AFTER DEATH

A self-described research wizard turns out to be a wizard in more ways than one.

To hear Michael Mace tell it, he’s just “a guy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time when, in the midst of catastrophe, one thing went right.” The catastrophe was a government-sponsored microbial infection that swept through the headquarters of the Beautification Research Project, killing 55 people—no, make that 54, since Michael, the BRP security chief, somehow came back to life. And that’s not all, for now Michael’s acquired the power to tap into all sorts of chip-driven objects, from cellphones to supercomputers. He can read their data instantly and alter their records from far away. In short, he’s the perfect savior for accountant Nina Dozier. Michael’s best friend, genius immunologist Shelby Shrewsberry, had hired Nina away from her old job so she could work on BRP’s books, but before he could confess his love for her, he was killed in the outbreak. Now Nina’s menaced by Aleem Sutter, the gangbanger who abandoned her years ago after getting her pregnant but now wants back into her life so he can make sure that John, her 13-year-old, maintains his father’s reputation by joining a gang himself. As it happens, Aleem is no match for Michael, who faces an altogether more powerful adversary: Durand Calaphas, another genius who works for the Internal Security Agency, knows all about that microbial catastrophe and still smarts from the episode years ago that branded his older brother, virologist Dr. Gifford Calaphas, a traitor. Koontz shines in providing downscale dialogue for Aleem and his peeps and brisk, memorable portraits of the many walk-on characters. The actual plot is another matter.

Heaven-storming piffle.