PARADOX

A death in Colorado and a Vatican visitor highlight this sequel to Extinction (2024).

In Rome, a thief steals a fragment of the “true skull” of John the Baptist, and the pope wants the venerated object returned. The assignment falls to Brother Niall Armagh, a former law enforcement chaplain in Chicago. Church authorities know who took it, and Armagh must travel to San Francisco to effect its return. Meanwhile, in Colorado, state Bureau of Investigation agent Frankie Cash and Eagle County Sheriff James Colcord work a homicide case in the remote Flat Tops Wilderness, where trouble bubbles—the corpse of Willy Grooms is found in his shack with coins covering the hollows where his eyes had been. His mouth had been forced open, but the only bleeding came from a mangled foot. The autopsy yields surprising results and a critical but puzzling clue. Grooms had been tortured using tools dating back to the 17th century, such as the Spanish boot and the speculum oris. This is no ordinary murder, so a challenging investigation lies ahead. “Sapiens supremacists” are quick to blame murderous, de-extincted Neanders that may be running loose. Brother Armagh thinks his search for a holy relic may be related to the murder case, so he offers to help the investigators. But his true mission must remain secret, even from ultraconservative local priest Timothy Moore. Cash and Colcord are smart and brave but differ in temperament, Cash being “bossy, forceful, and irritating as hell,” and prone to getting in trouble with her boss. For example, her unprofessional outburst at Father Moore would be a job killer if she weren’t so competent. She and Colcord watch each other’s backs as the danger level steadily mounts to a climactic scene where either or both could die. Threaded into the plot are a company named Paradox, alien artifacts, and John the Baptist’s DNA.

A crackling good thriller by father and daughter.