Tag: #politicalsuspense

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Outage by Mike Trigg

OUTAGE

by Mike Trigg

September 28 – November 6, 2026 Virtual Book Tour

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for OUTAGE by Mike Trigg on this Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour.

Below you will find a book description, my book review, and excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links, and a PICT giveaway. Enjoy and good luck!

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Book Description

Rachel Farrell is working from home in suburban Virginia when the internet goes out. Juggling clients, two restless teenagers, and dinner logistics with her husband, Caleb, a DC lobbyist, she assumes it’s just a routine inconvenience.

Then she finds his note, warning they are in danger and not to trust anyone.

When FBI agents show up looking for Caleb, Rachel realizes something far more sinister is underway: a nationwide internet and phone outage, and Caleb’s biggest client―a powerful Chinese semiconductor company―is at the center of suspicion.

As the night wears on with no word from Caleb, Rachel’s unease shifts into something darker. The man she has been married to for two decades may not be who she thought he was. Fearing for their safety, Rachel and her children embark on a harrowing cross-country journey to find Caleb and hear his explanation. But the more she learns, the more she suspects he may be in on the plot.

Following the clues to a remote compound in South Dakota, Rachel begins to piece together the truth about her husband, his business dealings, and a conspiracy that reaches far beyond anything she ever imagined.

In the end, Rachel has no choice but to uncover the real culprit behind the outage before it costs her everything.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/250126148

OUTAGE

Genre: Domestic Suspense; Psychological Thriller
Published by: Montague Books
Publication Date: October 20, 2026
Number of Pages: 344, Pbk
ISBN: 9781646049684 (ISBN10: 1646049683)
Book Links: Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads  

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My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

OUTAGE by Mike Trigg is an exciting, fast paced technothriller that puts a mother and her two teenagers into a dangerous race against our government and international threats while trying to find her husband when the internet goes down all over the country. This thriller is based on a very plausible scenario and could be right out of current affairs.

Rachell Farrell is online with a client when the internet goes down. Rachell and her two teens soon discover the outage is affecting everyone. When her D.C. lobbyist husband, Caleb, does not come home, they search for clues to where he might be. Rachell discovers a gun, cash, and a note warning the family they are in danger and not to trust anyone.

The FBI show up at the family home looking for Caleb, as well as a mysterious SUV out front. Rachell is now afraid for her children and fears her husband somehow got them all involved in something life threatening. Rachell and her kids start a harrowing cross-country journey to find Caleb and discover what he has done to have them all running for their lives.

This is a tension-filled thriller that does not let up. The danger is coming at Rachell and her kids from several directions, and she does not even know if she can trust or find her conspiracy theory minded husband. Rachell is a well written protagonist who continually tries to do her best and protect her kids, while also having self-doubt with every dangerous situation they find themselves in. Rachell does give Caleb many more chances than I would have, but it works for this story, even if not for me.

There is a lot of “geek speak” in this book, but it was easy to skim and still understand the basics of the threat while never losing interest or tension because Rachell did not understand it either. Between the FBI, communist Chinese nationals, and a tech billionaire (similar to Elon Musk) and his private security army, you never know who to trust which continually keeps you on the edge-of-your seat. The billionaire’s speech about his beliefs is in line with what I have read about many of the Silicon Valley elites’ beliefs and it is crazy scary.

I recommend this suspense filled technothriller.

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Excerpt

PROLOGUE

EVERY MARRIAGE EVENTUALLY reaches a decision point. A moment of truth when you either need to trust your partner completely or believe you will be better off on your own.

For Rachel Farrell, that moment is now.

As she lowers her eye to the scope of her rifle, this untimely realization hits her with sudden clarity. Those familiar vows, recited almost two decades ago, constrict her lungs now with the full weight of their significance. To have and to hold, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health—they all amount to being there, always, no matter what. Doing whatever it takes. Even if that means putting a bullet in someone’s head.

The last week has put those vows to the test. Revealed the cracks that have been growing for years in her marriage to Caleb. After the euphoric whirlwind of falling in love, their relationship survived the trials of parenthood, the stresses of two high-powered jobs, the financial burdens of raising a family. But instead of pulling closer together, they’ve been drifting apart without even knowing it. Differences that once seemed so small have come to feel irreconcilable. Rhetoric that was once so supportive has become laden with microaggressions, harbored grievances, mutual suspicion, strained silence. And yet, their marriage has endured, adapted. They have kept their family together.

