A DOCTRINE OF FEAR

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.