The Gospel According to Luke

Aggie Grey is a jaded sexual health counsellor who finds herself having to defend her business against the attacks of a radical new fundamentalist sect. Pastor Luke Butler is young, idealistic and out to capture the hearts and minds of Sydney's disaffected youth; his first order of business is to shut down Aggie's clinic.

Caught in the crossfire is 16-year-old Honey – pregnant, battered and ready to cling to whatever hope is offered. While Aggie and Luke fight over the fate of Honey's unborn child, they discover a deep and surprising connection. But as the war between the secular and religious intensifies, Aggie, Luke and Honey find themselves in moral and physical danger.

Set against a backdrop of religious terrorism and social decay, Emily Maguire's explosive second novel, first published by Brandl & Schlesinger in 2006 and now re-released in Picador, is a contemporary love story about belief, family, grief and hope.