The Rasputin Relic — William M. Valtos

A severed hand turns up in a safety deposit box that hasn't been opened in more than 50 years. A note in old Slavonic on the wrapping says that this is the right hand of Rasputin -- who was killed in 1916. Yet the hand is perfectly preserved and blood still drips from the wound!

The faithful believe that incorruptible remains -- relics -- have the power to cure. Yet in this case, those who come into contact with the hand begin to die of an unknown disease, a bizarre series of deaths that puts the chief of police of a small Pennsylvania town into a race against time.

Rasputin was a monk who became an influential adviser to the family of the last Russian Tsar. He was called a man of God with Christ-like healing powers -- and also a charlatan and a drunken womanizer. Whatever he was, his is a lasting legend. As Chief Victor Rhostok investigates, he is pulled into a web of Russian mysticism and superstition.

In his search, Rhostok encounters Nicole Baron, a young widow. As he looks for answers in the no-man's land where science confronts religion, she seeks redemption for her sins at the hands of a priest who may be a false prophet. And in her past is the key to the mystery.

This is a fast-paced mystery-thriller from the author of The Authenticator and La Magdalena.