Iron-fisted Pope Leo XIV emerges from open heart surgery with the chilling realisation that his reforms have devastated the Church.

As he struggles to overcome the policies he himself put in place, he must battle enemies from within the Vatican, as well as Islamic terrorists determined to assassinate him. Amid political intrigue and counter-espionage, his brilliant surgeon Salviati becomes a target too, along with Salviati's beautiful mistress, Tove, and her fragile daughter, as the plot builds to a dramatic climax.