The angel prince
Engelsfürst is a novel by Jörg Kastner and was published by Knaur Verlag in March 2006 . Engelsfürst is the third novel about the adventures of the (former) Swiss Guard Alexander Rosin after The Angel Pope and The Angel Curse . Like the two previous novels, Engelspapst and Engelsfluch, the story takes place mainly in Rome . The second major setting is the fictional monastery of San Gervasio in the Umbrian mountains. Other locations are the also invented Borgo Lago, where Elena, Roland Kübler and Francesco are towards the end of the book, Florence and the originally pure military airfield Ciampino in the city of the same name .
action
Elena Vida is asked by Monsignor Picardi, the deputy director of the IOR , also known as the Vatican Bank , to meet at the Sant'Anna monastery on the Via Appia . Picardi pretends to have classified information about the Vatican Bank. Elena drives along the Via Appia in her Fiat 500 around midnight . The Sant'Anna Monastery is also called the Monastery of the Damned, because after attempts to repopulate the property of the monastery and its surroundings, accidents and epidemics increased. Soon a curse was rumored, the spirits of the murdered: In 1527 the imperial land servants plundered Rome, but there was nothing to get from the Sant'Anna monastery. The looters let out their anger with fatal consequences on the people in the monastery, be they women or children, refugees or nuns.
Arriving at the ruins, Elena gets out of her car and waits for Monsignor Picardi. When a car arrives and she discovers two men in it, she tries to hide. The two men pursue and finally catch Elena because she has reached a dead end. In a brief fight, Elena is hit in the head and loses consciousness.
Alexander was rang out of bed by the conductor Superiore Donati, who has headed the EU investigation and coordination office for capital crimes for several months and is therefore directly subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior, on the grounds that something had happened to Elena. Donati receives Alexander in the morgue of the police headquarters on the Quirinal , one of the seven hills of the Eternal City. But in the morgue and with Dottoressa Gearroni there is no Elena, but Monsignor Rosario Picardi. When Alexander asked why Elena was in trouble, Donati replied that she was suspected of murdering Picardi.
San Gervasio in the mountains of Umbria : Enrico Schreiber awakens from a nightmare. He closes his eyes again. He traveled back 2000 years under the name Vel. Vel falls in love with Larthi, a young woman. She is tormented by her brother Larth and his cronies. Suddenly Enrico is brought out of his dreams again. Brother Francesco, the youngest of the monks, calls the guest to breakfast. Enrico came here a month ago to rest. As the son of Pope Lucius and then with strange powers, he had to find himself again. Enrico enters the dining room. Around a dozen monks live in the monastery. Abbot is father Tommasio. Father Tommasio accompanies Enrico into a cave. He recognizes the cave immediately, it comes from his dream. Tommasio shows Enrico a picture from the time of the Etruscans .
Donati and Alexander visit Elena at the police hospital. She is currently having a dispute with Commissario Bazzini, who had already accused Alexander Rosin of murdering around five people in The Pope Angel . Bazzini is jealous of Donati, because he took over the management of the new EU police authority and not him. The two policemen leave the sickroom. Alexander is alone with Elena. He says he wants to help her and she has to trust him. But Elena refuses. For good reason, because Alexander had started an affair with Liana, a blonde from the local editorial office of the Messaggero di Roma , but the liaison ended after ten days. But that was enough to end the relationship between him and Elena. After all, he quit the Messaggero .
Donati and Alexander scrutinize the Sant'Anna monastery. Commissario Bazzini was too proud to stomp around in the mud at the gates of Rome, so he directed Micaela Mancori, whom Donati still knows from his time with the Roman police, to the monastery. Micaela disagrees with Bazzini that Elena killed Picardi. Meanwhile, Alexander received a call from the Vatican . Don Luu, the private secretary of Pope Custos, is on the line and urgently asks for a meeting.
On the way back, Alexander notices that he is being followed by a dark Fiat. He lures the pursuer to a necropolis . When he pounced on the pursuer, he noticed that it was Emilio Petti, a former employee of the Messaggero . He wrote an article that the Madonna cried blood in a chapel in Genzano. The tears were identified as ox blood and he was immediately dismissed.
