The ‘what if’ behind Angel is the idea that angels walk amongst us, feeding off our psychic energy and leaving us, at best, mentally debilitated and addicted to their charms, and at worst, dead. For Alex, the third-person narrator of part of this novel, this means that ‘the only good angel is a dead angel’. He has been raised as an angel hunter and lost his family to their deprecations. Now he is old beyond his years and has no other aim in life but to avenge his family.
Willow, the other (first-person) narrator, is a misfit, whose only claim to fame is an unnerving ability to see into other people’s futures. Her mother is little more than a child, mentally incapacitated by some mysterious past event and her father unknown. She is raised by her aunt, but just like Alex, her family circumstances have made her older than she really is.
The two meet early in the novel, when Alex is targeted to illuminate Willow. He soon realises that she is no angel, but she doesn’t seem entirely human either and together they embark upon a road trip across America seeking out the truth behind Willow’s birth and why the increasingly powerful ‘Church of Angels’ is desperate to kill her.
Weatherly expertly handles the switches between the first and third person narratives. They provide the reader with unique insight into each narrator’s thoughts and emotions as well as their growing relationship, whilst at the same time, pushing the action along at a breathtaking pace. There is none of the steaminess of Twilight, but the emotions run, if anything deeper, and are perfectly matched by action and excitement.
And then there’s that ‘what-if’. There’s a whole cast of biblically named angels here and they really aren’t very nice. This is delightful twist and certainly provides some opportunity for thought and discussion about the supernatural and its potential interaction with humanity. My guess is that British readers will not have a difficulty with this, but given the reaction of some, mostly US, audiences to Twilight and Harry Potter, a degree of circumspection might be in order.
There’s been a fair amount of hype surrounding the launch of Angel, with even the Guardian newspaper running a piece earlier this year on how Angels are set to be the new vampires. Don’t be put off by this. Angel is one of those ‘can’t be put down books’ that leaves the reader breathless at the end and longing for the publication of the next instalment in Spring 2011.
Originally written for WriteAway.org.uk
