Mena Harling learns shoddy maintenance caused ThriftJet crashes, one in which her brother died. Then a whistleblower is murdered, a note left by his corpse-Too risky to fly; deny that, you'll die; I'll watch your tears dry; your last sigh's my high. Aether. And TOETIFTSA, who desecrated Nora Kelly's church, continues killing Christians, leaving a note-Christian fundamentalism is not a righteous pursuit. So Maxine Kordell, Nora, Willi Mayers, and Haley join Mena. When Aether murders Cluster members, The Tracer asks for help, and reveals The Cluster killed Will Rogers, Amelia Earhart, and Glenn Miller. Then Aether attacks Dulles Airport and other iconic aerospace sites, as TOETIFTSA causes the crash of a plane carrying Christians, then tries to murder Nora. So Mena seeks help from a notorious serial killer, a psychiatrist living in Italy, who will profile Aether if the team agrees to a favor. Finally, events push Mena to become the determined protector of certain sociopaths just rewards.

3 billion years ago, an alien evolution experiment began, then they ended the age of dinosaurs to protect that experiment. Later, they performed three human makeovers-Jesus Of Nazareth, Galileo, and a 72 year old man named Sam. In 2016, a spacecraft lands in Virginia carrying Sam-now The Emissary-who reveals an hypothesis to be tested-Science as an organizing principle is compatible with species survivability and longevity. With Sam is BC. who appears as a platinum rod, a wooden staff, a Border Collie, and a giant tarantula. Sam explains the experiment is threatened by religious fundamentalism, so to usher in an Age Of Science, Sam confronts a variety of believers and unbelievers. But superstition is hard to overcome, and when fanatics attempt to assassinate them, BC wreaks havoc. Then Sam reveals an unimpeachable witness, whose testimony rocks the world. But the aliens have a hidden motive, one that forces humanity to confront an unworldly terror that threatens their very existence.

Haley and 3-M plan to kill The Termagant, but at a movie house, a clown opens fire, kills two people, and leaves an enigmatic note-What Would J Do? Thus begins an endgame rooted in 1635, conflating the psychotic Lomi; a killing machine named Ubeltater; natural philosopher Marin Mersenne; movie icon James Cagney; and the prime numbers series. Meanwhile, The Termagant leaves a prophetic note-Your demises shall be my right hand's gift, but how shall I do it? Asked and answered. Soon, serial killer La Boheme begins murdering women, cutting out a section of cheek, and also leaving a note-She's so perfect now, my chef-d'oeuvre. As the clown shootings escalate, Haley and 3-M engage in a battle at Kings Dominion, then learn a massacre to be seen by millions is being planned. But as they hunt the killers, the beasts decide to target their families, stoking Willi's long repressed savagery. After deducing The Termagant's identity, she hides her discovery, then confronts the killer on her own.

Maxine Kordell's high school reunion is marred when al-Qaeda hijacks her plane, a female gang accosts her, her friend Marty Blair is murdered, and she's threatened by a drug cartel, coyotes, and the police. Joined by Mena Harling and Willi Mayers, 3-M investigate, but are almost killed while in custody. Haley joins them, but events intrude involving lost Francisco Goya paintings, a Jim Bowie silver hoard, Sherlock Holmes, Pope Pius XII, The Cluster, a list compiled by former Vice President Aldrich Fellerson implicating The Vatican in war crimes, and a plan for hiding the list devised by Holmes. So Pope John Paul II brings the foursome to Rome, where they're caught in a feud between two cardinals and become targets of the Mafia. 3-M and Haley soon learn their foes include four professional assassins. Aided by born again Christian/Sherlockian Nora Kelly, they find a letter from Holmes, pursue the treasures and list, then Max must face Marty's killer, whose lethality may exceed her own.

Haley-database developer, CIA operative, and multiple personality-is engaged to Willi Mayers. A violent act makes her return home, then her father is murdered. Haley's alter ego emerges, but, after Haley shows an assassin mercy, ends their arrangement. Later, the duo begin work on a Tribulation Tracking System. On the team is Patricia Candor, a born again Christian. Seeing her faith makes agnostic Willi open to Christ, a decision atheist Haley frets about. When the team is attacked, Willi can't defend herself, so Haley sends her to the CIA's Farm for training. Later, as women are abducted, Willi deduces the kidnapper is guided by Revelations' Seal, Trumpet, and Vial judgments. Also, a cryptic message is left at churches - the only way to the Father is through the sunset of Christianity. After Al Qaeda recruits MS-13 to commit terrorist acts, an enraged Willi renounces God and plans to execute all involved. Haley must now deal with two mass murderers and a woman he no longer trusts.

Haley, suicidal after Willi's death, joins a CIA mission, then finds her alive in the hands of slavers. As both face death, his alter ego returns to kill her captors. Then past events intrude. Valen, a Gnostic, forges a letter in Jesus' name, then Cesare Borgia adapts it. Centuries later, the letter involves John McCone, J. Edgar Hoover, four U.S. Presidents, Judy Garland, and Haley's CIA mentor, George Durell. In 2000, Pope John Paul II receives the letter, then asks the U.S. for help. But The Order Of The Gnostic Cross, Church Of Triantology, and Raven H2O have their own plans, as does female spy Jasus al-Mara, who enlists the aid of al-Qaeda terrorist Karbala. Meanwhile, the shadowy Cluster pulls everyone's strings, the unknown Termagant plots to destroy TGC, and a monster carves TINPLUFORPLE on the torsos of little girls. When a letter from George Durell surfaces, Haley and Willi again face violent foes, but this time they have help-serial killers Maxine Kordell and Mena Harling.

In New York City, database developers Haley and Willi foil an attempt to blow up the Manhattan Bridge. Home again, in Centreville, Virginia, a snobbish waiter brings out Willi's darker side, so Haley insists she see a psychiatrist. Then, outside events intrude. A serial killer is murdering pedophiles. A second killer is eliminating famous people who escaped justice, leaving behind a cryptic note-To the determined protector of my just reward. A third killer is murdering parents and daughters, then leaving bizarre notes citing songs about Bill. A hostile takeover of their employer is underway, using The Stroller, an assassin, to ensure the sale. Nora Kelly, an evangelical friend presumed dead in the Sudan, returns, mysteriously saved by Raven H2O, a security contractor known for its ruthlessness. When friends are killed, the twosome are drawn into the tangled web of serial murders, and Haley must deal with the distinct possibility Willi may be one of the killers.

Life hasn't been kind to Haley. In his early 30's, a database developer, and once a covert CIA operative, he has an alter ego who emerges when violence threatens. A half Irish, half Jewish orphan, he retreated to a workaholic existence after his wife died in an accident. Then Haley met Montana-born Episcopalian, Willi Mayers, a master at verbal jousting, able to eat enormous quantities of food without gaining weight. As they develop a Cultural Landscapes System for the National Park Service, a cryptic note appears with the message 3912. More notes appear, and Haley's formerly submissive alter ego becomes aggressive. In Montana, Haley tries to effect a rapprochement between Willi and her father, only to return home to face a personal tragedy that frees his alter ego to take vengeance on a merciless killer. His future with Willi at stake, Haley must confront a violent adversary from his past, while deciphering the true meaning and intent of the notes.