Jan Zawisza

A computer hacker penetrates Vatican security and sends an urgent anonymous plea to the pope. Handsome Father Quart, of the church's Institute of External Affairs, an arm of the Vatican intelligence, is dispatched to investigate. The message of the hacker concerns a crumbling 17th century Baroque church in the heart of Seville that apparently "kills to defend itself".

Set in the 1980s in an apartment in Berlin. Konstantin is a KGB agent tasked with killing his beloved Lina. When he discovers that she is also trying to kill him, he decides to put his mission aside to find out if their love was ever real.

Normandy, France, June 1944, during World War II. Paratrooper Carlton Pilecki, lost behind enemy lines, tries to rejoin his comrades.

Across the turbulent 20th century, five stories reveal desperate choices and hidden triumphs-from the Holocaust's shadows to Cold War espionage-uncovering resilience in war's quiet, aching aftermath.