Les Justes - La série

Par une froide nuit du désert de l’Utah, une jeune femme s’enfuit de chez elle, sa petite fille de trois ans endormie dans ses bras. Elle sera retrouvée morte, la gorge tranchée et la langue arrachée, quelques heures plus tard. La fillette, quant à elle, a été ramenée dans son lit saine et sauve. Les habitants de Blister Creek souhaitent que cette affaire soit résolue au plus vite, et en toute discrétion. Ils sont membres d’une communauté mormone dissidente dans laquelle la polygamie est de rigueur, et ne veulent, à aucun prix, que des informations sur leur mode de vie filtrent dans le « monde extérieur ». C’est un des leurs qui va mener l’enquête : Jacob Christianson, fils d’un patriarche respecté, et accessoirement cousin de la victime. Avec l’aide de sa sœur adolescente, Eliza, Jacob commence à enquêter sur ce meurtre. Il va bientôt mettre au jour un monstrueux secret, qui pourrait détruire les fondements même de leur église...

It's not every man whose wife criticizes his fidelity, but Jacob Christianson hasn't exactly led a typical life. Raised in a conservative polygamous sect, Jacob has struggled for years to reconcile his faith with his skepticism about the fundamentalist practices of his community. Not so long ago that conflict helped Jacob to combat a dangerous faction of his own church. Now it has brought the FBI to his door, seeking help to infiltrate a millennialist cult suspected of plotting to kill a US senator. When the FBI ignores Jacob's warnings, it sparks a dramatic standoff with the cultists, leaving Jacob and his family caught squarely in the middle. Tense and engaging, Mighty and Strong is a gripping foray into the world of religious extremists, culminating in a thrilling battle for supremacy that will leave no one unscathed.

When Eliza Christianson sets off from the polygamist enclave of Blister Creek to search for a lost brother, she must evade the machinations of her polygamist father while combating a doomsday sect that believes it knows the day, hour, and minute that the world will end. Book #3 of the bestselling Righteous series, The Wicked is trademark Michael Wallace: the strange world of a polygamist enclave, characters that jump off the page, and a plot that will keep the reader engrossed until the final, violent confrontation. The Wicked is a full-length novel of about 82,000 words, or 330 manuscript pages. NY Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner wrote about The Righteous: "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. Jacob's analytic nature has him questioning everything, including the nature of God and the sexist politics of polygamy. It also makes him a perfect fit to track down a killer whose grisly crimes threaten Jacob's community, family, and soon, his very life." Wallace is the author of several thrillers, including The Devil's Deep and The Red Rooster, and is co-author of the top-five technothriller Implant, with Jeffrey Anderson.

When seventeen-year-old Abraham Christianson is tricked into killing a dissident from his church, he confesses his crime to his father, the leader of the polygamist enclave of Blister Creek, Utah. He has always thought of his father as a strict, but honorable man. But when his father orders silence, determined to protect the true murderer instead of ensuring justice for the dead, Abraham begins to suspect that a larger plot is underfoot to upset the natural order of the community. # Trial by Fury is a novella of approximately 12,000 words, or roughly fifty pages of an average book. A small portion of this story is also included as background in book #3 of the series, The Wicked, but the majority is unique to this work. It may be read and enjoyed at any time in relation to the main novels.

For years Jacob Christianson struggled to reconcile his faith with his skepticism about the fundamentalist practices of his polygamous community. Nevertheless, whenever his family and neighbors in Blister Creek were threatened, Jacob always stepped up to join the fight against those who would destroy them. Now Jacob is facing his greatest challenge yet. Taylor Kimball Jr. has returned, and he wants to take over as prophet of Blister Creek — and claim Jacob’s sister Eliza as his unwilling bride. To protect his family and neighbors, Jacob forms a tenuous alliance with his father — the reigning prophet — and the FBI. But Taylor, as crafty as he is brutal, anticipates Jacob’s plan and descends on Blister Creek with a horrific new weapon capable of annihilating the town. If Jacob is to win this battle, he must rise above his thirst for personal vengeance and become the leader his people so desperately need.

As the reluctant new leader of Blister Creek, Dr. Jacob Christianson dares to hope he finally has delivered his people from the brutal Kimball clan—until his adopted son Daniel begins suffering from terrifying visions. Jacob knows all too well the mental illness that plagues the Kimballs, Daniel’s biological family, fueling their thirst for vengeance and power. Desperate for answers, Jacob immerses himself in the history of Blister Creek, plumbing its blood-soaked origins for something—anything—to save his beloved son from the path of evil. All the while, the fugitive Taylor Kimball Junior is gathering the tattered remnants of his family, rallying them for one final assault on Blister Creek. Driven by the same dark angel fighting for Daniel’s soul, Taylor Junior won’t stop until he claims his rightful place as the prophet of Blister Creek—and wipes the Christianson bloodline from the earth forever.

An isolated religious sect in the desert confronts the collapse of civilization. Could this be the end of the world they’ve been waiting for? With the murderous Kimball clan’s evil plots finally crushed, Dr. Jacob Christiansen begins to embrace his role as leader of the polygamist community of Blister Creek. Then the world around them falls apart, plagued by international crop failures and global starvation, fuel and medicine shortages, and looming war. Blister Creek suddenly faces the very doomsday scenario they’ve been preparing for. Years of stockpiling guns, ammunition, food, and fuel are paying off: They are ready to wait out whatever God has in store for them. But their preparations have not gone unnoticed. A newly empowered government agency and a vengeful governor have their sights set on Blister Creek and their supplies. Can Jacob defend his community and lead them through the apocalypse? Only God knows.

Environmental disaster, war, and government dissolution have plunged the outside world into chaos, leaving the embattled polygamist community of Blister Creek facing a host of dire challenges as their lifesaving resources grow treacherously low. When one of their beloved members gets lost in the desert, Dr. Jacob Christianson agrees to send out an expedition that includes his sister, Eliza. But danger follows the search group, literally: nefarious armed drones hover overhead, ready to strike the rescuers at a moment’s notice. Greater troubles soon arise for Jacob and his followers. Refugees from a now-defunct government camp in Utah are making their way to the compound, demanding food and supplies from the community of dedicated believers. This is the end-of-the-world scenario that Jacob and the rest of Blister Creek’s denizens prepared for—and feared more than anything. Now, Jacob’s faith will be tested as he decides between doing what is right…and what is necessary to survive.

Now that their latest battle is over, the religious residents of Blister Creek are dealing with their losses and trying to heal—physically and spiritually. Their leader, Jacob Christianson, now feels the full burden of the responsibility and finds himself at a crossroads: keep the believers isolated, or see what lies beyond Blister Creek’s borders. In a world still enmeshed in war, famine, and destruction, wool blankets and powdered milk are the new currency. Fortunately, the devout community has made all the necessary preparations to ensure their own survival. But dangerous new challenges rise around Blister Creek: squatters at the reservoir seek to take the residents’ rations, a rogue government operative is trying to limit access to supplies, and a wave of fanaticism sweeping through the community is threatening to divide the followers. In the final gripping installment of the Righteous series, Jacob must decide the future of his flock—and just how much he is willing to sacrifice.