Puzzle Master Series

Dr. Cephas Paulson is a man out of time in the year 2202. The world’s leading expert on ancient religions, the government has assigned him the role of finding and hunting down the few remaining ‘Christian cultists’ left in an atheistic modern world ruled by self-gratification. Desperate to end all religion once and for all, a shadowy group with powerful roots deeply planted in the halls of government hatches a bold plan. Cephas becomes one of three time travelers to be sent back to the crucifixion of Christ to get video evidence which will prove once and for all that Christ was a fraud. Under the constant eye of the government and the Christians who want to send a message through Cephas’s death, everyone’s plans are disrupted when a mysterious new religious group known only as ‘Four’ appears ready to take their place on the world stage. Cephas must walk the line between two worlds and two beautiful women. One represents the pleasures and temptations of the outwardly utopian world of man while the other the Godly world that Cephas has sought his entire life to understand. But are these worlds and these women truly what they appear to be?

Book Two of the Puzzle Master Series Martha’s words - ‘You are’ - feel like a curse to Cephas as the world attempts to define him. The Corps declares him a madman; Four calls him a murderer; and the Christian elders view him as little more than a useful tool in the pursuit of their own ends. Worse, each definition seems to come with a death sentence. Cephas knew that testifying to the truth of Christ would mark him for death with the Corps - but he never expected that Four would put him on trial for the acts he committed as The Cult Hunter! Once again, Cephas must unravel the puzzles if he wants to stay alive, starting with the mystery of why Martha rescued him from the Corps when her standing orders are to kill him on sight. As the pieces come together, even Cephas is left to wonder if Four represents the Christian world he dreamed of joining - or something much darker.

The Puzzle Master Trilogy concludes with Missing Pieces Twice, Cephas has travelled through time ... but once again, his time is running out... The Final Holy War rages between Four and the Cult Hunters, and neither side is taking prisoners. As The Corps begins to spread its deadly new bio-toxin around the globe, Zip orders a full-out assault in an attempt to steal enough vaccine to save her followers. The bloodbath only serves to pit the remaining Christians against each other, with even Bethany House divided. His small flock now scattered, Cephas and Martha race to solve the greatest puzzle of his life: one in which the missing pieces are scattered throughout his past, present ... and future. With hope fading, even Cephas can’t recognize which of the dark days ahead represents the “Moment of Darkness” that Christ foretold he would someday face. As the pieces come together, and the picture becomes clear, Cephas is forced to face his greatest fear alone. In this puzzle, the final piece ... is him.

Eighteen years have passed since Cephas Paulson survived his brutal ordeal inside the mountain. Faith has returned to the world, but the “Mark of the Beast” vaccine used by the Corps has inflicted unforeseen genetic damage to all who took it, dividing the world into “The Washed” and “The Marked.” With the Four network disbanded, Cephas and Martha stand as the only remaining hope for the Christian world - until they too disappear. Their children, Jocie and Austin, are left alone with nowhere to go and no one to trust. Born with her father’s talent for puzzles, Jocie realizes that Cephas has scattered the clues for finding her parents not only throughout her life but through time itself. As the pieces come together, it’s clear that the puzzle she’s solving is much larger than she’d imagined and that her past, present, and future all depend on her finding the solution.

The Puzzle Master saga concludes with "The Angel Protocol." The adoring world that rejoiced when Jocie Paulson returned from the past with the solution to the “Mark of the Beast” genetic damage has just as quickly sentenced her to death. When mysterious notes appear inside the time machine, it’s clear that someone has a different plan and is willing to manipulate Jocie’s past, present and future to change her fate. As the puzzle pieces fall into place, even the Four network and her family join with old enemies to stop her plan. While the forces against her align, Jocie rallies an unanticipated ally to her side, hoping that time and their intertwined fates won’t catch up with them, all the while knowing that the only solution to the puzzle includes sacrificing her own future.