"Lion of Babylon" by Davis Bunn

This is a fast-paced action / adventure novel. It is so speedy, in fact, that sometimes the reader will be confused as to what is going on and who all the characters are. This propels the pages as readers piece together the puzzles of the plot, which I won't entirely ruin. The protagonist is--surprise, surprise--a secret agent of sorts. He is in the Middle East and discovers that many Christian Iraqis have gone missing. With violence, mystery, and everything in between, readers and characters alike have to put solve the puzzle of this religious / cultural / controversial who-done-it. Adding to the anxiety is the fact that the protagonist is a widower with possible women he could start his life over with. There are some mentions of church and prayer, but that is about as far as it goes in some respects. While this was very well written, it wasn't my cup of tea since I usually do not read this genre. However, those into this type of story will probably relish the read.