Rachel wishes these thoughts weren’t running through her head, not now when she needs to concentrate. But isn’t that what this moment is really about? Does she trust her husband? She knows she must decide. Knows she has put it off. Dreaded the implications, especially for her children. But marriages can’t survive in stasis. They need affirmation, renewed commitment, reinvigoration. Maybe that’s what’s happening. Maybe what seemed like a final straw is actually a newfound spark. Maybe she won’t know what she has until it’s gone.

With tears blurring her vision, she squints through the eyepiece and locates her target. At this close range, his head takes up most of the viewfinder. He’s sitting still, exposed, facing away from her. Then she sees the gun pointed at Caleb’s head. She can’t wait any longer or the decision will be made for her. She has to take the shot. But what if she misses? What will happen next? Whatever it is, she knows her life will never be the same after this moment.

Rachel suppresses her inner dialogue of self-doubt and steadies her breath. Chest pressed into the dirt along the ridge. Elbows propped against a rock. Hands clenched on the stock and grip. Shoulder nuzzled against the butt, braced for the recoil. Beads of sweat streak down her face, but she lets them drip onto the dry ground. Her hand stops trembling as she aligns the back of his head in the crosshairs. Then, she counts her exhale, holds her breath, and squeezes the trigger.

CHAPTER 1

Seven Days Earlier

“I KNOW IT’S HARD, but you have to tell him how you feel,” Rachel says into the screen of her laptop.

Easier said than done, she thinks to herself as she adjusts her camera angle. She has been sitting here all afternoon, parked in the same chair at her dining table, holding back-to-back Zoom sessions. Carrie, her last client of the day, is running up against the end of the hour, but Rachel’s best efforts to politely steer their session to a logical conclusion are proving too subtle.

Part of her feels sorry for Carrie. Her husband stopped attending long ago. It’s not a good sign when the husband—or either spouse, but usually the husband in Rachel’s experience—refuses to participate. That’s the whole idea of couples therapy, that it requires with both partners. That it’s a safe, supportive environment for discussing and resolving issues in a constructive manner. When one spouse taps out of the therapy, it usually means they are tapping out of the marriage. The next step is the domain of Rachel’s previous ten-year profession as a divorce attorney, before she found her calling as a couples therapist.

Rachel can tell that, on some level, Carrie knows her marriage may be over, despite complaining about her husband’s lack of affection, short temper, long absences as if those are root problems rather than symptoms. The fact of the matter is, once again this week, her husband isn’t here. Clear evidence that he’s done trying to save the marriage, if that was ever his intention.

Rachel glances at the clock in the upper corner of her screen, hoping Carrie won’t notice—or maybe that she will and finally realize their time is up. Rachel’s butt is getting numb. She’s running out of time to make anything for dinner. Another night of carryout is the likely solution. Without breaking sympathetic eye contact, Rachel slides her phone just underneath the camera’s view and composes a text message to Caleb.

“Last session running long. Can you pick up dinner at Lost Dog? The usual.”

The Old Town Alexandria restaurant isn’t exactly on Caleb’s way home to the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC, but close enough. Plus, Rachel has a low-grade obsession with their bacon-feta pizza that always overrides her latest attempt at a diet. She’ll kick herself later for gorging on carbs, but screw it—it’s been a long day. Hopefully, Caleb won’t be taking clients out to dinner tonight. She knows he spent the day doing the lobbying rounds on Capitol Hill with one of them, some polyethylene manufacturers’ association or something. She needs that pizza. Rachel notes the time on her phone, 6:04 p.m., then covertly places it face down so she won’t be distracted by it again.

“I just really don’t know what else he expects me to do,” Carrie says, abruptly ending her monologue with an expectant look. Rachel snaps out of her pizza lust and forces a compassionate smile.

“Look, Carrie . . .” Rachel begins, choosing her words carefully. “We’ve been working together a long time, so I feel like I can be honest with you. I’m never going to tell you what to do, but the behaviors you’ve talked about just . . . don’t seem to be getting better. In fact, they seem ingrained. It’s very hard to change another person. And the fact Todd is no longer attending these sessions isn’t a good sign of his commitment to making this marriage work.”

