Aliens communicating from outer space and a search for the Holy Grail seem the stuff of science fiction, but in the capable hands of Coulter and Ellison, they become an Indiana Jones-style, high-concept adventure thriller about a race to save the world. Brilliant astrophysicist and astronaut Dr. Nevaeh Patel is convinced that when her tether broke on a spacewalk, her life was saved by the Numen, aliens who offer to bring peace to Earth. Enraged over being subsequently grounded by NASA, Patel becomes second-in-command to Galactus, the French equivalent of SpaceX, whose founder, Jean-Pierre Broussard, is consumed with finding the Holy Grail to cure his terminally ill daughter. FBI Agents Michaela (Mike) Caine and Nicholas Drummond, now partners in every sense, become involved when their friend Grant Thornton heads a team to protect Broussard, who may have found the Grail on a sunken ship off the coast of Sumatra. Patel, seeking immortality and reunion with the Numen, wants the Holy Grail, too, as part of her crazed plan to set off a nuclear electromagnetic pulse from a Galactus-launched satellite. Determined to thwart her, the intrepid FBI pair sets out on a chase by air, sea, and land. Nonstop action and a delicious final twist should keep readers from worrying about the over-the-top premise.--Michele Leber Copyright 2019 Booklist

Bestsellers Coulter and Ellison venture into SF territory with their seamlessly plotted sixth Brit in the FBI thriller (after 2018's The Sixth Day). When astrophysicist Nevaeh Patel claims that she made contact with an alien species, the Numen, during an EVA (extravehicular activity) outside the International Space Station in 2010, a team of NASA psychiatrists grounds her, and she quits. Fast-forward to 2018, Nevaeh is now a corporate leader at Galactus, a private European aerospace company. Nevaeh has placed a nuclear bomb on a recently launched Galactus satellite that when detonated will set off an electromagnetic pulse to create chaos with worldwide communications systems. This will allow the Numen to come to Earth and take over. In return for her help, the Numen will make Neveah immortal. The suspense builds as FBI special agents Michaela Caine and Nicholas Drummond participate in the effort to prevent this catastrophe. Readers who have no problem accepting the over-the-top scenario will have fun. Agent: Robert Gottlieb, Trident Media Group (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.