Trouble the Saints is a 2020 historical fantasy novel by Alaya Dawn Johnson. It was first published by Tor Books/Macmillan Publishers.

In an alternate New York City in the early 1940s, Phyllis LeBlanc works for “Russian Victor”, a mob boss. Phyllis passes for white as she uses her "saints' hands" — a supernatural skill with throwing knives — to kill people whom Victor claims are evil. Ten years ago, Victor ordered Phyllis to kill a man named Trent Sullivan. Phyllis has since left the world of assassins, but Victor asks her to complete one final job: assassinate Sullivan’s girlfriend, Maryann West.

Phyllis’s ex-boyfriend Dev Patil also has magical abilities; he can foresee threats. He ended their relationship because he opposed Phyllis’s violence. He began dating Phyllis’s friend Tamara, an oracle with the ability to read cards.

Maryann shoots Phyllis. While she is recovering, Phyllis and Dev discuss the case. Phyllis realizes that Trent Sullivan was innocent and that Victor had used her as a killing tool. Phyllis promises to kill him. Meanwhile, Dev has been working for the police against Victor while trying to protect Phyllis. Phyllis attempts to kill Victor, but loses her nerve at the last moment. Maryann is poisoned on Victor’s orders. Dev kills Victor to protect Phyllis, despite his pacifist beliefs. The two flee the city together and rekindle their relationship.

Dev receives a draft notice, but he hides this from Phyllis. Meanwhile, Alvin is a local Black man with saints’ hands. He works for Ben Craver, who holds a grudge against the powerful Bell family. Alvin can sees people’s secrets by touching them. Alvin asks Dev for help, claiming that the Bell family wants to kill him.

Craver, Dev, Phyllis, Tamara, and Alvin are all present at a restaurant with the Bell family. A violent confrontation occurs. Alvin is shot but survives. Later that evening, Bobby Bell Jr. attacks Dev and Phyllis; they fight him off. Police arrive, claiming that Bobby Bell Sr. is dead and that Craver is seriously wounded. Alvin, the prime suspect, is missing. In fact, Alvin’s mother Mae killed the elder Bell, leading to Junior’s rampage when he discovered his father’s corpse.

Phyllis reveals to Dev that she is pregnant. At a local civic event, Alvin appears and attempts to inform the police of a coming attack. Craver detonates a suicide bomb to destroy the building. Bobby Bell Jr. escapes unharmed. Alvin, Phyllis, and Dev are arrested on suspicion of being his accomplices. Dev blackmails his police handler into dropping the charges. In return, Dev and other agents agree not to contest their draft notices. Dev and Phyllis marry before he leaves for war.

Phyllis has a vision of Victor's ghost, perhaps triggered by the powers of her unborn child. Tamara and Phyllis move upstate. Phyllis begins to lose control of her hands. Tamara’s cards show her that Victor’s death has brought a curse down upon Phyllis. Tamara can either take the curse upon herself or allow Phyllis and her child to die. Despite an initial rejection, Tamara accepts the curse on Phyllis’s behalf.