Petti pretends to have an informant with the police and through him to have learned about the murder of Rosario Picardi. Alexander and Emilio arrange a meeting to exchange information.
At the gate to the Vatican, Alexander is greeted by Roland Kübler, a colleague from Alex's time in the Guard, and brought to the Pope by Henri Luu.
On the third floor of the Apostolic Palace , Alexander is received by three men: Pope Custus, Pope Lucius and the head of security of the Vatican, Bruno Spadone. Custos assures that he also considers Elena innocent and tells that there was an incident within the Vatican walls, which may have been connected to Picardi's death. Alexander gets to see an urn with the ashes of the recently deceased Cardinal Mandume. The newspaper reported that the African cardinal had died of a heart attack. But Mandume was not cremated after his death. He was found that way. Everything indicates that Mandume self- immolated .
Through hypnosis, Tommasio leads Enrico back into the realm of dreams, where Larthi's father succumbed to self-immolation .
Donati, Alexander and Spadone go to the Vatican Bank. There they meet Fabio Pallottino, who shows them the way to Rodrigo Cardinal Scheffler. He says that Elena had interviewed Picardi a few days ago, but that she had not told Alexander and Donati.
Alexander goes to the trattoria on the banks of the Tiber , where he had arranged to meet Emilio Petti. But he couldn't be seen in the restaurant. When Alexander enters a backyard, he is attacked by a colossus. With the only weapon, the bell-shaped umbrella he received from Henri Luu, he defends himself and stabs his opponent's eye. Alexander discovers Emilio Petti, whose chest was bleeding. Emilio's last words were: “In the mountains […] Bishop”. Distracted by the dying Emilio, Alexander is surprised by the second killer and shot.
In the middle of the night, Brother Francesco went to Enrico's cell. This tells him that he will leave.
On his return, Francesco is discovered by his father Tommasio. Francesco tells him everything and then scourges himself in the bell tower. He mumbles the formula of penance from Totus Tuus.
Alexander was extremely lucky. The bullet only leaves a scar on the forehead. Donati tells him that Elena's innocence has been proven. The blood that was found at Picardi comes from this colossus that Alex had gouged out an eye. He also learns that Elena is three months pregnant.
Enrico is leaving. He's driving down into the valley with Maurizio, a grocer. Suddenly they notice a modern off-road vehicle, which is also coming from the direction of the monastery. The off-road vehicle rams Maurizio's delivery van until it comes off the road and hits a tree stump. Maurizio broke his neck, while Enrico was almost unharmed. He runs away from the pursuers, but is caught anyway. Maurizio's murderers were brother Ambrosio, the monastery cook and brother Giuseppe. They capture Enrico and blow up Maurizio's car.
Donati invites Alexander, Elena and Laura Monicini, the editor-in-chief of the Messaggero di Roma , to a meeting in his penthouse with a view of the Roman Forum . You decide that Alexander and Elena should do some research together.
Enrico is locked in the basement of the bell tower. Abbot Tommasio knows of his special powers and wants to make use of them.
Alex and Elena found what they were looking for. The former Archbishop of Florence , Egidio Guarducci, lives in Frana in the mountains. You decide to visit him personally.
On the way they are overtaken by a car. Alexander recognizes the one-eyed killer as a driver and recognizes the danger for Guarducci. In the archbishop's house there is a shooting, which ends deadly for both the housekeeper and the killer in both eyes. Alex and Elena go to the archbishop who has suffered a heart attack. Before he dies, he gives a reference to the documents that Picardi gave him. The documents can be found in Guarducci's safe. It is data from the Vatican Bank.
In Florence, the man who Alexander shot in the archbishop's house is identified. It is Nuccio Carpi from Palermo. After he went to jail for crimes with the Mafia, he pursued distance learning theology there .
Hypnosis has weakened Enrico very much and he is close to death.
When Alexander and Donati come to the Vatican , they see the papal helicopter rise over St. Peter's Basilica . They found out the reason from Pope Custos. His brother Lucius had to go to Umbria because his son Enrico suffers from an illness.
The columns of numbers from the archbishop's vault are entrusted to Fabio Pallottino, who is supposed to examine them for irregularities.
