[Righteous 01] • The Righteous

Deep in the Utah desert, the small polygamous community of Blister Creek has a history of protecting its own. Even when a young woman is brutally murdered just blocks from her home, the residents of the conservative enclave close ranks. But just because they don’t want outside law enforcement in their business doesn’t mean the murder will go unpunished. More than a thousand miles away, Jacob Christianson, a medical student and son of a devout church elder, learns of his cousin Amanda’s murder. Though Jacob is skeptical of many of the community’s fundamentalist beliefs, his sharply analytical mind and family connection to the victim earns him the assignment of investigator into Amanda’s death. Jacob heads to Blister Creek, accompanied by his inquisitive younger sister, Eliza, to probe the bizarre circumstances of their cousin’s violent death. It doesn’t take long for the pair to realize that Amanda’s murder was no random act; rather, it is part of a covert plot to overthrow the church’s leaders. Chilling and engrossing, The Righteous has been hailed as a “first rate suspense thriller,” a tightly plotted novel about the dark secrets hiding behind the veil of religion.

Review"A first rate suspense thriller." --Red Adept Reviews. *Five stars. *

"A real page-turner. On the surface, it was a murder mystery--and a good one--but the story was played out against the intriguing and unusual backdrop of a fundamentalist Mormon community." Five stars.--BigAl's Books and Pals

"I highly recommend this very gripping thriller exposing horrors of a religious cult." --Martha's Bookshelf

"Michael Wallace draws his characters well. I adore Eliza. I admire her strength more than any other female character I've read recently." --Chaos and Insanity Book Reviews

Review"Deeply engrossing! Michael Wallace delivers the thinking man's thriller while establishing one of the freshest male leads in crime fiction--Jacob Christianson, an aspiring doctor and cult elder's favored son." Lisa Gardner, New York Times bestselling author of Live to Tell

"... The Righteous is a page-turner with characters complex enough to wrestle with questions about living in a patriarchal, polygamous society in the 21st century.... Wallace takes a page from Stephen King, using descriptions of violence strong enough to upset in a way violence should, but leaving enough unsaid to allow imagination to fill in the gaps (or not)." -Laura Compton, AML