Peter's Pence

Peter's Pence follows Fergus McBride, an Irish-American journalist working as the Vatican's press spokesman in Rome. Drawn into an IRA plot to steal priceless treasures from the Vatican, McBride helps provide access for a scheme intended to raise money for political purposes in Northern Ireland. The plan goes disastrously wrong when the conspirators abandon the theft and instead kidnap the Pope, transforming a carefully planned heist into an international crisis.

As the kidnappers struggle to control a situation that has spiraled far beyond their intentions, McBride becomes caught between competing loyalties, the authorities searching for the Pope, and the increasingly desperate members of the conspiracy. Set against the backdrop of Rome and the Vatican, the story follows the consequences of the kidnapping as political motives, personal convictions, and practical realities collide.