Carrie doesn’t respond, but her expression is the definition of despair. Rachel immediately worries that she’s gone too far. “I’m sorry, I’m probably overstepping my bounds as your therapist, but I . . . Carrie?” Mid-apology, Rachel realizes it isn’t Carrie’s expression that is frozen; it is the entire screen. “Carrie? Hello? Can you hear me?”

That’s perfect, Rachel thinks, pushing a strand of hair aside as she clicks around in aggravation. Just when she finally delivers her tough-love message, their connection drops. The internet service at their suburban house has been so spotty lately, and calling customer service is a joke. Did Carrie hear any of that? Rachel types into the chat feature: “You froze on me. I think we lost our connection.” But nothing happens. Everything is frozen.

“Crap,” Rachel says, drumming her fingers on the table. Hopefully, a bad connection is all it is. Not Carrie getting so offended by Rachel’s candor that she left the meeting. Maybe Carrie’s phone number is in her contacts, Rachel thinks. Just as she picks up her phone to check, it buzzes—most likely with Caleb’s reply, telling her why he can’t pick up dinner, that he’ll be home late again, that they shouldn’t wait up for him. Anticipating her aggravation, she flips the phone over to see the screen, but it isn’t the message from Caleb she expects. Instead, it’s just one simple notification. “Message failed to send.”

***

Author Bio

A veteran of Silicon Valley, Mike Trigg writes contemporary thrillers that explore technology’s impact on modern life. Outage is his third novel. His first, Bit Flip, was lauded as a “twisty, acerbic corporate thriller” by the San Francisco Chronicle. His second, Burner, was praised as “a cautionary tale for the digital age” by IndieReader. His work has been featured in Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus, and Literary Hub. Born in Kentucky and raised in Wisconsin, Trigg earned a BA from Northwestern University and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Social Media Links

MikeTrigg.com
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads – @mike_trigg
BookBub – @mtrigg254
Instagram – @mike_trigg254
Threads – @mike_trigg254
Facebook – @MikeTriggAuthor

Purchase Links

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PICT GIVEAWAY

https://pictbooks.review/NREkn3fj

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Beyond Honor by K.B. Brodsky

Book Description

A man forged by war, paramilitary operative Kevin Rhoads is recruited for a solo extraction mission deep inside Siberia. CIA analyst Whitney Skyler’s investigation into a Russian-backed bank on American soil leads to the President of the United States.

Director Cynthia King plays an audacious gambit, leveraging a thirty-year debt of honor to save a captured American agent. But in this world of shifting alliances, even the most careful plans can unravel. Skyler faces an impossible choice: expose her mentor’s dangerous game to protect national security or reveal the truth to Rhoads. Already shattered by loss, Rhoads discovers the devastating betrayal that will transform him into a force of vengeance, leaving death in his wake.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Beyond Honor by K. B. Brodsky (the pen name for the husband-and-wife team of Karen and Bill Brodsky) is a fabulous debut novel.  It has everything that a Vince Flynn/Mitch Rapp novel had including action, great character development, and timely geopolitical scenarios with themes of loyalty, duty, sacrifice, and revenge.

There are multiple sub-plots in the book. Readers meet Kevin Rhoads in the first chapter as a 17-year-old Alaskan hunting guide and pilot who takes two US army veterans bear hunting. The veterans were so impressed with Kevin’s skills they told him to call when he finished school. He does just that, fast forwarding, to become a Delta working in the Special Activities Center. He and his team, joined by rising CIA analyst Whitney Skyler, are sent on an operation to accompany US technicians assisting Ukrainian forces. At the last-minute, Rhoads is pulled from the mission so that he can head to his father’s side, who has been hospitalized, and Skyler is called back to Washington. After hearing the team’s transport has been shot down by Russian forces with all dead, they both feel guilty for surviving.

The second plot line has real estate developer, Peter Michaels, being blackmailed by Russian spies who bailed him out of financial trouble.  Whitney uncovers a financial trail that leads from Russia back to a Michaels, a close friend of the newly elected US President Kemp.

