The story then moves to the three main characters of the book: Laika Harris, a specialist in running covert ops; Joseph Stein, an analyst and researcher; and Tony Luciano, an expert at breaking and entering and "wetwork". Richard "Cloudy" Skye, a high-ranking CIA official, brings the three CIA operatives together to expose a mentalist/psychic as a fraud. Confused at the change from their normal assignments, the three nonetheless succeed in proving the psychic a fake in front of a large audience. Pleased at their success, Skye reveals that the three are to form a new team -- "assigned to further projects for which there are no known natural explanations or solutions, cases that would suggest the paranormal to superstitious minds."

Their first real case is to investigate the charred remains of eleven men found in a burned down hunting lodge in Platsburg, New York. When the dental records of the remains are examined, the investigators discover some of the teeth exhibit signs of dental techniques that had not been used for centuries. The tabloids speculate that the meeting was a secret gathering of immortals that had gone awry. To their amazement, the team discovers evidence that the some of the story may have been true. Before they can investigate further, they are pulled off the case without warning and sent to New York City.

The team is given two assignments in New York. Under the guise of investigators for the National Science Foundation's Division of Special Investigation, they are to examine a deserted row of townhouses, thought to be haunted. A separate case involves looking into the disappearance of an artist from a locked room. While the haunted townhouse proves to be a simple case, the disappearing artist is a more perplexing problem. The team discovers that the artist, Peder Holberg, would disappear for short periods of time, with no memory of where he had been. Before long they are drawn into an increasingly bizarre case involving immortals, the Roman Catholic Church, death and mayhem.

The Searchers, Book One: City of Iron claims to be for fans of The X-Files and Men in Black, combining covert activities with the supernatural. In fact, it more closely resembles some of the action thrillers of novelists like David Morrell or Robert Ludlum, with an emphasis on the supernatural and the paranormal. Most the team's work is straightforward research and good old-fashioned common sense. They are skeptical of their findings and cautious in putting forth hypothesis regarding the strange things they encounter. There's some sneaking around and violence to satisfy action fans, and just enough clues to keep you reading. And that's the most disappointing thing about it -- we'll have to wait for the next one(s) to see how it all ends.