Rome the beautiful is dying, the symbol of civilization falling, the
empire burning. Hidden from massacres and looting, a strange meeting
is held by nine families who share the Roman Empire. To retain their
power, they decide to support a new
religion—Christianity—as well as its representative, the
pope. But who are these 9 mysterious families? Later, much later,
it's the Renaissance. Christianity prospers. A brigand called “the Scorpion” makes a living by unearthing relics in the
depths of the Roman catacombs, which he sells at high prices to
princes and bishops. Trebaldi, a powerful cardinal, takes an interest
in this Scorpion, who is either a creature of the devil... or a
witness to a cursed era who must disappear...This two-volume book
includes "The Pope's Secret".
Spirou and Fantasio's friend, the Count of Champignac, asks them to join him in Australia, where he has heard that an ancient monolith is still standing. When they arrive, Champignac's colleague Walker Donahue informs them that Champignac has been abducted by local gangster Sam. The monolith they're after stands in the vicinity of an aboriginal mining village, which is constantly prey to white prospectors trying to steal indigenous resources.
Spirou and Fantasio must save Champignac from Sam's clutches and help him find the legendary monolith while standing by the aboriginal people.
Larry B. Max is an unusual specialist from a little-known branch of the I.R.S. (Internal Revenue Service), the all-powerful tax-collecting agency of the United States, which has every technological method at his disposal to link high finance and high crime. Max unravels the financial and logistical organisations which supports a huge drugs operation between Mexico and the US. In the process, though, the lines between legality and providing jobs for thousands of people, between prosperity and morals become blurred.
The lights of Rome have dimmed. When the Scorpion and his friends get
back to the Holy See, it is a place of fear and death they find, a
city cowering under Trebaldi's boot. Their only chance to destroy the
Pope's power is to heed Rochnan's last words and look into the past
of the Scorpion's mother. Dodging warrior-monks and Inquisitors, they
begin to unravel a story that could yield some answers too horrible to contemplate...
Betrayed by the beautiful Ansea Latal, the Scorpion has been captured by the Turks. But he cannot afford to tarry: Rochnan and his monks are close on his tail, Ansea is on her way to Cappadocia to find the true cross of Saint Peter, and, back in Rome, Trebaldi is preparing his reign of terror. As a prisoner or a fugitive, alone or in the reluctant company of people who have sworn his death, the Scorpion will have to reach Karabas before the agents of the Nine Families and discover the truth hidden deep inside the Holy Valley.
Is the world barrelling towards the apocalypse? Russian commandoes are positioned around Georgia and its vital pipelines, fanatical terrorists are bent on eliminating Saudi Arabia's reigning family... With oil barons indifferent to the potential damage their stock market manipulations could cause, only one man stands against a scheme of utter cynicism: Larry B. Max. This time, the IRS agent intends to stop his sworn enemy Madsen for good - and rescue the woman he's loved for so long, Kate.
Larry B. Max is an unusual specialist from a little-known branch of the I.R.S. (Internal Revenue Service), the all-powerful tax-collecting agency of the United States, which has every technological method at its disposal to investigate possible links between high finance and high crime.
Max investigates two seemingly-unconnected murders. The former president of an Asian country, who was accused of embezzlement, is bumped off in France. Meanwhile, the right-hand man of a corrupt US mayor meets a grizzly end in the Californian desert. Max finds a strange message stating "Silicia, 10 am, Ocean Drive" and tries to figure out what it all means. Meanwhile, a mysterious young lady seems to be one step ahead of him and erasing one clue after the other.
Larry B. Max is an unusual specialist from a little-known branch of the I.R.S. (Internal Revenue Service), the all-powerful tax-collecting agency of the United States, with every technological method at his disposal to link high finance and high crime.
Max investigates Silicia, Inc., a mysterious company fronting the activities of a beautiful and deadly assassin. For $2.5 million per contract, the killer leaves a trail of bodies and corruption behind her. As the I.R.$. agent closes in on his target, the scale of her web becomes frighteningly clear-and things take an unpleasantly personal turn for Max.
One by one, the Pope's warrior monks fall to the Scorpion's blade or desert their master. Feeling his enemy circling ever closer, Trebaldi grows desperate and hires Rome's best paid assassins to go after him-and whomever else stands in his way. As the women in his life choose their destinies, an old enemy reappears to plague the Scorpion... or perhaps to bring him the truth at last, hidden behind his mask.
There are bad memories in Larry Max's past. Dark figures specialised in shady dealings that once bullied and defeated the young, novice IRS agent. He never forgot, though. And now those names are coming up again in relation to some relatively minor trading fraud. But when Larry begins unravelling the threads, from Texas to Azerbaijan, what he discovers is anything but minor: secrets that could make a select few immensely rich - and set the world ablaze.
The Stone Cross: The Scorpion, whose mother Cardinal Trebaldi burnt
at the stake for loving a man of the cloth, discovers that his father
was the murdered Pope himself. When Trebaldi addresses a huge crowd
at the end of the mourning period, the Scorpion is there to tell the
truth about how the people's beloved Pope died.The Devil in the
Vatican: Trebaldi claims that the sacred cross of St Peter miraculously appeared in his castle. The Scorpion must find the real
cross if he is to prove Trebaldi's treachery.This two-volume book
includes "The Stone Cross"
The iron fist of Trebaldi's monks is still strangling Rome, but such
an army is expensive. To pay his men before their loyalty begins to
slip, the Pope must rely on the financial assistance of European
monarchs-and a large sum in gold is coming to Rome. But such a convoy
is tempting to many! Trebaldi, the Nine Families, thieves and
conspirators... And all figure they can use the Scorpion against each other to obtain what they want.
