Attendees to the NYLA 2022 Annual Conference & Trade Show are in for a treat, especially avid readers of historical fiction and thrillers. At the exhibit by self-publishing and book marketing company ReadersMagnet at booth ###, they will find, among the many new exciting readers, the historical thriller “The Pope's Man” (Luminare Press; 2022) by Tarpley Jones.

Readers will find Jones' “The Pope's Man” as powerful, gripping, and intriguing as the two HBO series “The Young Pope” and “The New Pope.” The historical fiction novel transports readers to 16th-century Rome, the capital of the High Renaissance – the era that produced some of western civilization's greatest artists, such as da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. The latter two figures heavily in the story's clash of artistic genius, power, prestige, personality, and piety.

Offended by the treatment he has received from the hands of the reigning Pope Julius II, a disgruntled Michelangelo decides to flee Rome for his native Florence. But the Pope, who is a great patron of the arts, has grand plans for the rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica and the beautification of the Sistine Chapel. He sends the devout Franciscan friar Francesco della Rovere, a relative and his most trusted legate, to bring the Florentine sculptor and painter back to Rome.

However, Michelangelo will not be the only worry for Rovere. The Pope also entrusts his daughter, Felice, to the Franciscan friar. Felice is a high-spirited girl who has been carefully guarded by her protective father. Rovere, on the other hand, is a severe man who has keep women at safe distance.

Rovere must learn to juggle between his dual responsibilities – Michelangelo and Felice – as Julius the “Warrior Pope” leads an army to reclaim papal lands occupied by the Venetians.

Throughout the many twists and turns in the story, he must rely on his faith, his budding relationship with Felice, and his experience as a papal legate to carefully thread his way through complex situation where politics and power collide, personalities clash, and personal ambitions override piety and morality, all while an orgy of violence breaks out in the Eternal City.

In “The Pope's Man,” the backstory is as just explosive, shifting and unfolding as the main plot progresses. The scenes - all the politics, drama art and blood - behind Michelangelo's fresco serve as essential intervals that not only energize the story but also add to the allure of masterpiece, the Creation of Adam.

Get a copy of Tarpley Jones' “The Pope's Man” today on Amazon.

Visit the author's website at https://thepopesman.net/ to know more about the author and a description of the novel's many works of art.

“The Pope's Man”
Author | Tarpley Jones
Published date | February 2022
Publisher | Luminare Press
Genre | Historical fiction

Author Bio

A student of the Renaissance, Tarp Jones spent a decade researching the labyrinth of Italian history in the early 1500s in order to complete “The Pope's Man.”

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