The third plot line has Skyler also discovering during her investigation that a CIA asset believed dead is alive in a Russian prison. Rhoads is asked to do a solo extraction. Cynthia King, CIA Director of Special Situations, is behind putting Skyler in charge of the investigation and choosing Rhoads for the extraction. Plus, she uncovers a financial trail that leads from Russia and connected to the failed op that killed Rhoads teammates.

The authors have hit the ball out of the park with this debut novel as they pit US and Russian intelligence agencies against each other. Readers will take an emotional journey with the characters as they deal with loss, grief, and complicated relationships. There is a lot of action as the characters are on a quest for vengeance.

Author Interview

Elise Cooper: What’s it like writing together?

K. Brodsky: I think we have a pretty good system where Bill wrote the first draft, and then invited me to join him in the rest of the process. I think we both bring different strengths to it and we have a good system where we write on a Google Doc. All our edits, all our changes, all our thoughts are sort of off to the side in comments and nobody changes anything unless the other person agrees. I think, we got it worked out. What do you think, Bill?

B. Brodsky: I think it’s super fun. You know, putting aside the technicalities of it, we talk about it, and we have a drink over it, and we have a lot of laughs on it.

EC: Idea for the story?

K. B. B: It organically grew, where the components became more complicated, more nuanced as we were going through the story writing process. But we always knew we wanted to make this story about honor and betrayal, and we kind of had the sense that the end of the book will have Kevin and Whitney separated in some way.

EC: What was the purpose of the hunting scene in chapter one?

K. B. B: We wanted to land our character, Kevin Rhodes, in an environment where he can display his talents. We wanted to also show his very deep relationship with his father and the lodge that they work in. The grizzly bears were just a vehicle to show his talents, whether it was the shooting or his resilience when he hurt his ankle, or his confidence in flying a little plane. Once a retired Delta Force and sent to Siberia, readers see a lot of those talents come back, including flying of the plane. So, it was kind of a consistent thing throughout the book. The two hunters he was a guide for were veterans of the army. At the end of the hunt, they were very impressed with him, and they gave him a card and said, ‘When you finish college, call this number, and, there’s a job. We’re in the Delta force.’

EC: How would you describe Kevin, the male lead?

K. B. B: Kevin is determined. A tracker, brave, family minded, calm, laser focused, and went on a mission. He kind of has two sides, one when he’s on a mission, and one when he’s a civilian. We really wanted to show in his character how he is compartmentalized.

EC: Do you think some of the settings was timely?

K. B. B: I think it’s timely, because we tried to paint a geopolitical picture, but we tried to keep it relatively simple and more from the individual’s perspective. In the Ukraine part of the book, while we don’t get into the politics of it, we get into the human cost of it, the people being killed, the toll that it takes on the soldiers, since some of them don’t make it. I think the goal is if you pick up this book 20 years from now, it would still feel relevant, regardless of what was happening in the geopolitical sphere. It would still feel relevant because it’s grounded in characters, versus what was happening in the world at that time. Which is why it wasn’t written to sort of be a rip from the headlines either.

EC: How would you describe Whitney?

K. B. B: She’s is incredibly responsible. I think she carries the weight of what happened to her brother with her, and she doesn’t want to let anybody down. Part of what we really wanted for Whitney was to see growth from her from the beginning to the end. She starts out, not naive, but very earnest, and we wanted her to sort of become more complicated than nuanced as she became more grounded in these situations. But we also made a point to make sure that she didn’t become like a superhero, picking up a gun and turning into a female version of Kevin. We wanted her to have her own skills, which were more of an analyst. She learns from her mentor, Cynthia King.

EC: How would you describe Cynthia King, CIA Director of Special Situations?

K. B. B: She’s willing to do things that go outside of what would be considered good. In all these characters is this concept of being pushed beyond honor. She is pushing people, taking advantage of the debt of honor with Somers, the CIA Director, to get what she believes is necessary.

EC: What role did Daniel Komoroff, CIA asset captured by Russia play in the story?

K. B. B: I think he’s a vehicle to get King really engaged, so that she uses her debt of honor that she feels Somers owes her. So that we really see King manipulating Somers who had no choice but to say yes because of what happened in Berlin 30 or 40 years ago. King pushes Somers beyond her comfort zone. And Komoroff provided a vehicle for King to get passionate, to try to manipulate everybody, because she saw herself in him.

EC: How would you describe President Kemp?

