Red Sash of Thorns

The pope is gravely ill and not expected to recover. Just how long the pontiff will live is anyone's guess, but Cardinal Gratien Poppo, the Vatican Secretary of State, already is ushering in a new successor: himself.

Poppo faces a Church in turmoil, yet nothing shakes the Cardinal off the pontifical pedestal quicker than a confidential letter he receives from an American archaeologist who has made a startling discovery in Israel's Negev Desert-a finding the Vatican cannot ignore.

Robert Susio uses his discovery as leverage to demand sweeping, radical changes in the Roman Catholic Church. With the Holy See on the ropes, Gratien Poppo calls on the Vatican's biggest gun-a quirky, but brilliant, elderly Jesuit anthropologist. Feliche Serroni doggedly seeks to dispel Susio's claims, and his investigations cross the boundaries of three countries, including several Native American reservations in the U.S. Southwest.

The loss of two colleagues who were murdered in the Negev expedition rouses the suspicion of an overzealous Israeli police chief who's determined to nail Susio on two counts of homicide.

The suspicious death of the Holy Father fuels the novel's plot as does the emergence of Gratien Poppo's hidden past-forcing him to crusade for the one issue of Church reform he passionately opposes.

RED SASH OF THORNS weaves murder, suspense, and forensic intrigue with the controversial issues that today beset the Roman Catholic Church.