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In the not too distant future, after the Faith Wars have put religion back in a box on the shelf, at least for the most part, the murder of first a Priest, then a Bishop, makes it clear that either old grudges never die, or that new ones are being born. Or both. MacLeod's award winning (BSFA 2008) novel asks questions about faith and both man and machine's place in the universe that most SF shies away from.

Book Description: A bishop is dead. As Detective Inspector Adam Ferguson picks through the rubble of the tiny church, he discovers that it was deliberately bombed. That it’s a terrorist act is soon beyond doubt. It's been a long time since anyone saw anything like this. Terrorism is history.

After the Middle East wars and the rising sea levels, after Armageddon and the Flood, came the Great Rejection. The first Enlightenment separated church from state. The Second Enlightenment has separated religion from politics. In this enlightened age there’s no persecution, but the millions who still believe and worship are a marginal and mistrusted minority. Now someone is killing them.

At first, suspicion falls on atheists more militant than the secular authorities. But when the target list expands to include the godless, it becomes evident that something very old has risen from the ashes. Old and very, very dangerous...

(Source: Pyr)