K. B. B: He’s a political animal. I think he’s smart. I think he’s a manipulator and impulsive. He’s a politician, and I think, for better or for worse, whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, he’s supposed to be kind of an amalgamation of lots of different politicians, really the worst of our politics. It’s hard to figure out exactly what they really believe in. They kind of blow with the wind, depending on their polling numbers. They are trying to manipulate people to get votes, to get money, and do not ask the right questions. I think what they believe in is power, period.

EC: What about Anya the Russian Agent?

K. B. B: We kind of set her up to be disillusioned but she does things to help Russia against the US.

EC: Next book?

K. B. B: We explore Anya more deeply in book two. We had a cliffhanger in book one because we are setting readers up for the next phase. Kevin and Whitney will be back. There is no official title yet. The setting is in Venezuela

THANK YOU!!

***

BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: The Vivaldi Cipher by Gary McAvoy

THE VIVALDI CIPHER

by Gary McAvoy

May 4 – 29, 2026 Virtual Book Tour

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE VIVALDI CIPHER (Vatican Secret Archive Thrillers Book #1) by Gary McAvoy on this Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour.

Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links, and a PICT giveaway. Enjoy!

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Book Description

During the election of a new Pope in the mid-18th century, famed violinist Antonio Vivaldi learns of a ring of art forgers who are replacing the Vatican’s priceless treasures with expertly-painted fakes. Desperate, the composer hides a message in a special melody, hoping someone, someday, will take down the culprits . . .

Nearly three hundred years later, the confession of a dying Mafia Don alerts a Venetian priest to a wealth of forged paintings in the Vatican Museum, and the key to their identities lies hidden in a puzzling piece of music. Father Michael Dominic, prefect of the Secret Archives, investigates, and is mystified when he finds a cipher in an old composition from Vivaldi. Desperate to stop this centuries-long conspiracy, he calls on fellow sleuth Hana Sinclair and Dr. Livia Gallo, a music cryptologist, to help him crack the code and learn the truth.

But the Camorra, a centuries-old Italian Mafia clan, won’t stand by while some interfering priest ruins their most lucrative operation. Along with a French commando and two valiant Swiss Guards, Dominic explores the dark canals and grand palazzos of Venice to uncover the evidence he needs to stop the sinister plot. Can he unearth it in time, or will the Church’s most valuable artworks fall prey to this massive conspiracy?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58488566-the-vivaldi-cipher?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=sbuqQxXuF6&rank=1

The Vivaldi Cipher

Genre:  Suspense, Suspense Thrillers, Historical Thriller
Published by: Literati Editions
Publication Date: August 16, 2021
Number of Pages: 400
ISBN: 9781954123076 (ISBN10: 1954123078)
Series: Vatican Secret Archive Thrillers, Book 1

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My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

THE VIVALDI CIPHER (Vatican Secret Archive Thrillers Book #1) by Gary McAvoy is an exciting, fast-paced, action-packed international thriller that is about a three-hundred-year-old conspiracy involving the Vatican’s vast collection of world-famous paintings and the Venetian Camorra (Mafia). The protagonists are led once again by Father Michael Dominic and his cast of friends who were together in Mr. McAvoy’s previous trilogy, The Magdalene Chronicles. While the characters were in previous books together, you can read this book as a standalone.

A Venetian priest takes the confession of a dying Camorra don and learns of a three-hundred-year ongoing conspiracy involving the Vatican’s most famous paintings, forgery, and the Venetian Camorra. The priest is troubled by the confession and Father Michael Dominic, prefect of the Secret Archives, is called in to investigate. Friend and French reporter, Hana Sinclair, is along to assist and soon they discover they are in more danger than anticipated when a Vivaldi music score is translated and exposes a centuries long conspiracy of forgery between corrupt church officials and the Venetian Camorra.

Can Michael, Hana, and friends uncover the evidence they need to stop this ongoing conspiracy without becoming victims of the Camorra don and his assassins?

I really got caught up in this thriller plot and could not stop reading. There is constant action and high stakes encounters with not only Mafia killers, but corrupt Vatican employees. While not all the characters’ actions are realistic in a few parts of the story, their actions are still exciting, move the plot forward, and did not detract from my enjoyment of the overall story. Even with the fast pace, Mr. McAvoy was able to intersperse moments of art history, art forgery, and interesting facts about Vivaldi throughout. I prefer to read books in order and thought I was reading book one in this series, which I was, but the characters were in a previous trilogy together, so I did have some questions about their previous connections, but it did not stop me from enjoying this book.

