Village policeman, Jake Sullivan's world just got a lot darker with the discovery of two bodies hanging upside-down from the top of a church tower, and the revelation that they had been crucified. Jake and his girlfriend Rachel Hammond are reunited with MI5 agent, Tony O'Brien (Legitimate Targets) in an investigation that awakens a cruel and violent monastic order called "The Knights of the Crucifixion." Aided by Ennio Giacopelli, a professor of antiquities from Rome, they find themselves pitted against the order as they search for six holy relics dating from the time of Christ's death, and which have lain undiscovered on Jake's quiet beat for over 700 years. As the investigation picks up speed, they encounter death and torture in the name of the Church, causing Jake to question his beliefs and when Rachel suddenly disappears, apparently taken by the Order, he doubts there is any God at all. At every turn, the Knights of the Crucifixion seem to be one step ahead, and it quickly becomes apparent that they will stop at nothing to find the relics first.