Red Sash of Thorns

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

With the pope gravely ill, Cardinal Gratien Poppo, the Vatican Secretary of State, 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.

In a stunning change of heart, Robert Susio uses his discovery as leverage to demand sweeping, radical changes in the Roman Catholic Church. The loss of two of his colleagues who were murdered in the expedition, however, rouses the suspicion of an overzealous Israeli police chief who's determined to nail Susio on two counts of homicide.

Foul play in the pontiff's death 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.