![]() This stems from the Angel of Death assuming human form for the benefit of Detective Leland, resulting in a form of transformation for the angel which he finds alien. ![]() There are incidents within the story that I found to be suspicious, at least for an angel. Any union between angel and human is forbidden.Īs the story progressed I began to consider whether the angel had really fallen from grace or was this character a mentally irregular person who had accomplices. When love comes to him for the female investigator, Donna Leland, his angel existence is doomed. The internal workings of the Angel of Death became fascinating when he began to have feelings that angels are not supposed to have. He accompanies the murderers and serial killers during their hunts, often orchestrating the details. The Angel of Death arranges death for people marked by God when their time comes in a fitting scenario. Robert King’s new urban fantasy Angel of Death from the HarperCollins new imprint Angry Robot Books is an unpredictable thriller, which is why I kept turning page after page until well past midnight. Angel of Death is a book for those who want that dark edge. If you're not one for serial murders and the macabre, even in a powerful form as presented in King's novel, then you should find something else. Those who are fans of dark murder mysteries, Andy Remic, the Saw movies (the early ones, not the last three or four), and other twisted tales will certainly enjoy Angel of Death. That first third had me curious, and when I ventured into the unknown territory of part two, I couldn't put the book down-someone probably saw me walking and reading on campus over the last few days. The first part of the novel is entertaining, but it is the last two-thirds that changes everything. The only problem with Angel of Death is that it takes some time to get into the gritty, page-turning stuff. Dick did this well, but King is somewhat more subtle about it, despite the characters having very little in the way of subtlety attached to them. A lot of what makes this novel so much more than just another story about fallen angels is that King fiddles with reality in such a profound way that by the end you're not entirely sure what is real and what is imagined. King's novel is somewhat like reading a novelization of one of the Saw movies, but with a splash of the fantastic (or seemingly fantastic). I want more of these dark murder mysteries. His twisting of convention, if such a thing is fair to say, has resurfaced all those old, long-forgotten childish joys resurface. The result is that King has managed write a thoroughly enjoyable story despite being in a genre that I normally would not find all that appealing (detective mysteries). From the start you are thrust right into the mind of death itself, a disconcerting experience for sure, but a memorable one. What is most striking, for me, is how King puts you into the mayhem, into the minds of serial killers, the detectives who hunt them, and the innocents who suffer as a consequence. ![]() What follows is a dark, terrifying fall into madness and an uncomfortable reminder of how fragile the human condition really is, especially for one who might never have been human before.Īngel of Death is the second book from Angry Robot Books that I have read and loved, though for entirely different reasons. But when he meets Donna Leland, lead investigator/detective on the serial killer's case, this angel of death finds himself thrust into the real world, rejected by the angelic home he once was a part of. The story opens with a serial killer and a metaphysical figure who directs the gruesome killings and accidental deaths of the day-an angel of death, if you will. Robert King has put together something that makes all those movies and books about angels look like child's play? Yes, I dare say.Īngel of Death is hard to describe. ![]() Maybe that's just my paranoia talking.Īngel of Death is one of those strange novels: twisted and detailed in ways that make you uncomfortable, stylistically gripping, and otherwise a romping good read. But then you remind yourself that the author doesn't have your address, just the publisher, and that means you can move before anyone finds out where you live and comes knocking. I'm not sure what it is as of late, but I have become a magnet for the strange, and by that I mean those novels that contain something so twisted and freakish that you start to wonder if maybe the author is a little too close to these characters and that you should be worried.
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