In the oldest inhabited place on earth, atop a mountain known as the Citadel, a Vatican-like city-state towers above the city of Ruin in modern-day Turkey. Now, thanks to media coverage of a climber's assent, the eyes of the whole world are on a group that has prized its secrets above all things. For the Sancti--the monks living inside the Citadel--this could mean the end of everything they have built and protected for millennia . . . and they will stop at nothing to keep what is theirs.

For American reporter Liv Adamsen, driven by the memory of a tragic loss, an earth-shaking discovery awaits that will change everything . . .