Secretum

A papal conspiracy is revealed in the midst of a plague in this Italian historical thriller that sparked controversy with the Vatican. Rome, 1683. The citizens anxiously await new of the battle for Vienna as Ottoman forces lay siege to the defenders of Catholic Europe. Meanwhile, a suspected outbreak of plague causes a famous Roman tavern to be placed under quarantine. One of its detainees, Atto Melani, a spy in the service of France, discovers a secret passage leading deep into the Roman underworld. But what he uncovers there is even more astonishing: a plot to assassinate Pope Innocent XI and plans to use the plague as a weapon of mass destruction against the Islamic world. Meticulously researched and brilliantly conceived,  Imprimatur is based on startling historical revelations that have been concealed for centuries, drawing on original papers discovered in the Vatican archives. A thriller in the vein of Umberto Eco's  The Name of the Rose, this novel sheds new light on the power struggles of 17th-century Europe. First published to great controversy in Italy in 2002,  Imprimatur was boycotted by the Italian press before being translated into 20 languages with editions published in 45 countries.