The Bernini Quest

By Ann Port

Emma Bradford, a reporter for Boston's local ABC affiliate, WCVB, is surprised when she is awakened by an early phone call from her boss, Jack Burnett, who announces he's sending her to Rome to cover a Bernini Exhibition jointly sponsored by the city and the Vatican. What's the story?" Emma asks. "Though I don't care if I'm covering the pope's tea party." "The pope gives tea parties?" says Jack. "I guess I'll have to find a permanent correspondent to deliver daily reports. Care to apply for the job while you're over there?" Suddenly serious, he cautions Emma about her competition for the story, Michael Kelsey, a WABC New York reporter and a "Geraldo wannabe" who got his start in sports reporting and "no doubt thinks Bernini is a lineman for the New York Giants. "You'll have to make up your own mind about Michael," Jack says," but let me give you a little fatherly advice. Be careful. Kelsey has a reputation for being reckless." From their first meeting on the plane from New York to Rome, Emma and Michael form an intense rivalry. After a day of dodging Michael as she tours the churches, piazzas and museums, with her expert guide, Nicola Adriani, Emma attends the opening reception for the exhibition. There, she interviews the avowed conservative Cardinal Giancomo Amici about the Bernini's sculptures in Saint Peter's Basilica. At the end of the meeting the cardinal secretly slips Emma a note. As she reads the words: "I'm being held against my will. My life is in danger. Help me," Emma is stunned. "Oh my God!" she exclaims under her breath. "This is the real story, not the Bernini Exhibition." Forced by her producer, Helen Taylor, to join forces with her bitter rival, Emma is determined to unravel the mystery and discover what's really happening behind the scenes at the Vatican. As murders occur and the pope becomes suspiciously ill, though warned to stop investigating by Monsignor Masella Cipriano, the pope's mysterious private secretary, Emma and Michael, team up with Monsignors Steven Kelsey and James McDonald to seek answers which will have worldwide as well as personal implications. As they delve into the perilous world of church politics, more than once, the foursome finds themselves in danger of losing their own lives. All the while the reader wonders if Emma and Michael will live to report the "real story," or die at the hands of Masella and other powerful clergymen who will stop at nothing and use any means available to prevent them from reporting the truth. As well as attracting readers who love mysteries that blend intrigue with humor and romance, The Bernini Quest will appeal to those who appreciate Rome's ancient ruins and fabulous museums, the Vatican's splendid Saint Peter's Basilica, and Bernini, the Baroque sculptor who left his footprints throughout the city of Rome.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1466251247
• ISBN13: 9781466251243
• Release Date: November 2011
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 530 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 1.2" x 5.5"