrote anything approaching a definitive apologetic. I also could call a priest and just ask him my questions, but I feel like I’d be taking up way too much of his time, since I have no intention of converting. What’s a girl to do? Maybe I can find a priest we could “bribe” with food and have come over some time. At least if I feed him I won’t feel like I’m bothering him. Hmmmm…. Decisions, descisions. Any Catholics out there with suggestions? What would the protocol be for approaching a priest with a pile of what-ifs? Is there a good meaty modern apologetic?