Description: "In 1448 a team of architects and engineers brought Pope Nicholas V unhappy news: the 1100-year-old Basilica of St. Peter suffered from so many structural defects that it was beyond repair. The only solution was to pull down the old church--one of the most venerable churches in Christendom--and erect a new basilica on the site. Incredibly, one of the tombs the builders paved over was the resting place of St. Peter. Then in 1939, while working underground in the Vatican, one workman's shovel struck not dirt or rock but open air. The diggers shone a flashlight through the opening and saw a portion of an ancient Christian mausoleum. An archaeologist was summoned at once, and after inspecting what could be seen through the hole the diggers had made in the mausoleum's roof, he authorized a full-scale excavation. What lay beneath? The answer and the adventure await"--
Review Quotes: "It's a thriller, a whodunit, and an adventure, full of clues, codes, false trails, professional envy, whiffs of conspiracy, and heroic mercy. And it's all true! Thomas Craughwell has delivered an historical account that's breathtaking, page-turning, and inspiring." -Mike Aquilina, Executive Vice-President, St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, and author, The Fathers of the Church
"Religious legends sometimes have a funny way of turning out to be true. For many years, scholars believed that the 'five porticoes' in a healing story of Jesus in Jerusalem were just a pious legend--until archeologists unearthed a site with 'five porticoes, ' just as the Gospels had said. The remarkable story of the supposedly 'legendary' remains of St. Peter's, and how they were found exactly where the 'legends' had them, is a fascinating one, especially in the hands of a gifted writer like Thomas Craughwell. His new book should give pause to all those who would dismiss similar stories as 'merely legendary.'" -James Martin, SJ, author of My Life with the Saints.