The Holy Nail - by Michael Serby (Paperback)

About the Book

Two American soldiers in Milan in May 1945 collaborate with a Partisan to steal a sacred relic, the Holy Nail, from the Duomo, a major center of the Catholic Church. This priceless object has resided there for fourteen hundred years. Their attempt to sell the Nail leads to an investigation by the police and the Church as well as encounters with the Mafia. Plans shift drastically over the ensuing months, but eventually a fatal scheme is created and enacted.

Book Synopsis

The Holy Nail introduces Nick Genova and Joe Cohen, two American soldiers who reach Milan one day ahead of Allied forces at the end of World War Two. The next day, with the city in chaotic celebration, they enter the battered Milan Duomo with a Partisan woman and together they steal a famous Catholic relic, the Holy Nail, said to be a remnant of the Crucifixion. It has been the soul of the cathedral for fourteen hundred years. Complications arise immediately as the two men try to negotiate a ransom from the Catholic Church. The Church authorities, aided by the Milan police and an international investigator, pursue a number of leads, but they are unaware of Mafia interest in the Nail. An unholy interplay of characters and motives ensues.

About the Author

Michael Serby was born in Brooklyn and raised in Savannah. He now lives in Upper Manhattan. His short stories focus on the individual's struggle with the tension between religious and cultural identity and on the struggle to survive in a hostile world. He is fascinated and frustrated by the rejection of reason and reality in the twenty-first century.