A Case of Conscience

Tantalizingly good premise:

A scout mission is sent to a planet 50 light years away to make contact with the inhabitants and test the viability of gathering resources. The 4 scientist group find the planet, Lithia, to be a veritable paradise. The aliens living therein are an inviting, moral, civilized race and welcome the earthlings. Father Ramon, one of the scientists, is a Jesuit who cannot come to terms with the fact that this alien race has achieved perfect morality without religion. He believes the entire planet to be a ruse crafted by Satan. He recommends against further contact with the planet.

As you might guess, he is outvoted. A Lithian he has befriended during the journey sends him back to Earth with a Lthian embryo as a goodwill gift. The alien hatches and develops on Earth, but without the moral societal framework of Lithia, he becomes sort of a douchey Tyler Durden who embraces the worst in human behavior. Everything falls apart.

The beginning of this book was terrific and things got really muddled in the middle.