Laura Monicini reveals to Elena that she was once pregnant with twins. Elena tells her boss that she got a call. Someone wants to meet her at the Sant'Anna Monastery and give her information about the incidents at the Vatican Bank.
Lucius has arrived at Enrico and is healing him. Two of the three Swiss Guardsmen were strangled by the “monks”, and a third was able to flee after a shooting in which a monk died.
Tommasio tells Lucius and Enrico that he wants to kindle the angel fire. For this he needs the two, since they are "son and son of the son" of the archangel Uriel.
Elena is in the Monastery of the Damned. The one-eyed killer comes up to her and Elena shoots him. At the same time, the police storm Laura Monicini's apartment, but she was able to escape.
Elena is already expected by Laura in her apartment. She is forced to drive to an unknown destination with Laura. During the journey, Laura reveals herself to be a relative of Totus Tuus. Elena's unborn child is to be raised to be a faithful servant of the order.
Lucius explains to Enrico about the fight between her ancestor Uriel and his opponent Lucifer for the place as angel prince. All the monks of the monastery (which is actually a base of Totus Tuus) get into several delivery vans, they also take their two prisoners with them. You come to a valley that is protected by a camouflage net. This is where the "headquarters" of Totus Tuus is located. Elena is also taken there.
Alex and Donati didn't notice Elena's kidnapping. You drive to Ciampino Airport and let a helicopter take off to comb the area around San Gervasio.
Elena, Enrico and Lucius hear the helicopter with Donati and Alex on board, but they couldn't find anything due to the camouflage net, so they later have to return to Ciampino. You only see the shot-up Mercedes SUV, the dead Swiss Guards and Totus Tuus' hostage.
Tommasio announces the fight between Uriel's son (Lucius) and the son of Uriel's son (Enrico) against Lucifer's son (Tommasio) and his son, who is about to appear.
Alexander looks for Elena in her apartment, but she was gone.
Francesco comes to the three prisoners and says he wants to help them escape. Suddenly Elena pauses: Laura is sitting in the car.
Fabio Pallottino tells Donati and Alexander that the Argentine Cardinal Rodrigo Scheffler is said to have initiated large transactions within the Vatican Bank.
This wants to make a statement, but only after the mass for Pope Lucius in St. Peter's Basilica .
The guards stop Laura and demand that the van be checked. But it started. However, the car was shot at and Laura was fatally wounded.
During the mass, Spadone suggested that Elena might be in cahoots with her boss. Alex can suppress his anger at the last moment. He and Donati watch Cardinal Scheffler when he suddenly goes up in flames. Only sons of angels, such as Mandume, have this power.
Enrico, Lucius, Francesco and Elena flee. Francesco tells how he killed his parents back then because his father always beat his mother up and was then put in a home that was later taken over by Totus Tuus. Since then, Tommasio has been looking after him.
Alex and Donati caught their breath, because only one could hear that Scheffler could make a statement: Fabio Pallottino.
The refugees are caught: by Brother Giuseppe. But he too is shot, by Roland Kübler, a Swiss Guard who miraculously survived a fall. They decide to separate: Enrico and Lucius will surrender, while Kübler, Elena and Francesco try to escape.
As expected, Pallottino disappeared with Guarducci's files. But what nobody knows: the police have hidden a bug in the former archbishop's documents.
They find out that Pallottino's father is called Tommasio Lampada. Lampada was a clergyman. He was the prison chaplain of Nuccio Carpi and Mino Pistoni, the man Elena shot in the Sant'Anna monastery. And Tommasio Lampada is also the abbot of the monastery of San Gervasio, making Fabio Pallottino the son of Lucifer's son.
Four helicopters took off from Ciampino Airport to pursue Pallottino. A radio message revealed that Elena, Francesco and Roland Kübler had been picked up and were in Borgo San Lago. The helicopters make a stopover.
Lucius and Enrico refuse to turn away from Uriel, instead worshiping his opponent Lucifer, like Tommasio Lampada.
When the police stormed the Temple of the Ancestors, they could still see how Tommasio, Fabio Pallottino, Lucius and Enrico died by means of self-immolation. Enrico and Lucius felt no pain.
