Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite

Matthew Galgani’s Doubting Nikki follows Michael “Cami” Camigliano, a filmmaker whose dying grandmother secretly gives him a vial she says contains the Blood of Christ. Soon afterward, Cami’s wife, Nikki, suffers a head injury during a ski trip and later collapses, leaving doctors concerned about lasting brain damage. Desperate to help her, Cami turns to the mysterious family relic while Nikki lies unconscious in the hospital. When her condition changes in ways her medical team cannot explain, attention begins to fall on Cami. Reports of other unexpected recoveries draw interest, and the couple find their private lives pulled into a growing public controversy. As speculation spreads, Cami and Nikki must confront what happened, what others believe happened, and what the truth may demand from them.

Matthew Galgani’s Doubting Nikki is a brilliant, fast-paced thriller that turns private belief into danger under the glare of modern media. The suspense works so well because each threat develops with a sense of approaching danger that grows from the character's behavior. That is especially effective when Manny, a street preacher who believes Cami represents religious fraud, begins watching him from a parked car near the couple’s home. Cami is the main character, and I love how thoughtfully he responds to events that seem impossible to explain. His habit of examining what he believes gives his role a strong intellectual pull, as shown when he considers what his visit might offer children with cancer during the Hula Hope event. The settings have a cinematic quality because the physical details immediately establish scale. The Candle Coalition headquarters beside Interstate 405 glows beneath a forty-foot illuminated flame, while NatEx’s eighteenth-floor office overlooks Los Angeles’s Miracle Mile near LACMA. Well written and full of twists, readers who enjoy theological thrillers will adore this.