The Key

The middle volume of Toyne’s Sanctus trilogy (after 2011’s Sanctus) fails to deliver on the promise of the first. In the ancient Turkish city of Ruin, hostility to Catholicism has prompted someone to set off explosives at the Citadel, “the oldest continually inhabited structure on earth and the original center of the Catholic Church,” and the resulting damage has led to the first ever appearance in public of any of the Citadel’s occupants. Speculation runs rampant that the survivors of the bombing possess the real secret of the sacrament, another church-foundation-rattling possibility that, unfortunately for the Vatican, coincides with another, more mundane crisis. Cardinal Secretary of State Clementi has learned that trillions of dollars have disappeared from the church’s coffers and hangs his hope for a solution on the secrets of Ruin. Readers should be prepared for less than engaging protagonists and trite setups (e.g., one character avoids being murdered by pure chance). Agent: Alice Saunders, LAW Agency. (June)