In this novel, the Vatican recruits a Jesuit priest—a former elite soldier—to stop a plot by rogue members of the Roman Catholic Church to spark a nuclear war.

Father Kevin Thrall isn’t your ordinary priest—an ex–Army Ranger, he was once a member of a shadowy paramilitary group called the Grey Associates, which worked under CIA contract. Haunted by the wanton violence of his life, he felt called by God to become a priest and start a new life marked by peace and humility. Now he’s the chaplain at an underfunded school in a tough section of Washington, D.C., and happy to be making a difference in his students’ lives. But he’s unwillingly drawn back into the world of espionage and conflict—he’s summoned to the Vatican in order to handle a delicate and urgent matter, an “immediate crisis which threatens the very core of our Catholic Church.” A secretive group known as Opus Mundi, led by someone cryptically referred to as “the Visitor,” holds a “catastrophic worldview”—the organization believes the church, under the tutelage of false prophets, has been led down the road of liberal decadence in contravention of its core spiritual doctrine. Moreover, the group fears that the church will soon reveal part of a prophecy long kept under wraps—often simply referred to as “the Secret”—that will rock the foundations of the Catholic faith. In order to bring about a reform of the church, Opus Mundi believes it needs an apocalypse and conspires to start a nuclear war in the Middle East in order to manufacture one. Kevin, pursued by assassins, is charged with thwarting the group’s diabolical plans. He must also protect the woman he loves, Katie, who, as a result of his involvement, becomes endangered.

Readers will relish the eventfulness of Tanous’ series opener—there is never a moment’s rest for the plot, which charges ahead indefatigably. The propulsive tale also offers some intriguing details about the spiritual conflicts. But many elements of the thriller are derivative and remain closely hewn to a crowded literary genre: a priest who is an ex-soldier; a dangerously conservative and clandestine religious cult; the Catholic Church under siege; the threat of a worldwide debacle; and a sinister villain with a silly moniker. The protagonist is a familiar character—a deadly soldier-turned-priest who’s profoundly troubled by his brutal past but also perfectly capable of waterboarding an adversary for information. Here, Kevin heavy-handedly reflects on his predicament: “I’m a priest who roughs it up with the best of them. Excites me, that adrenaline. How do I reconcile this with my calling to serve as a priest of God? Does it matter? It’s who I am, what I want. I’m divided, a split personality. I am two, Kevin the brave and fearless warrior, and Father Thrall, the humble servant of God. What’s mind-boggling is that they’re opposites. Kevin, meet Father Thrall. Father Thrall, meet Kevin.” In addition, his “six-foot, lean stature made him attractive to members of the opposite sex,” and he enjoys a peculiar relationship with Katie, whom, before he was a priest, he used to “love to the steady beat of French drums.”

An action-packed but melodramatic thriller.