KEEPERS OF THE GATE

The fourth in Land’s series about Palestinian- American detective Ben Kamal and Israeli detective Danielle Barnea (The Pillars of Solomon, 1999, etc.), once rivals, then lovers, then parted by Danielle because, as a Jew, she could not see mothering a child crushed by religious conflict. Danielle, who has lost her entire family, has a miscarriage with an Israeli officer, breaks with him, returns to Ben, and now is four months pregnant with a fatally flawed fetus. Then she’s assigned to a case involving Paul Hessler, tenth richest man in the world, whose late son has masterminded a new genetic marvel that may or may not help her child survive. A strongly plotted, impressively solid new entry.