cover image Daughter of God

Daughter of God

Lewis Perdue. Forge, $24.95 (320pp) ISBN 978-0-312-89074-2

The Nazi plunder of Europe's art and antiquities during WWII sets the stage for a thriller spun around a religious coverup so devastating it could topple the Vatican and crush Western religion. A dying, repentant Nazi, Willi Max, calls renowned American art broker/historian Zoe Ridgeway, to Switzerland, where he reveals his cache of looted treasure, hiring her to catalogue and return it to the owners or heirs. Shortly after she tells her husband, Seth--an ex-L.A. cop turned comparative religion professor at UCLA--about the exciting job, she is kidnapped from their Zurich hotel room. The dismissive Swiss police do little to search for Zoe, so Seth takes charge when he reads that Willi Max died when a fire demolished his mansion just hours after Zoe met with him. Seth discovers that the destroyed treasures are only a fraction of the spoils stashed in a booby-trapped salt mine since WWII. One religious relic's very existence was kept secret by the Vatican for centuries: it's a burial shroud clearly showing the image of a young girl, a second messiah. This ""daughter of God"" was killed, along with her entire village, in the time of Constantine, because her sex and her healing powers threatened the fledgling Christian religion. When the Nazis found out about the shroud, Hitler used the relic to blackmail Pope Pius into silence about Nazi atrocities. Seth has sole access to the salt mine and soon the head of Vatican intelligence, the Russian mafiya and other sinister agents give murderous chase. Perdue's speedy tale of greed and power boasts strong heroes and villains with credible motivation. He steps nimbly between Switzerland and L.A., putting Zoe in peril, but with the wits to save herself. A valiant cadre of aging war survivors add color to the cast. Agent, Natasha Kem. (Feb.)