Books I've read this week - End of Grace

Just a few minutes ago I finished reading End of Grace by K. Thomas Murphy ©2009. My first reaction is, "Wow!"

From the book cover: An incident in computer specialist Rick Maye's past has put him on the path of revenge. If his plan is successful, the object of his wrath, the Church of the Latter-Day Saints, could lose millions of dollars and thousands of members. What Rich cannot foresee are the sinister ways this church will react when threatened.

Mormons begin receiving letters that question the validity of their gospel and inform them that loved ones have been baptized into an alternative faith. It's an assault on the authority of the church, and more importantly, it's beginning to impact church revenues.

The Mormon leadership dispatches kay Summers, a young but capable administrative assistant, to Oregon, where she finds and follows a thread leading to Rick. Unbeknownst to her, they've also dispatched agents from the church's secret army, the Danite Knights, to follow her to the source of the problem and fix it - permanently.

Initially, Rick and Kay play cat and mouse, each trying to find out what the other knows, while in the shadows the Danites use limitless resources preparing to stop not only the letters, but anybody involved with them. Soon, the mysterious deaths and close calls start happening. Rick and Kay, two adversaries, become a team; ultimatedly running for their lives, desperately trying to put the puzzle together as they stay one step ahead of the tempest Rick has awakened.

This was a fascinating book. I'm sure the Mormon church may feel otherwise, but I thought it was a thrilliing story about the abuse of power by one of the biggest religious organizations in the world. I found the background of the church hierachy to be very interesting and it would be very interesting to know how much of the church tenets mentioned are true. The author is a computer geek and he made the main character, Rick, a computer whiz, and the things he was able to do really added a lot of interesting detail to the book. It contained all the elements to make a good story - high-tech espionage, ruthless power struggles, blackmail, great characters, religion, scenic locations, with a little romance thrown in. I think this is movie material. This was the author's first book but I'm looking forward to reading whatever he writes next.