The Second Coming

June 11, 2018
Heubusch’s debut, 2017’s The Shroud Conspiracy, tells the story of the birth of a baby cloned from DNA found on the Shroud of Turin. Unfortunately, the blood droplets turn out not to have come from Jesus. The resulting child, Hans, is an evil being known as a Watcher, who curses the world with a terrible pandemic. How can this plague be eliminated and the Watcher defeated? In this disappointing sequel, forensic anthropologist Jon Bondurant, an atheist, and believer Domenika Josef decide to solve the problem by cloning another child from blood taken from a different Christian relic. When this new child, Christopher, heals a bunch of sick children in a hospital, it’s clear that this time they’ve got it right. Thus the stage is set for the inevitable showdown between Chris and Hans, but readers must endure loads of predictable religious thriller action before the boys grow up. When the big battle finally arrives, it comes as a brief, unsatisfying letdown. Da Vinci Code fans can safely take a pass on this one. Agent: W. Scott Lamb.

July 1, 2018

Acclaimed forensic anthropologist Jon Bondurant returns in this sequel that picks up approximately three years after the dramatic climax of The Shroud Conspiracy. Bondurant, Domenika (now his wife), and their friend, Father Parenti, have been in hiding since Bondurant rescued Domenika from religious cult leader Hans Meyer. Meyer's goal for his Demanian Church is to dismantle Christianity and engineer the Second Coming using cloneable DNA synthesized from a stolen sample of blood from the Shroud of Turin. Now a toddler, the clone, Hans Jr., begins to demonstrate otherworldly behaviors. Unbeknownst to Meyer, the Shroud yielded two separate DNA samples. When Bondurant discovers that the sample Meyer stole was blood from an evil "Watcher," a type of fallen angel, and Hans Jr. is its clone, he sets out to use the other DNA sample to bring forth a clone of Christ to vanquish the Watcher. VERDICT Like The Shroud Conspiracy, this story is equally thrilling for its plausibility in today's technology-driven world. No longer an outspoken atheist and debunker of relics, Bondurant is dashing and cerebral, and leaves the door open for future "mysteries of the Vatican" adventures that Dan Brown fans will love.--Laura Cifelli, Fort Myers Regional Lib., FL

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