The Ending We Deserve — Robert S. Levinson

Fired pro football team recruiter Hank Holloway stumbles into one of the church world's best kept secrets and becomes a “choir rustler,” battling for soloists against rustlers who violate one or more of the Ten Commandments in this seriocomic thriller that climaxes at “Sing, You Synods,” a nationwide singing competition that's more Hitchcock than Hallelujah.

En route, Hank encounters the Mafia, a rap-and-roll music mogul, the FBI, the Secret Service, the president of the United States, Holy Rollers who put their faith (and Hank) to the test through trials by deadly snakes, poison and fire, a recovering nymphomaniac, an ersatz Santa Claus with more than ho-ho-ho on his mind, evangelists with dual identities and questionable ethics, and the relentless alimony-chasing lawyer who represents Hank's ex-wife and her boyfriend, a karaoke-singing dwarf.

None of this is helping Hank resolve a troubled relationship with his love-smitten son or his own budding romantic entanglement with the sexy, smooth-talking beauty who is among his fiercest choir rustling competitors.