Latest Humanist Press Novel is “a Fast-Paced Mystery with Plenty of Suspects”

For immediate release

Contact: Maggie Ardiente, mardiente@americanhumanist.org, 202-238-9088 x116

(Washington, DC – Feb. 20, 2014) – Religious extremists and culture warriors are out to destroy best-selling author Mira Veron, the protagonist in the new novel released today by Humanist Press, Wicked Gods, by Eilís Leyne. The book as been called “fast-paced” and “engrossing,” with one reviewer declaring, “Would I read a sequel? Absolutely!”

When her seismic exposé of religious abuses lands on the best-seller list, Professor Mira Veron becomes a darling of the literati and a target for religious extremists and culture warriors alike. With her soon-to-be-ex-husband scheming to undermine her, her opportunistic agent attempting to cash in on her name, and a seductive born-again assassin tracking her every move, she meets up with a publishing tycoon who is guarding a volatile secret.

Veron is drawn into an underground network by the promise of cataclysmic religious revelations only to watch as her new associates mysteriously die one by one. Under siege by forces seen and unseen, she embarks on a desperate quest for answers. Now she must choose between defending her work and defending her life.

While recent authors such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens have published blockbuster non-fiction books on the destructive power of religion, Wicked Gods tackles this controversial topic in the more accessible form of a sophisticated culture-war thriller. Leyne blends a wry take on contemporary American politics with a wealth of factual details on such varied phenomena as spiritualism, human sacrifice, plural marriage, and ritual suicide.

An excerpt of the book is available online.

Eilís Leyne is the pen name of an author whose non-fiction works have appeared in more than a dozen publications, including the Christian Science Monitor and the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Having written two well-received non-fiction books, Wicked Gods is her debut novel. She has appeared on National Public Radio, the USA Radio Network, and the Westwood One Radio Network, among other media appearances.

The book is available from humanistpress.com and major online retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The ISBN numbers are 978-0-931779-45-9, paperback; 978-0-931779-46-6, ebook.

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Humanist Press is the publishing house of the American Humanist Association (AHA). Founded in 1941 and headquartered in Washington, DC, the AHA works to protect the rights of humanists, atheists, and other non-religious Americans. The AHA advances the ethical and life-affirming philosophy of humanism, which—without beliefs in any gods or other supernatural forces—encourages individuals to live informed and meaningful lives that aspire to the greater good of humanity.