Jade Darcy and the Zen Pirates — Stephen Goldin

At first, expecting her new job to be easy, Jade Darcy is oblivious to the religious strife wracking the world of Restappa. Jade and Megan Cafferty, her employer, discover that the Restappans are in the process of electing a new religious leader. During this process, the candidates hatch plots against anyone they see as a danger to their victory. Each one of them will go to any extreme, even murder, to assure his election as Restappa's religious leader. Jade and Megan are pegged as threats that must be eliminated. And Jade has the difficult task of restoring order to Restappa as well as protecting her own life.