When renowned archaeologist Sean Wyatt receives a cryptic message from an old friend in Paris, he’s drawn into a mystery tied to one of the most iconic figures in history—Joan of Arc. A long-lost journal has surfaced, one that may reveal the final resting place of her most powerful possession: a ring said to carry a divine energy. But when his contact is murdered before he can share the full truth, Sean and his team are left to unravel a centuries-old trail of riddles, symbols, and hidden catacombs beneath Europe’s ancient cities.
From the shadowy halls of the Palais de Justice in Poitiers to the towering stone walls of the Palais des Papes, Sean and his allies race against a sophisticated cabal led by Victoria Sterling, a high-powered financier whose family ties trace back to the East India Company. Sterling believes the ring holds more than symbolic value—she believes it can bend the will of nations.
But the closer Sean gets to the relic, the more he suspects that the ring was never meant to be found. Traps await at every turn, including a subterranean labyrinth of bones, ancient warnings carved into stone, and mercenaries who strike from the shadows.
As secrets unfold and loyalties are tested, Sean faces the possibility that Joan’s final message wasn’t a map… but a warning. A warning ignored by one woman obsessed with reclaiming a throne of power her family lost long ago.
Now, as a storm brews over France and the hunt reaches its end, Sean must stop a rising power that could consume them all.
THE SAINT’S COVENANT, the twenty-fourth novel in the Sean Wyatt Archeological Thriller series by Ernest Dempsey.
I love history. Always have, as long as I can remember. And I also love literature. Same story with that. Most of all, I love archaeological thrillers like the ones I grew up watching in the 1980s: the Goonies, Indiana Jones, stuff with a mystery and a good treasure hunt. Now I live in the most amazing dream where I get to write those kinds of archaeological thrillers for a living.
I’ve also always had a fondness for Fantasy and Science Fiction. So, if you snoop around my catalog you may find a few of those stories too.
I attended Southern Adventist University from 1995-2003, earning a bachelors degree in psychology and a masters in school counseling. In my heart, however, I’ve always been a storyteller, an entertainer. So, after twelve years of working in the school system, I quit my job to write full time.
I’ve learned over the years, both in writing stories and in my experience, that life is unpredictable.
Cliché, I know.
But people crave a little predictability now and then, when the good guys win and the bad guys get their comeuppance. The most important thing, both in books and in life, is that the end can be easy to predict so long as the journey isn’t. You may know how a story will end, or at least have an inkling, but if you don’t know how it gets there, then that unpredictability makes it fun.
That’s how I approach storytelling.
So, if you like twists in stories, you’ll find them here. All along the journey. And maybe occasionally at the end. But one thing is certain; you will never be bored.
Come on this journey with me. I promise I will always work hard to honor your valuable time with exciting action, baffling mysteries, and intriguing history.
Join the adventure, and get four free stories on my website at http://www.ernestdempsey.net.
See y’all in there,
Ernest Dempsey
Your Friendly Neighborhood Author
In the shadowed depths of the Vatican’s Secret Archives, archaeologist Marcus Russo, Father Michael Dominic, and investigative journalist Hana Sinclair uncover a chilling artifact—a centuries-old music box intricately crafted and bound with symbols of forgotten rites of alchemy. What begins as an academic curiosity quickly turns into a dire warning, as whispers of its sinister origins surface. The box, linked to an enigmatic 18th-century composer, Vincenzo Malvagio, holds within it a melody unlike any other—a composition rumored to have the power to summon forces beyond human comprehension. When the music is played, reality itself begins to shift, and darkness awakens from its long slumber.
As the trio dig deeper, they trace Malvagio’s legacy through the abandoned monasteries of Switzerland, secretive alchemical guilds, and a Vatican conspiracy that sought to bury his work forever. Their search reveals an unsettling truth: the symphony was never meant to be merely heard—it was designed as a ritual, a key to unlocking something buried beneath the veil of history. Each note played draws them closer to an inevitable reckoning, as unexplainable phenomena spread from the Vatican to cathedrals across Europe. The music is no longer contained; it is spreading, imprinting itself onto those who hear it, bending minds and warping reality in ways neither faith nor reason can fully explain.
With time running out and the fabric of the known world unraveling, the team must find a way to silence the music before it reaches its final, apocalyptic crescendo. The melody’s influence is growing, seeping beyond the walls of the Vatican and into the minds of those who hear even a fragment of its haunting refrain. As they race to uncover the final pieces of Malvagio’s lost composition, they realize that the symphony itself is a force of its own—a vessel for something ancient and insidious, waiting to be unleashed. But can they stop a song that refuses to be forgotten, or has the Devil’s Symphony already begun its final performance?
THE DEVIL’S SYMPHONY, the second novel in the Vatican Archeological Thrillers series by Gary McAvoy, author of the Vatican Secret Archive series.
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