In Chuck Morgan’s Where The Door Is Thin, FBI Special Agent Elizabeth Wheeler is sent to Ascension, Colorado, after Catholic priest Father Maximilian Wendall is found dead beneath Black Water Bridge under circumstances that leave local police searching for an explanation. Wheeler arrives with Special Agent Tim Johnson as reports involving local children begin drawing the investigation toward the Church of the Risen Christ, led by Reverend Bill Ray Thatcher. A letter Father Max prepared before his death then directs Wheeler toward old mining records connected to land beneath Ascension, where the town’s religious history reaches into something far older. As Wheeler follows what Father Max left behind, her former life as a nun becomes unexpectedly relevant to a case where established explanations keep giving way to evidence that points somewhere neither agent expected.

Chuck Morgan’s Where The Door Is Thin is a well-executed supernatural crime thriller, and Morgan gets both sides right. The police side has the procedural detail I want from this genre. Wheeler and Johnson feel like FBI agents doing their jobs even when the case moves beyond their training. Their nearly four-hour warrant application proves how firmly Morgan keeps the crime story in place, as testimony has to become something a judge can sign. The supernatural material is just as effective, with each departure from ordinary explanation making the danger feel closer. When Wheeler enters the mine and golden light begins behaving impossibly around her, Morgan turns that unease into the kind of scene that gives the thriller its bite. Readers drawn to supernatural crime thrillers should put this one on their list. Very highly recommended.

Where The Door Is Thin by Chuck Morgan begins with the mysterious death of a Catholic priest, Father Max Wendall, in the small town of Ascension. Tucked away in a valley in Colorado, the town is dominated by the Church of the Risen Christ and its charismatic pastor, Reverend Thatcher. FBI agents Elizabeth Wheeler, who is a former nun, and Tim Johnson arrive to find that the town’s children have been suffering through trance episodes, during which they speak in dead languages and make mysterious statements. The web of small-town silence begins to unravel as Max’s friends and brother share their knowledge and visions. Something ancient was disturbed when the earth was excavated for the foundations of the church, something Reverend Thatcher thought he could control. Wheeler and Johnson must find a way to reconcile procedure with supernatural events that cannot be denied, to safeguard the town and its children.

Where The Door is Thin is a thriller, a grimly precise procedural, and a chilling story of a small mountain town in the grip of supernatural terror. Chuck Morgan has crafted a tale that is cinematic and compelling, with complex, intelligent characters, an all-too-realistic setting, and a storyline that pushes the limits of the genre. Wheeler’s complex relationship with the faith she left behind is explored thoughtfully, as it pushes her in the direction of finding a solution. I especially admired the way Morgan handles the depiction of the ancient force as implacable but not evil. All in all, the book is a gripping, rewarding read. Highly recommended.