With eerie precision, a meteorite falls on the Dome of the Rock, destroying it. Given a world run by religious authorities, that event promises to be the opening salvo in a tremendous conflict, and the sign posted at the virtual site--"Temple under construction"--that used to be a neutral space for all religions, bars visitors and points to other signs of impending doom. One of those is the proliferation of messiahs, including the often perplexed AI, Page, claimed as messiah by a cult popularly known as Maizombies despite his being a devout Muslim. Angels and demons walk the earth, too, drawing mere mortals into their age-old fray willy-nilly to fulfill prophecies or merely as tools. Morehouse knows how to pace her story, weaving strands of plot and drawing the reader ever deeper into its fascinating but unnerving world. Although the third book in a tetralogy, this one includes enough backstory to stand solidly on its own. The final volume ought to be riveting, for apocalypse is on the horizon. Regina Schroeder
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Readers will cheer. -- _Booklist_