Il quinto sigillo

A great historical thriller.
Florence, the cradle of the Renaissance, is bathed in blood

“A great debut. Cossu’s writing sinks darkly and seductively into the roots of History.” – Marcello Simoni, author of Merchant of Cursed Books

“A breathtakingly paced and sweeping historical thriller that portrays a Renaissance Florence both magnificent and bruising. Charismatic characters and formidable twists and turns make this novel a must-read.” – Matteo Strukul, author of the Medici saga

Florence, the cradle of the Renaissance, is bathed in blood Florence, 1439. During the delicate ecumenical council, a disturbing event threatens to create further dangerous tensions between the Latin and Greek churches: a Greek delegate, barely 20 years old, falls from the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore. Cosimo de’ Medici immediately commissions Leon Battista Alberti, known for his sharp wit, to secretly investigate that most violent event. The marks on the victim’s neck soon force Leon Battista to inform Cosimo that the suicide hypothesis initially worked out is to be discarded. Not only, in fact, had the young man been strangled, but the corpse had a gold florin in its mouth and a note with “Timaeus” written on it. Alberti and Parentucelli, a refined and learned theologian who joins him in the investigation, do not take long to plumb the life of the victim, young Theodore, his affairs, his acquaintances. But who might have had an interest in killing him remains a mystery. More importantly, why? Could someone be plotting for the union between the two churches to fail? When another crime bathes the streets of Florence in blood, the two realize that behind those deaths is a scheme devised with diabolical precision by a lucid and ruthless mind. If they do not find the killer as soon as possible, not only will the deaths end up multiplying, but the fate of Christendom will be in grave danger.