The Jericho Deception

A cool premise compensates for the low stakes of Small’s stand-alone religious thriller, his second after The Breath of God. Yale researchers Dr. Ethan Lightman and his mentor, Prof. Elijah Schiff, are convinced that religious experiences spring from the brain’s left temporal lobe. Lightman and Schiff have built a machine, the Logos (aka the “God Machine”), that sends electrical pulses into that area, which then engender extreme religious feelings. But there are technical problems, and the project is in financial trouble until a mysterious benefactor, Dr. Allen Wolfe from the Neurological Advancement Foundation, offers to take over funding. Savvy thriller readers will realize that no good can come of this relationship, and that once the CIA steps onstage, the project is in serious trouble. And the CIA plot, known as Project Jericho, is indeed nefarious. (May)