Pagan Babies

The incomparable recipient of the Grand Master Award of the Mystery Writers of America returns with his most adrenaline-charged thriller yet. A Nine Inch Nails T-shirt-wearing priest who has witnessed the horrors of genocide in Rwanda is paired with an ex-con who is now a stand-up comedian. Together, they go up against a cast of thugs, con-artists, and killers.

Father Terry Dunn thought he'd seen everything on the mean streets of Detroit, but that was before he went on a little retreat to Rwanda to evade a tax-fraud indictment. Now the whiskey-drinking, Nine Inch Nails T-shirt-wearing padre is back trying to hustle up a score to help the little orphans of Rwanda. But the fund-raising gets complicated when a former tattletale cohort pops up on Terry's tail. And then there's the lovely Debbie Dewey. A freshly sprung ex-con turned stand-up comic, Debbie needs some fast cash, too, to settle an old score. Now they're in together for a bigger payoff than either could finagle alone. After all, it makes sense . . . unless Father Terry is working a con of his own.