I did read the complete omnibus of the ten-part novella which I was glad of, as it did become a page turner, with a cliffhanger ending at the end of each novella. They were brought out, mentioned, smoked and featured at so many points, I did expect some grand finale reveal with them. There was perhaps an over emphasis on some points, for example Malleus’s culebras.

There were at times some leaps in deduction that led to a raised eyebrow, however, as a work of fiction, I am not looking for an investigative perfect police procedural. In all the talk of religion over the years, in all the takes I have read on it, I have never seen this approach to it, so it was entertaining. I enjoyed this read, as it took me on a wonderful journey. When Malleus starts out on a case involving stolen relics, it begins an investigation that will lead him acorss the world, leading to many murders, destruction, many encounters with gods, and testing Malleus’s investigative tallents to their utmost. When a crime is committed by a god, there is nobody to hold them accountable, apart from Malleus. The gods continue to stake out their claim on their territories, demanding sacrifices, worshipers to revere them, setting up global banking conglomerates, running TV shows, and more. He doesn’t believe they are who they say they are, and he won’t stop until he gets to the bottom of it. He can have a conversation with a god, and still not believe they are a god. Malleus is irreverent, sarcastic, cutting and disbelieving of everyone – god or not. He takes private clients on the side if the case interests him enough. Malleus Bourreau is a convinced atheist who also happens to be an investigator for Interpol. While most people scrambled to find a god and curry favour with them, some remained sceptical. They still waited in hope (and secrecy) for their gods. No longer was it safe to be openly Christian, Islamic or Jewish.

For those whose gods failed to make an appearance, religious persecution followed, aggressively.

This led to massive upheaval, wars, divine intervention, reclaiming of lost lands, renaming countries and mass conversion to new, old, gods. Set in the ‘future’ of 2019, after a seismic event, triggered by an unknown force, all the lost and forgotten gods started to return.

Aera Book 4 by Markus Heitz