In the Vatican, the pope is dying as priestly vultures gather around, whispering the names of possible successors. In a forgotten monastery on Irelands gale-swept coast, a dangerous document is hidden, waiting to be claimed. And in a family chapel in Princeton, New Jersey, a nun is murdered at her prayers. Sister Valentine was an outspoken activist, a thorn in the Churchs side. When her brother, lawyer Ben Driskill, realizes that the Church will never investigate her death, he sets out to find the murderer himself - and uncovers a dangerous, explosive secret.