I can recommend this exhilarating thriller, and I am looking forward to more books in the Vatican Secret Archive Thrillers series.

***

Excerpt

Prologue

Vatican City, Rome – February 1740

The first symptom of the poisoning began as a fever.

Sitting at one of two long, white-silk-draped tables in the Sistine Chapel, along with sixty-seven of his fellow cardinal-electors, Pietro Ottoboni cast his vote for pope on the eighth day of the conclave to replace the late Pope Clement XII.

Enfeebled by fever, the seventy-three-year-old Ottoboni made his way toward the front of the chapel to a small altar below Michelangelo’s majestic fresco The Last Judgment, dropped his ballot onto a brass saucer, then tipped the saucer, letting the ballot fall into the large brass urn beneath it.

A few moments later, having returned to his seat, the cardinal collapsed onto the table, the high temperature having sapped his energy. Shocked, the other cardinals stood to better see what was happening to their colleague. The master of papal liturgical celebrations suspended the conclave while they moved Ottoboni to his apartment under the care of a Vatican physician.

Long considered favorite among the papabili to succeed Pope Clement, Pietro Ottoboni was born in the Most Serene Republic of Venice to a rich and noble family, whose most distinguished member was his grand-uncle, Pope Alexander VIII. Ottoboni had held every important post in the Vatican during an illustrious career and, as cardinal-bishop to several churches in Italy, his annual salary exceeded fifty thousand gold scudi—the present-day equivalent of six million dollars per year.

Cardinal Ottoboni had been a prolific paramour with a countless number of lovers, many of whom were married to the great patricians of Venice. In fact, the famous masks unique to Venetians were introduced not to ward off the plague, as many later believed, but to officially disguise the wearer’s identity—thus permitting anyone, noble or peasant, to do or say whatever one pleased. With this ingenious permissiveness, affari di cuore—affairs of the heart—were as common as the fleet of gondolas plying the canals of the celebrated city, without legal recourse. Having taken full advantage of this liberal device, Cardinal Ottoboni was known to have produced up to seventy children in his lifetime among his various mistresses.

Though he lived well in Rome’s grand Palazzo della Cancelleria, Ottoboni’s greatest passions were music and art, and he was a generous patron to some of the most renowned masters in both fields: Arcangelo Corelli, Alessandro Scarlatti, Giuseppe Crespi, Tintoretto, Paolo Veronese—and most of all, to his close friend and protégé, the prodigious maestro di violino of Venice, Antonio Vivaldi.

As he lay on his deathbed, Ottoboni summoned Vivaldi to his side. In a low, rasping voice, the cardinal confided to his friend a tale of great importance, a scandalous operation run by the notoriously corrupt Cardinal Niccolò Coscia in league with the feared secret Mafia organization known as the Camorra.

In fact, he added with struggling breath, he was convinced it was Coscia, acting on orders from the Camorra, who had poisoned him to keep him from acting on what he knew. With information gleaned from one of his many spies, Ottoboni had discovered the ongoing scandal days earlier and approached Cardinal Coscia with a warning that he and his Camorra would soon be out of business, at least as far as the Vatican was concerned. Were it not for his required attendance in the papal conclave, he would have put a stop to it sooner, especially if he was elected pope, an elevation to supreme power that was expected by everyone.

The following day, however, Cardinal Ottoboni succumbed to the poison, killed for a secret now known only to Antonio Vivaldi.

Like most Italians, Vivaldi survived cautiously within the Camorra’s Venetian sphere of influence. The secret society’s tentacles reached into everyone’s life, and their strict enforcement of the seal of omertà—the sacred code of silence—ensured clan activities remained discreet and wholly within la familia. The family.

Since the late seventeenth century, the Camorra had carved out its territories, starting in Naples and moving northward into the Lombardy and Veneto regions of Italy, encompassing its most lucrative prizes, Milan and Venice. Competing with La Cosa Nostra in Sicily and the ‘Ndrangheta of Calabria, the Camorra’s criminal enterprises included prostitution, gambling, smuggling, kidnapping, and art theft—but also the unusual niche of producing and selling fine art forgeries of the highest order.

