THE TRINITY GAME by Sean Chercover

Let me preface this review by saying I so enjoyed Chercover's Ray Dudgeon P.I. books (BIG CITY, BAD BLOOD; TRIGGER CITY) that I would read anything he wrote. I requested an advance copy of THE TRINITY GAME (on sale July 31) knowing nothing about its plot.

Father Daniel Byrne, who works for the Vatican verifying and disproving miracles, is assigned to debunk televangelist Tim Trinity, who also happens to be Daniel's estranged uncle. Having been raised by Trinity, Daniel already knows his uncle is a con man. However, arriving on scene, Daniel deciphers Trinity's speaking-in-tongues act as a genuine gift of prophecy. This discovery sends everyone after Trinity, from a legendary Las Vegas bookie, to shadowy factions of the Church, to the lost love of Daniel's life, newspaper reporter Julia Rothman.

Religious conspiracies don't interest me; I'm too skeptical of them to get very far. I was able to put that bias aside, though, and read the book for Daniel Byrne, a man hiding much behind the collar. The complex relationship of nephew and uncle was more important than their being priest and preacher. If you like mounting conspiracies and sweeping suspense, there's plenty to go around.

I come away from THE TRINITY GAME with an even higher opinion of Chercover's writing, convinced he can thrive in page-turners as well as P.I. fiction.