Sister Maureen O'Connor is a progressive American nun, who believes women should be equal with men in the Roman Catholic Church. At a conference in Jerusalem, Sister Maureen makes her case before a group of nuns-until a bomb explodes in the Pontifical Biblical Institute during her speech and kills Sister Maureen and twelve other nuns.
Who would want to kill Sister Maureen? And why?
This is the question pursued by Sister Marie Therese De Bruyne, the 29-year-old executive director of the Donne del Vaticano, or "women in the Vatican", a group established by Pope Francis to advance the role of women in the Catholic Church. She is helped on her quest to solve the murder by Father Dan Lanaham, a 75-year-old Jesuit who has just been elected superior general of his order, and Jacqueline Brussard, a former student of Dan's who is now a reporter for the Washington Post.
When a terrorist group is blamed for the bombing, a terrorist mysteriously appears with answers. Khalil Khoury is a one-time friend of Dan, and brother of Dan's secret lover, Layla. But that was 40 years ago, and Khalil is here now to point out the bombers' path doesn't lead to the terrorist group but to the Vatican.
Something Wicked is a fast-paced page turner of a thriller, written by a Vatican insider, Monsignor Jack Myslinski, and a Vatican media veteran, Michael McKinley. They take the reader on a thrilling and dangerous journey into some of the Catholic Church's darkest places, and also shine the brightest of lights on the good people within. The result creates a complex and compelling drama that will entertain a broad range of readers, as the crime is as unique as the characters who must solve it.
