Ex-Ranger-turned-professor Silas Grey is at an all-time low. His career is in jeopardy, the woman he cares about is in the hospital, and there's a presidential election upending the status quo -- a three-way race between a Catholic Democrat, a Mormon Republican, and an Evangelical Independent. So when a former classmate shows up with a mysterious medallion with ancient markings of conflicting origin, he knows trouble is on the horizon.
He also knows exactly whom to call: the ancient religious Order of Thaddeus, protector of the Christian faith stretching back two millennia. But when the election takes a remarkably dramatic turn, it becomes apparent that a conspiracy threatens not only America, but also the Church. And the mystery medallion is revealed to be rooted in a more explosive origin stretching back to the early decades of America's founding and the founding of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Silas and the Order's SEPIO operatives embark on a timely mission ripped from the headlines to protect the integrity of the authentic Church. Not only that, whether they succeed or fail will have national stakes as the country straddles the knife-edge separation of Church and State.
In a race against the election clock, will they succeed before that separation is breached and religious confusion floods the nation?
Leveraging the familiar elements of Dan Brown's religious conspiracy and James Rollin's special-ops suspense, informed by Steve Berry's historical insights and Joel Rosenberg's thrilling inspiration -- emerging author J. A. Bouma delivers an explosively gripping political thriller with a religious edge that's thoroughly rooted in historical and religious fact, the fourth book in the inventive archaeological thriller series that will leave you holding your breath at every turn.