Following the death of Pope Chrysostom I, the election of a new pope begins, a process elaborately colored with all the political intrigue we are used to in secular elections


After numerous votes, a dark-horse candidate, Italian Cardinal Daniele Tondi, is elected as the new pope.


Once elected, Daniele is introduced to centuries of ancient traditions and beliefs dating back to St. Peter hin1self and is faced with the troubling but terribly important question: which of these traditions and beliefs are fact and which are fiction?


His investigation takes Daniele from Israel, to Egypt, to Mother Russia, and eventually to New York. While Daniele is trying to wrap his head around the meaning of these 2000-year-old traditions and beliefs, a mystery known to only a few, there are Eminences in the College of Cardinals who wish his search to fail. Why? What secrets do these sacred documents hold? What dangers surround these beliefs and traditions?


Daniele surrounds himself with a few trusted allies - his own family and the powerful Corsini family. His physician Emilio Corsini, and his first cousin Joel, a journalist covering the Vatican help Daniele and his close friend Prince Amadeo DiLeone, the Persona. But can they overcome the power of the Cardinals. Who will prevail? What does Daniele's quest ultimately reveal?


Here is a powerful, rarely told story, that takes the reader on a fascinating journey through troubled times, while looking at the world through a lens many centuries old.