The Stonehenge Legacy

Stonehenge, a popular venue for historical conspiracy thrillers, looms large in Christer’s intriguing first novel. At the Sanctuary, a vast, secret underground cathedral that lies several miles from Stonehenge, robed men known as the Followers enact 5,000-year-old rituals, including human sacrifice. One day, Nathaniel Chase, a retired professor who lives in a 17th-century mansion near the ancient site, writes a letter using a vintage fountain pen and antique inkwell to his estranged son, Gideon, then puts a WWI revolver to his temple and fires. When Gideon, a Cambridge professor, visits his father’s home after this tragedy, a mysterious intruder almost kills him. Det. Insp. Megan Baker, who investigates the attack on Gideon, must sift through the facts of several present-day crimes in light of past myths. The stakes rise after the Followers kidnap the U.S. vice president’s party-girl daughter. Christer does a nice job integrating secret diaries, codes, hooded monks, and historical detail into the abduction plot. (Oct.)