Righteous Books In Order
Book links take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.Publication Order of Righteous Books
The Righteous | (2011) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Mighty and Strong | (2011) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
The Wicked | (2011) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Trial by Fury | (2011) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
The Blessed and the Damned | (2012) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Blood of Vipers | (2012) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Destroying Angel | (2013) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
The Gates of Babylon | (2014) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Hell's Fortress | (2014) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Blood of the Faithful | (2015) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Righteous is a series of mystery thriller novels written by Michael Wallace. The books explore life within the confines of a religious cult.
+The Story
‘The Righteous’ is the first book in the Righteous series. The book introduces readers to Jacob Christianson, a member of a polygamist enclave in Utah. Jacob left his home to become a doctor.
However, the fact that his father is a church elder meant that he could never completely separate himself from his religious upbringing. In ‘The Righteous’, Jacob is called upon by his family to solve a murder; the victim in question was a woman who thought she had been marked for death.
The locals are quick to rule the woman’s death an accident. But Jacob knows that the means of her death involved a dangerous church ritual. Even as Jacob attempts to bring the murderer to justice, the enclave struggles under the weight of internal strife.
The first novel in the Righteous series attempts to introduce readers to a world that they might be unfamiliar with. The cult at the center of this series is an offshoot of the Mormon Church.
Situated in Blister Creek, Utah, the cult is populated by individuals that are largely isolated from what they call the gentile world. They believe that they are a special people that have been chosen to survive the end of times and to enjoy the blessings of God.
Within the confines of Blister Creek is a community that operates on its own rules and regulations. Women are married off at a very young age and traded like cattle. The men are frequently forced out of the community for failing to live up to the expectations of their leaders.
Jacob Christianson is a unique case. Most doctors would never suffer the oppression and control of religious fundamentalist ideas. Even as a child, Jacob was a rational individual that struggled to reconcile his doubts about the teachings of the church with the religious dedication his parents worked so hard to beat into him.
As an adult, Jacob threw off the yoke of his parents’ teachings and chose to pursue the rational world of medicine. But unlike many of his counterparts in other sects, Jacob never rejected the church completely.
To do so would have forced his family to break all ties with him, an outcome that Jacob couldn’t accept. So for the sake of better relations with his family, Jacob has continued to nurture a distant relationship with the church.
And it isn’t so surprising when his father looks to him for help when murder is perpetrated in the first novel. While Jacob does not hesitate to lend his assistance to the church, the decision drags him into a world he fought so hard to escape.
The Righteous series follows Jacob as he struggles to make sense of the responsibilities that are constantly thrust upon him. Even in the absence of murder, things in Blister Creek are hardly peaceful.
Jacob initially faces off against a faction in the sect that is determined to overthrow the leadership of the church, raising its own people into positions of power and putting in place those rules and laws they believe are necessary to purify the church.
Over time, external forces emerge; sects that disagree with the Blister Creek group on the issue of Polygamy and who show a willingness to use any and all methods to bring about their goals.
As new threats rise and buffet the Blister Creek Sect, Jacob steps up to protect the church, primarily because doing so also keeps his family safe. And as he attains victory, the church members begin looking to him as a leader. This is a problem for Jacob who does not agree with the teachings of the sect.
Besides Jacob, some emphasis is given to Eliza and Miriam. Eliza is Jacob’s younger sister. When Jacob first makes his return to Blister Creek in ‘The Righteous’, he is partially driven to do so because he knows that steps are being taken to marry Eliza off to one of three older church leaders.
Jacob does what he can to protect his younger sister throughout the Righteous series. Over time, Eliza becomes a critical character with her own purpose and story arcs.
Sister Miriam was an FBI agent who went undercover in the sect and was eventually converted to their way of thinking. Miriam straddles her duties as an FBI agent and wife to a polygamous husband.
The Righteous Series has been praised for exploring the ridiculous world of religious cults in the United States whilst also remaining largely respectful of its practitioners. Michael Wallace is blunt in his exploration of the darker aspects of the Mormon Church.
But he also applies tact in delivering his criticism, making no effort to dismiss the teachings of the church or to ridicule its members.
+The Author
Michael Wallace is fascinated by thrillers with religious aspects. The author did little to no research for his first book in the Righteous series. Wallace grew up in a religious home. His immediate family wasn’t polygamous but their relatives were.
His grandfather once went to Ireland and came back with an Irish wife. Wallace’s grandmother was less than enthused. Many of the stories that Wallace writes are drawn from his own childhood experiences.
+The Righteous
Jacob Christianson cares little for his home of Blister Creek, Utah, a polygamist enclave where his parents and younger sister still remain. He still maintains contact with his family but the teachings of the church have no control over him.
When a murder rocks Blister Creek, Jacob’s father, a church elder, calls him to provide assistance. Jacob quickly realizes that there is more going on than meets the eye. The church is looking to marry his sister off to one of three older men.
Additionally, there is a plan to overthrow the church’s leadership.
+Mighty and Strong
Jacob has his roots in a conservative polygamist sect. But he left to become a doctor. Jacob was forced to return home when a murder was perpetrated and he helped bring the killer to justice.
The FBI took note of his work. They now want his help in infiltrating a millennialist cult.
Book Series In Order » Characters »