Upon This Rock

<p><b>Intrigue terrorism history art and the secrets of the Church collide in a relentless page-turning thriller.</b></p><p>An elegant twisty thriller in which a gay couple investigates a mysterious suicide in a scenic Italian hill town. It's not hard to imagine that this book could do for Orvieto what <i>Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil</i> did for Savannah. (<b>Armistead Maupin</b> author of the internationally acclaimed <i>Tales of the City</i>)</p><p>An American couple in Italy investigate the suicide of a cleric in the picturesque Italian city of Orvieto--and find themselves plunged into a conspiracy that may destroy the Catholic Church. In the stunning thriller <b><i>Upon This Rock</i></b> San Francisco business executive Lee Maury and his husband Adriano come to Orvieto to soak in the city's beauty and rich history but Lee becomes fascinated with a local tragedy the suicide one year earlier of Deacon Andrea a much-loved candidate for the priesthood.</p><p>Growing obsessed with learning the truth behind Andrea's death Lee finds that everyone in Orvieto has some connection with Andrea: the handsome former Swiss Guard and bisexual prostitute Grigori; the kindly elderly priest Don Bello; the gossipy American expat blogger Lady Peg; the secretive young German doctor Luka; the irascible nonagenarian baker La Dona Volsini and her USA-loving grandson Marco; African immigrant street musician Dawud and his sister Maryam who is en route to Italy with black market smugglers; the exiled Episcopal priest Rev. Vicki; Orvieto's new bishop Arnaud a sexually conflicted member of Opus Dei; the powerful head of the Vatican press office Cardinal Maltoni; and the secretive political fixer Magda Carter. Woven throughout is a 500-year-old backstory--the plight of Medici Pope Clement VII who sought refuge in Orvieto following the Sack of Rome whose time in Orvieto is somehow linked to the mysteries of the present.</p><p>As Lee and Adriano struggle to make sense of the relationships tying all these people to Andrea's suicide they stumble upon a conspiracy of terrorism human trafficking and a plot to plant a nuclear dirty bomb in the tomb of St. Peter. Before they know it Lee and Adriano's dream vacation becomes a race to save innocent lives--and not get killed in the process.</p>