Goran Maiello

Across Europe and beyond, a powerful elite society operates in plain sight while exerting unseen control. What appears to be influence is, in fact, a sophisticated system of manipulation embedded within both political structures and the Church itself. As the layers are peeled back, the thriller reveals an omnipresent threat — adaptive, relentless, and far more powerful than initially believed — challenging the very notion of free will and authority in the modern world.

The year is 1764. For over a year, Josef has been leading a precarious life in Venice. He hopes to become an opera composer. The city, full of talented and already-established composers, seems closed to him. Looking for work as a violinist, he comes into the orbit of a rich young woman. Thanks to her, he gets the opportunity to play at salons. But his real opportunity arises when he becomes the lover of a libertine marquise. She teaches him worldly manners, rids him of signs of a provincial upbringing and introduces him to a hedonistic existence free from religious intolerance. Thus transformed, Josef gets an incan incredible commission: to write an opera for the San Carlo, Europe's largest theatre.

A misfit teenager, an anxious mother, and a recent widow see their day interrupted by a mysterious natural phenomenon. As their world descends into chaos, the three women struggle to find their place in life.