The Franciscan Conspiracy

This work of fiction explores the great thirteenth-century mystery: Why was the body of St. Francis stolen and hidden? This multilayered, intricately plotted tale follows as the Franciscan Order destroys all early biographies of Francis by his closest disciples in favor of a sanitized biography of the powerful St. Bonaventure. The story begins thirty years after Francis's death, when Father Leo, Francis's closest friend, is dying. Bound to a vow of silence, Leo sends a cryptic message to Conrad, his own favorite student, connecting him with an unlikely companion, sixteen-year-old Sister Amata. The two begin to search for the truth about St. Francis, a truth that will shake the faith of the masses to the core and bring into question the foundation of the Franciscan Order.