Revenge of the Elders of Zion

Sofer (the Dry Bones Society series) pulls out all the stops in this enjoyably gonzo thriller. Failed screenwriter David Zelig channels his love of conspiracies into action by recruiting two of his friends to form the Trio, a secret society to pull strings behind the scenes of political events to counter the rise of anti-Semitism in the U.S. The Trio stumbles on a group of terrorists who have “modeled themselves on the fictional Elders of Zion,” and manage to pass as supporters. The group’s leader demands that the Trio break into the Metropolitan Museum of Art and steal nine Fabergé eggs as an initiation ritual. The impossible mission ends up being facilitated by several FBI agents, including an attractive woman Zelig falls for. The plot only piles on the crazy from there, as Sofer tosses in the Templars, a terror plot aimed at a major meeting of Jewish leaders, betrayals, and “the Tsarlandians, a tribe of cave-dwelling Russian imperialists.” Sofer has outdone himself. (Self-published)