Dimensions
129 x 198 x 27mm
Rome, 2002: a young archaeologist, Elisabetta Celestino, is brutally attacked by two strangers shortly after learning her proposal to excavate in the ancient Catacombs of St Callixtus has been denied by the Vatican. Here she had chanced upon a hidden gallery decorated with bizarre astrological symbols, but it seems someone wants this extraordinary discovery to remain a secret. Present day Rome: the Pope is desperately ill. As preparations are made for the election of his successor, Elisabetta, now a nun, is summoned to the Vatican. Her old mentor, now a member of the Pontifical Commission, is asking for her help on a sensitive matter. A further cave-in at the Catacombs has revealed a chamber, adorned with the same astrological symbols as she had previously discovered. But it also contains a far more shocking discovery, one that could shake the very foundations of the Church. Elisabetta cannot deny the Vatican. And thus begins a complex tale of past and present intrigue, plunging her into a dangerous, life-threatening investigation that takes her to turbulent 1st Century Rome, to 16th Century England mired in conspiracy, and to present-day Rome where Elisabetta and her family work together in a race against time to save the Church and avert a staggering international crisis.