Rome, September, 1978Pope John Paul I is found dead in his bedroom. No autopsy is performed.The body of a young nun is discovered near the Vatican. The verdict, death by poisoning.Present DayDominic Quinn returns to Ireland to attend his father’s funeral. His sole inheritance, a mystery dating back two thousand years. His only clues, a few enigmatic words that others would prefer stay buried – at any cost.Surrounded by lethal enemies, Dominic is drawn into the shadowy world of Vatican covert operations. He travels to Rome to unravel the secrets of a first-century manuscript, reputedly written by the Virgin Mary. What he finds will challenge everything he thought he knew about his past, his faith, and the nature of the universe itself.And, in an unexcavated area of the necropolis beneath the Vatican, the evil that pursues him will clash head on with the divine.