Alexander and Elena decide to name their child Enrico. He announces that he will move back to Switzerland . But Elena tries to make him understand that he should take her with him and get married.
Characters (selection)
Alexander Rosin
Former Swiss Guard , also appeared in The Angel Pope and The Angel Curse . Since then he has split up with Elena because he started an affair with Liana, a blonde from the local editorial office, for ten days. But because he wants Elena back and is also the father of her unborn child, he goes looking for her. With success.
Elena Vida
Journalist, also appeared in The Angel Pope and The Angel Curse . Elena broke up with Alex two months ago. However, she is pregnant from him. She is suspected of the murder of Rosario Picardi, and later abducted by Totus Tuus.
Enrico Schreiber
Also appeared in The Angel's Curse . Enrico is the illegitimate son of Pope Lucius alias Tomàs Salvati and therefore also has the power of angels. Has retired to a monastery that attracted him. The monastery was owned by Totus Tuus. Find death at the end of the book.
Vel
In the dream, Enrico identifies with this figure, who is fighting for Larthi, a bright woman. Opponent is their brother Larth, who also kills his father by immolating himself.
Pope Custos
Pope Custos, actually Jean-Pierre Gardien, is one of the chosen, a descendant of Jesus. Like the sons of angels (Pope Lucius, Enrico), he has healing powers. Already appeared in The Angel Pope and The Angel Curse .
Pope Lucius
Also appeared in The Angel's Curse . Lucius, whose real name is Tomàs Salvati, is the father of Enrico Schreiber and, as a descendant of the Archangel Uriel, has healing powers. Since the reunification of the Catholic Church, he has led it together with his official brother, Pope Custos. At the end of the book he dies with his son.
Tommasio Lampada
Abbot of the Monastery of San Gervasio. Is a descendant of Lucifer and the father of Fabio Pallottino and the general of Totus Tuus. He was the prison chaplain of Nuccio Carpi and Mino Pistoni.
Brother Francesco
Monk in San Gervasio. Was intended as a decoy for Enrico, but makes friends with him. Finally, help him to escape.
Stelvio Donati
Also appeared in The Angel Pope and The Angel Curse . As head of the EU investigation and coordination office for capital crimes, he holds the rank of Conductor Superiore. Lost his left leg, wife and two children in a car bomb attack ten years ago.
Commissario Bazzini
Arrogant Commissioner of Rome, also appeared in The Angel Pope , where he had accused Alexander of murdering a few people. This time he suspects Elena of murdering Picardi. Is also jealous of Donati because he was chosen over him in the appointment of the head of the new EU police department.
Fabio Pallottino
Secretary of the Vatican Bank. Is the son of Tommasio Lampada. Denies the suspicion of greasing five million euros, blames Cardinal Rodrigo Scheffler.
Laura Monicini
Editor-in-chief of Messagero di Roma and loyal sister of Totus Tuus. She sets the killer on Elena, but becomes remorseful and helps Francesco to escape, where she is shot.
Emilio Petti
Former Messagero employee , was fired by editor-in-chief Laura Monicini after his article about the tears of the Madonna was humbug. The tears had turned out to be ox blood. Trying to come back with a story again. Is murdered on the banks of the Tiber by Nuccio Carpi and Mino Pistoni, but Alexander can still point out Archbishop Guarducci.
Cardinal Rodrigo Scheffler
The Argentine became head of the Vatican Bank after Picardi's death. He too has an angelic power, which was kindled by Pallottino. Scheffler burned in St. Peter's Basilica because Pallottino had overheard Scheffler wanting to make a statement.
Nuccio Carpi
The massive one of the killers who murdered on behalf of Totus Tuus. Grew up near Palermo, was shot in the archbishop's house.
Mino Pistoni
The second the killer. Alexander poked his eye out on the banks of the Tiber. Was shot by Elena in the Sant'Anna monastery.
Archbishop Egidio Guarducci
Former Archbishop of Florence , has retired in the mountains near Frana. Is attacked there by Nuccio Carpi and Mino Pistoni. Then dies of a heart attack in Alexander's arms.
Bruno Spadone
Spadone is the former Deputy Police Director of Florence , now he is the chief of the Vigilanza , the competition of the Swiss Guard .