Mysterious inscriptions on an Englishman’s skin and attacks by demonic assassins are among the signs interpreted by the Vatican that an apocalyptic battle between good and evil is nigh.

In this sequel, Edge continues an SF/fantasy trilogy that began with An English Apocalypse (2020). The narrative partially recaps events in the earlier book from different points of view. Contemporary British family man Joseph Fairbourne notices enigmatic inscriptions appearing on his skin, some in Latin, and suspects a prank by his 21-year-old video game–playing son, James. But when a priest sees the marks, everything changes. Joseph; his wife, Bridget; James; and other relatives are swept up by a Swiss Guard secret branch, protecting them from sudden raids by black-clad assassins who inevitably erupt into flames when defeated. It seems the pope has been having visions of a final war between servants of God and minions of Satan, and Joseph’s stigmatalike phenomenon marks him as a key figure in this quasi-biblical prophecy come true. The Vatican secretly spent its fortune (with a network of supernaturally gifted individuals) in creating safe havens, combat drones, and elite soldiers for a showdown with the massing “Dark Ones.” Now, agnostic Joseph is ordained a priest as violence and horror escalate globally. But is it possible there is a rational explanation for the end-of-days catastrophes? A parallel plotline follows Jennifer Travers, a Scottish woman with crack military training traveling through the United States. Happenstance repeatedly pits her combat skills against rapists, abusers, and, ultimately, the inhuman-seeming Dark Ones themselves. Those passages do feel flown in from another story altogether (readers may be reminded of F. Paul Wilson’s recurring action hero who winds up fighting the occult, Repairman Jack, and that is no small compliment). And Edge’s juggling of multiple narrators—including ship’s log entries and late arrivals from the first book—does make for an uneven whole. But as a midtrilogy installment, the adventure can be enjoyed as a stand-alone. The author’s cagey treatment of whether all these tribulations are really salvation or superscience indistinguishable from magic makes a switch from the Tim LaHaye/Jerry B. Jenkins–spawned genre of Left Behind–ish apocalypse thrillers with overt Christian evangelical agendas. Readers will decide if this is a frustrating plot element or deserving of a hallelujah.

The devil is in the details as this engaging, epic SF thriller begets unholy mayhem.

Two brothers, separated since childhood, face the end of the world in Edge’s debut novel.

Paul has been having nightmares about an impending apocalypse. At first, he simply shrugs them off, but then he realizes that his wife and children are suffering similarly dark dreams. One night, he hears his wife, Kate, muttering in her sleep, telling him he’s “the first of the seven.” As a result, Paul decides to quit his job and prepare for the coming calamity. He soon realizes that he needs to build a survivalist colony, although he plans to keep the purpose of the project a secret from others, including his family.With the help of experts from a number of fields, he acquires an island off the coast of Scotland, where he establishes Summer Haven. However, Paul isn’t aware that he has a twin brother who was given up for adoption at the age of 7 and raised in Spain. Francisco, also known as “El Tigre,” possesses some unique abilities—including karate training—and leads a life of vigilantism. When a meteor shower unexpectedly strikes Earth, Francisco’s wife and daughter are killed—and it turns out that the meteors have brought a disease with them that turns people into cannibalistic zombies. Can Paul’s preparations and Francisco’s survival skills keep them alive long enough for them to reunite? Edge’s prose is urgent in tone, if sometimes clunky: “It was the most surreal scene. In her headscarf and Gucci coat, the woman was actually trying to bite the old lady, specifically targeting the neck. Meanwhile the man was trying to rip off the old lady’s clothes to expose the flesh in her midriff.” The plot isn’t terribly sensible or realistic—at one point, for instance, Francisco fights a tiger at the zoo—and the zombie-apocalypse premise isn’t improved by the brothers’ pursuit of vaguely mystical destinies. Some of the descriptions of the colony prep work are satisfying to read. However, the zombies arrive fairly late in the story, at roughly the halfway point, and many readers may wish that the author started the action more quickly.

A promising but ultimately underwhelming novel about a worldwide catastrophe.