The Electric Church

Avery Cates's reputation as a respectable hit man is destroyed when he's implicated in the murder of a cop. And before he knows what he's doing, he finds himself coerced into assassinating the leader of the Electric Church, the fastestgrowing and deadliest religion in this dystopian future of a unified world government. Somers's science fiction thriller has an acerbic wit; it's an enjoyable listen enhanced by Tod McLaren's deep and edgy voices that bring Cates and a host of other equally quirky characters to life. McLaren is generally consistent with his accents and outlooks: he shifts from character to character with ease and creates an authentic and idiosyncratic protagonist whose mixture of hardness, attitude, and self-mockery are delivered with admirable control. An Orbit hardcover. (Apr.)