Thoroughly enjoyed this and it gave major Dan Brown vibes. While all about Russian mobsters and the Catholic Church, it wasn’t religious per se. (Debatable, I suppose.)

We meet the characters, and like always, they aren’t what we think they will be. They grow, they change and more is revealed. Lots of this is due to their work with the religious artifacts, but also due to skillful unwrapping thanks to the author.

Advance reader copy provided by Forefront Books and NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

This was a solid read, especially for someone like me, who is a huge fan of Dan Brown's Robert Langdon novels.
The pace of the story was good and consistent, though the last part felt a bit rushed and some events were not explored in real-time, but rather just mentioned.
The religious symbolism throughout the novel fell a bit short for me, as I feel like there were a few inconsistencies and more opportunity to incorporate more lore that could have enhanced the plot.
Each of the main characters also felt slightly underdeveloped, and I wish more could have been done with Maggie and Malachi, in particular. Certain elements, such as Maggie's romantic past and Malachi's history under Todorov's employ could have added more depth to the story and made the conclusion more nuanced. Ultimately, I feel that there were too many characters who were given thought that resulted in not enough significance being put onto the few main protagonists.
Ultimately, I enjoyed the book and found myself tapping at quite a brisk pace at some points, alluding to my focus and intrigue. However, was I comparing this to a Robert Langdon piece at all times? Yes, and it did fall short of that ideal.