Gabriel Allon--art restorer and spy--is about to face the greatest challenge of his life. An al-Qaeda suspect is killed in London, and photographs are found on his computer--photographs that lead Israeli intelligence to suspect that al-Qaeda is planning one of its most audacious attacks ever, aimed straight at the heart of the Vatican.

Allon and his colleagues soon find themselves in a deadly duel of wits against one of the most dangerous men in the world--a hunt that will take them across Europe to the Caribbean and back. But for them, there may not be enough of anything: enough time, enough facts, enough luck.

All Allon can do is set his trap--and hope that he is not the one caught in it.