City of God

New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the world's largest Gothic structure, provides an eerie and atmospheric venue for a serial murderer out to sweep the moneychangers from the temple. Bill Donovan, head of the NYPD's West Side Major Crime Unit (last encountered in Death Games ), is called to investigate the fatal bludgeoning of Dale Charbaux, a promoter staging a silent film festival in St. John's, which has broadened its outreach to include community activities with little or no religious bearing. Further murders of men using or enabling the use of the cathedral for secular purposes set Donovan on a personal quest for a killer who calls himself Marcus (St. Augustine's given name). As Donovan searches through the labyrinthine corridors and forgotten rooms of the enormous building, his approaching marriage with black policewoman Marcie Barnes is endangered when her best friend is murdered during the New York Marathon and Marcie becomes obsessed with revenge. Despite an occasional infelicitous turn of phrase, Jahn shows sensitivity in depicting a biracial relationship, and he captures Manhattan's Upper West Side with gritty realism and touches of mordant humor. (Mar.)