Special Agent Gil Martins investigates domestic terrorism for the Houston FBI. He is a religious man who is close to losing his faith; the very nature of his job has led him to question the existence of a God who could allow the things that Gil sees every day. But Gil's wife Ruth doesn't see things the same way and his crisis of faith provokes a fracture in their marriage. Gil's world is breaking apart. At the same time, Gil starts to investigate a series of unexplained deaths that bring this crisis of faith into uncomfortable focus. When Esther, a disturbed woman, informs Gil that these men have been killed by prayer, Gil questions her sanity. But as the evidence mounts up that there might be something in what she says, his new-found atheism is severely challenged, more so as he finds his own life is next on the line.
Philip Kerr was born in Edinburgh in 1956, and lived in London. He is the author of March Violets, The Pale Criminal, A German Requiem, A Philosophical Investigation, and Dead Meat. He has also edited two anthologies. In 2011 Philip Kerr was shortlisted for the CWA Dagger in the Library, awarded to an author for a body of work. He sadly passed away in March 2018.
Maxim Jakubowski's view on BERNIE GUNTHER...
A German cop who has moved from the Nazi 1930s to the post-war period, with mixed loyalties but a strong sense of duty which often gets him into trouble. A QUIET FLAME was his 5th outing andIF THE DEAD RISE NOT appeared next in September 2009.