Ennio could have been a great monk—if he hadn’t nearly killed another noviate the day before he was to take his vows.  Forced to leave the monastery, he does his penance at the oars of a galley.  Soon he discovers his true calling: the sea.  He proves to be an uncanny navigator, the sort of man who can smell his way to land or feel a deadly storm coming in the base of his spine.  And he’s just the man Venice needs in 809 AD, when the mighty Charlemagne launches an invasion of the tiny republic.

“Buono’s Tale” follows the adventures of the man who will someday secure Venice’s greatness by bringing home Saint Mark’s body from Egypt.  For now, he’s just trying to keep a huge Frankish army from obliterating his beloved city.

This serial webnovel is a prequel to my (as yet) unpublished historical novel, “Saint Mark’s Body”.