The Apocalypse Door by James D. Macdonald. New York: Tor, 2002. ISBN: 0-312-86988-6

This is a fairly silly book, mildly entertaining, but not to be taken seriously. What are we to make of secret agents who are Catholic priests and/or nuns, members, believe it or not, of the Knights Templar, whose order was supposedly abolished in the 14th century? And then we have the rival Teutonic Knights, plus walking mushrooms (with human faces) who are trying to invade from another dimension and perhaps cause Armageddon at the same time, although that particular connection is never made very clear. Not to mention members of various ordinary law enforcement agencies getting in the way.

These priestly agents behave much like any other secret agents. Our primary hero is an ex-CIA man, and all of them, even the (drop-dead gorgeous, of course) nun, carry guns, and are trained in hand-to-hand combat, explosives, lock picking and other similar James Bond-style skills. Lots of action, but not a whole lot of sense or logic. A good yarn for the action thriller fan, especially those who find the notion of a religious twist appealing.