During the earlier reign of Pope Benedict XIII, who cared little for managing his vast realm of Papal States, Cardinal Niccolò Coscia oversaw all Vatican government operations, taking advantage of his authority to carry out substantial financial abuses, virtually draining the papal treasury. But his ongoing misdeeds eventually caught up with him. In 1731, he was charged with corruption, tried and convicted to ten years’ imprisonment, and excommunicated from the Church.

However, still not without influence, he managed to get his heavy sentence commuted to a mere fine. He was also mysteriously reinstated as a cardinal, allowing him to take part in the papal conclave of 1740—the one during which Cardinal Ottoboni had died.

* * *

With Ottoboni out of the way, Cardinal Niccolò Coscia could now carry out his master plan without hindrance. In his not-so-secret role as capo of the Roman Camorra, Coscia led development of the Veneto branch of the Mafia clan, based in Venice and headquartered in his own newly acquired Palazzo Feudatario on the Grand Canal. Purchased with funds he had discreetly absconded from the Vatican treasury, Feudatario would be a most fitting place to carry out his planned forgery operation of the Vatican’s most profound works of art.

Niccolò Coscia was a meticulous diarist and, owing to all the business he conducted outside the Church, he had created the first book to record the activities of his new organization, naming it Il Giornale Coscia della Camorra Veneta—The Coscia Journal of the Veneto Camorra. In it he would secretly record careful notations of all paintings by artist and title, including each work’s provenance and to whom the forgeries or originals were sold, depending on which he chose to return to the Vatican—for many were prominently displayed in public, while most were simply returned to the Vatican’s vast art storage vaults, unseen by anyone.

The Coscia Journal would be passed down to each capintesta, head of the Veneto Camorra, for generations.

Unfortunately for Coscia, Cardinal Ottoboni’s spies had discovered not only the Camorra’s abhorrent plan for art forgeries, but the very existence of the Coscia Journal for recording such transactions. At that point Ottoboni’s death was preordained, for no one could ever know such proof existed.

* * *

Antonio Vivaldi, who at age twenty-five was ordained a Roman Catholic priest, was now at a crossroads. He feared possessing knowledge of the treacherous secret passed on to him by his esteemed patron in his dying moments. Putting himself at odds with the Camorra was not just an unappealing prospect; it could end up costing him his life, depending on what he did with what he knew.

But Cardinal Ottoboni had one last request of his protégé.

Intent on stopping the sinful and unlawful activities of Cardinal Coscia, Ottoboni had pleaded with Vivaldi to see that Coscia was brought to justice, to pay for his felonious actions. Distressed by letting his friend and mentor die without the satisfaction of such a promise, Vivaldi agreed to do what he could. He would ensure that the authorities were informed, the Coscia Journal would be found, and the matter would be settled.

After the cardinal’s stately funeral, Vivaldi waited for the right moment to fulfill his promise. But as he waited, he became more apprehensive. He was just a lowly priest, after all, and not a very good one at that. The violin was his life, and teaching it was his life’s work. Besides, who would believe him? Where was the proof? And what would the Camorra do to him if he were to expose its business? He had seen the results of their retribution—those who crossed the Mafia were dealt with harshly. Beheadings were not uncommon, and those who weren’t beheaded were drawn and quartered—alive. No, he must find a way to honor his pledge without exposing himself to such horrible consequences.

An idea came to him: he would hide the messages in plain sight, in his musical compositions.Picking up a sheet of staff lined manuscript paper, Vivaldi began to assemble the first of many, his Scherzo Tiaseno in Sol.

***

Author Bio

Gary McAvoy is an American novelist known for internationally bestselling thrillers that blend historical intrigue, religious scholarship, and modern suspense. A lifelong researcher of rare manuscripts and Church history, he draws on extensive archival study to craft narratives rooted in authentic detail. His work includes the Vatican Secret Archive Thrillers, the Magdalene Chronicles, and the Vatican Archaeology Thrillers. Before turning to fiction, McAvoy built a distinguished career as an entrepreneur, technology consultant, and collector of historical documents. He now writes full time from the Pacific Northwest, where he continues to explore the shadowed crossroads of faith, power, and history.

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