Washoe County Library System

In February 2013, the arch-conservative Pope Benedict XVI made a startling announcement: he would resign, making him the first pope to willingly vacate his office in over 700 years. Reeling from the news, the College of Cardinals rushed to Rome to congregate in the Sistine Chapel to pick his successor. Their unlikely choice? Francis, the first non-European pope in 1,200 years, a onetime tango club bouncer, a passionate soccer fan, a man with the common...

A Harvard symbologist analyzes a mysterious symbol seared to the chest of murdered physicist and discovers evidence of the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood to carry out its vendetta against the Catholic Church.

From the Academy Award-nominated screenwriter of The Theory of Everything and Darkest Hour comes the fascinating and revealing tale of an unprecedented transfer of power, and of two very different men - who both happen to live in the Vatican. SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING ANTHONY HOPKINS.

Three exhilarating novellas - The Secret Dead, The Academy of Secrets, and A Christmas Requiem - follow the early adventures of young priest Giordano Bruno in the dramatic days of sixteenth century Italy. Even the dead have a story to tell ... Naples, 1566. During a sweltering summer, eighteen-year-old Giordano Bruno takes his final vows at San Domenico Maggiore and is admitted to the Dominican Order - despite doubts over his tendency to ask difficult...

"La primera aventura de Robert Langdon antes de El c�odigo Da Vinci"--Container. Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to Switzerland when the dead body of a physicist turns up bearing the distinguishing mark of the ancient brotherhood of the "Illuminati." Soon, Langdon suspects this mysterious cult is determined to destroy Catholicism with an unimaginably powerful new weapon.

Born in 9th-century Frankland, Joan demonstrates her brilliance early but must hide her learning from her missionary father, who considers the education of women sacrilegious and dangerous. Tutored first by her older brother and then a Greek scholar, Joan eventually secures a place at the schola in Dorstadt. To protect herself after a Viking raid, Joan dons her dead brother's clothing and assumes a man's identity. Suddenly the intelligence that once...