After the sudden death of the Pope, Cardinal Lawrence takes on the task of directing the conclave, the millennia-old, sealed rite by which the princes of the Church choose his successor behind closed doors in the Vatican. Locked away with the most powerful men in Catholicism, he begins to uncover secrets, ambitions and a conspiracy capable of shaking the institution's foundations. An elegant, restrained thriller of intrigue, a contest of whispers and votes in which faith, politics and doubt clash beneath the vault of the Sistine Chapel.