Michael's Cardinal Sin

'Michael's Cardinal Sin' is the first in a trilogy of political action thrillers and a 'prequel' to a trilogy of novels exploring the reaching of modern terrorist organizations: One to the Nth Degree - The Code 17 Conspiracy; One to the 4th Degree - The Marian Conspiracy; and One to the 3rd Degree - The Shroud of Turin Conspiracy. MCS is set in the fall of 1979 and includes Pope John Paul II's visit to Chicago during the week of October 4-6 and in, as well as about, the city's iconic Old Town District. The novel's theme centers upon a white shoes law firm partner, Michael Avalov, who gets irrepressibly drawn into an international drug cartel's operations. He begins by defending the city's Archbishop Cardinal against suspicions of a federal Grand Jury that he is, in fact, a part of the drug cabal. Michael soon questions the way in which the U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies in Chicago as well as Washington DC. are trying to bring about the larger cartel's demise at his client's expense. A transformation occurs, however, as Michael comes across a host of high ranking Vatican prelates, foreign ambassadors, city officials and local gangs who do appear to serve as a team of drug distributors and hit men. Yet, who would believe the unlikely cabal's fantastic end game may go so far as to include silencing his client as Pope John Paul says Mass in Chicago's Grant Park? Michael's Cardinal Sin, then, is a winding and twisting tale built upon the author's own 40 years of experience as a lawyer, journalist and media relations professional in Chicago as well as the nation's capital. It's a deep dive into Every Man's need for loyalty, how betrayal can destroy rather than build trust and relationships. MSC asks how institutional greed, avarice and misguided cultural beliefs can interplay in the real world of global economics, politics and power ... and whether today's far-reaching drug cartels are all that different from today's global terrorist organizations

Zusammenfassung
Law partner Michael Avalov's lifelong premonition of being struck by a speeding automobile becomes a horrifying reality. On his way to defending his prominent church client before a federal Grand Jury investigating an international drug cartel, Michael is finally waylaid by a hit and run assassin. Whether he survives the deadly blow through a combination of Fate, Luck or Will Power as well as why he may have been marked for murder is revealed in a flashback ...Forty-Something Michael is a rising star in his white shoes Chicago law firm. After work one day in September, 1979, he is confronted at a local Old Town bar by Joe Mantua, an accountant for the Church Archdiocese (a firm client) and a yet unidentified leader of a far-reaching drug cartel called the "Chicago Outfit." Mantua is fearful of the recently reported brutal murder of Father Sebastiani, one of Michael's mentors and secretary to the city's Archbishop Cardinal Schubert. Mantua weaves for Michael a fantastic tale about how the cartel is responsible for the crime. He suggests he has proof in the form of a coded diary and ledger secretly compiled by Father Sebastiani with his help. Not only does the Sebastiani-Mantua diary and ledger supposedly detail the Outfit's past drug deals, but curiously calls out Cardinal Schubert as a cartel Kingpin. Is the Cardinal being framed or is he a cartel player? It remains a mystery for now. Mantua only supposes the cartel ordered Sebastiani's death because of his greed in skimming its drug profits and explains the diary was intended to be an "insurance policy" in case his scam was ever discovered by the cartel. It (scam) was (discovered), but it (diary) wasn't (an effective insurance policy). For a hefty fee, Michael agrees to help protect Mantua from the cartel by using his influence with federal law enforcement agents and City Hall contacts. Mantua, in turn, gives Michael instructions on how to obtain the diary that night at a nearby greasy spoon. Michael advises Mantua to remain underground until he can bring him out of the cold and safely into authorities' hands.Little did Michael realize how deep these waters would prove to be ...