Set in 15th-century Rome during the Borgia period, it follows Nicholas Dawson, ambitious secretary to the Florentine ambassador, as he becomes embroiled in dangerous political intrigue.

[1][2] Nicholas Dawson is the secretary to the ambassador of Florence in Rome; clever and ambitious, he is homosexual and a highly educated commoner born in Spain to English parents.

Soon Nicholas is enlisted as a double agent for the ruthless Cesare Borgia, and his contact in Florence is none other than Niccolò Machiavelli himself.

[1] David Maclaine called City of God a "gripping" novel of "slowly mounting tension leading to an intense pay-off.

'"[1] According to Library Review, "Holland attributes to Nicholas a keenly analytical mind, a self-serving nature, and a penchant for other men, facets which blend well with her representation of this unsettled time.