North of Heaven by Frank Edwards

Father Norton Laird is a man with a history. Apollo is his brilliant but demented antagonist, hell-bent on destroying society and reconstituting it in his own image. North had left behind his years of service as a Special Forces operative in the Australian army after marrying a woman who he thought was lost to him. Choosing a more passive role as an analyst in the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, North pursues a life of wedded bliss, believing that this beautiful and erudite woman will be his salvation. His wife of eighteen months is torn from him, brutally murdered while North is away on an assignment. Shattered by the events, North cloisters himself in his church and immerses himself in the priesthood hoping to heal his broken psyche. But the Church has other plans for North’s particular skill set.