The Reluctant Me$$iah

When his agent told the popular TV sports analyst and motivational speaker he was messianic, the young, charismatic man thanked him for the compliment which he promptly dismissed as mere agent hyperbole. When the avaricious agent told him he was going to start a teleministry and wanted him to be his money-making preacher, he politely refused. And when the greedy, fiendish agent threatened his family if he didn't accept the job, he knew he had a problem. Berkeley-born Toby Gates sought the help of the Banter Foundation. This delightfully eccentric group not only funds various charities but is also keen to help people who find themselves in situations that were troublesome, threatening or menacing. Thus begins an adventure that involves a professor emeritus from Cal, a sharp-witted cellist, a reformed Irish mobster turned actor, a cyber security computer expert, a Dublin publican who runs a theater, a former UCLA volleyball star with the improbable name of Wing-Wing, a dog that acts as a restaurant maitre d' and an undercover cop named Plato the Younger. What they all except for the dog have in common is a love for quoting Shakespeare and catching the bad guys.