{"product_id":"city-of-secrets-the-startling-truth-behind-the-vatican-murders-9780060935139","title":"City of Secrets: The Startling Truth Behind the Vatican Murders","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCity of Secrets: The Startling Truth Behind the Vatican Murders\u003c\/strong\u003e by Follain, John. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780060935139.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the night of Monday, May 4, 1998, in Vatican territory, the bodies of the commander of the Swiss Guard, his wife, and a young lance corporal were found in the barracks of the picturesque force entrusted with protecting the pope. It was the worst bloodbath to take place in more than a century in the heart of the supreme authority of the worlds one billion Catholics. Four hours later, the Vatican announced that the lance corporal, twenty-three-year-old Cédric Tornay, had shot the couple, then committed suicide in \"a fit of madness\" brought on by frustration with the units discipline -- a conclusion it reaffirmed after a nine-month internal inquiry.\nBut as John Follains hard-hitting exposé shows, the official report was a travesty, a tissue of suppositions, contradictions, and omissions. Based on an exhaustive three-year investigation, City of Secrets reveals how the Vatican, the oldest and most secretive autocracy in the world, staged an elaborate plot to obstruct justice -- and hide the scandals it dared not confess.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Harper Paperbacks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45118441422901,"sku":"ByrdShop_0060935138","price":20.94,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780060935139_730ee6c7-4cce-405a-91df-daeb9e83ee3c.jpg?v=1778709520","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/city-of-secrets-the-startling-truth-behind-the-vatican-murders-9780060935139","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}