The Painted Messiah — Craig Smith

Kate Kenyon, the wealthy young widow of an English aristocrat, has an addiction to mortal risk. She feeds it by engaging in the armed robbery with her accomplice and lover Ethan Brand. Their latest target is a priceless "Byzantine" icon. So far they have never had to shoot anyone -- this time will be different. Retired CIA man Thomas Malloy is hired by a rich but ailing televangelist to courier his newly acquired painting from a Zurich bank to the local airport. Malloy anticipates trouble, but not the maelstrom of bullets and betrayal that threatens to pull him under. Sir Julian Corbeau is an international criminal holed up in Switzerland to avoid U.S. extradition. He is also the sadistic head of the modern Knights Templar. He had the painting and now seeks a bloody revenge on those who stole it. The secrets of the painting gradually unfold to reveal how the only true image of Christ could exert so malignant an influence on all those who possess it.