It would be a mistake to label THE SWORD OF MICHAEL as fiction. Well, not a mistake so much as partially inaccurate. A good deal of what goes down in this complex, ambitious new work by Marcus Wynne actually occurred, with names changed to hold the guilty at bay. Even if one takes the entirety of the book as straight fiction, it will make your hair stand on end from start to finish.

Wynne has made his name with a number of genre-defining thriller novels with characters and situations that leap off the page --- on occasion, it seems as if you can smell the gunsmoke in the creases of the book --- and there is plenty of firepower in THE SWORD OF MICHAEL. Marius Winter generates a great deal of it. He is a professional shaman who occasionally doubles as a shamus with the skill set of a soldier of good fortune who is literally on the side of the angels in the eternal battle of good vs. evil. He chooses the peaceful path when he can and the violent ways when he must. In this novel, he all too quickly must meet the wrath of hellfire with the cleansing but equally deadly fire that is heaven-sourced and sent. It is evil that initiates the first strike against Marius, who is successful in repelling it with his ever-present, everlastingly loyal spirit allies.

"THE SWORD OF MICHAEL is Marcus Wynne’s newest page turner --- his best to date --- and a novel that rips the veil off of our everyday perceptions to reveal the eternal battle between good and evil that takes place around us and, yes, within us."

Marius is also aided by the very corporeal Jolene, his soulmate and a Wiccan priestess of such beauty as to take one’s breath away --- literally and figuratively --- and Sabrina, a wild-child biker female warrior who is connected to the spirit world and makes Gemma Morrow look like Martha Stewart. Marius’s firepower assist comes from Dillon, whose special ops training enables him to stand unflinchingly at Marius’ side while simultaneously watching his back. The team seems unbeatable until they are called upon to rescue a mystic from the minions of evil, who, in turn, are centered in the nearby town of Decanter, which is steeped in corruption from top to bottom. While Marius is already on a demon hit list, his efforts on behalf of his new client result in an all-out attack on him and those who love and aid him. The hits, as they say, keep on coming until Marius is faced with the greatest threat he has ever encountered.

With the help of his brave and unflinching allies on both sides of the veil, and a weapon that can only be wielded by a very chosen few, Marius enters territory that has been known and feared since the beginning of recorded time, a place that no one of good intent enters willingly and even the evil traverse with the greatest reluctance. What follows is a rescue mission like none you’ve ever encountered before and from which no one, not even Marius, shall emerge wholly intact.

THE SWORD OF MICHAEL is Marcus Wynne’s newest page turner --- his best to date --- and a novel that rips the veil off of our everyday perceptions to reveal the eternal battle between good and evil that takes place around us and, yes, within us. It's one of those books that should achieve cult status, then mass-market acceptance, as a natural progression of things. As I read it, I kept thinking of another book --- STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND by Robert Heinlein --- that followed a similar trajectory in the mid-1960s.

Wynne’s latest could and should do the same. It combines Heinlein’s unique and memorable characterizations with the mysticism of, say, Carlos Castaneda, and anthropology and religion with munitions and hand-to-hand combat. At its base, however, THE SWORD OF MICHAEL is a book you simply have to read, one that will clear your mental sinuses. Buy it, read it and keep it.