Part of Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus, book 11
First published 2000
LAPD Lieutenant Peter Decker stares at the body of Emil Ganz, once a celebrated astrophysicist who disappeared without a trace ten years ago. Ganz had resurfaced as Father Jupiter, leading a bizarre cult called the Order of the Rings of God that mixed astronomy with religious pseudoscience. Now someone has killed him. Decker and his homicide team sift through three possibilities: accident, suicide, or murder. The investigation pulls them into the strange world Ganz created, where science twisted into dogma and followers worshipped planetary alignments. Each interview reveals new motives and deeper secrets about the man who abandoned rational thought for messianic delusions. Decker must separate the cult's manufactured mysteries from the real clues that will lead to Ganz's killer. The case forces him to confront how brilliant minds can fall into darkness and how far people will go to protect their beliefs.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: police-investigation, unreliable-narrator
Setting: LAPD, Order of the Rings of God
Period: 10 years ago
426 pages · Mass Market Paperback · William Morrow Paperbacks
Content warnings: violence