Angelology by Danielle TrussoniGenre: urban fantasy
About Angelology:1943: The preserved corpse of an Angel is discovered in the Devil's Throat Gorge in the Bulgarian mountains. Only a select few are party to this discovery, including a young nun who is later taken in a state of distress to a Convent in upstate New York and never speaks about it again. Until now.
The present: When Sister Evangeline finds mysterious correspondence between Mother Innocenta of the Saint Rose Convent and legendary philanthropist Abigail Rockefeller, it confirms that Angels once walked among us - and their descendants, the cruel Nephilim, still do.
Indeed, the Nephilim are hunting for artefacts concealed by Abigail Rockefeller during the Second World War - objects that will ultimately allow them to enslave mankind - and have so far been prevented from reaching their apocalyptic goal by one clandestine organisation: the Angelology Society.
And if the Angelologists are to stand any chance of winning this new battle in the ages-old war, they must find the artefacts first. But their fate rests in the hands of innocent Sister Evangeline, who holds the key to unlocking Abigail Rockefeller's hiding places ... and whose destiny may yet find her prey to the terrifying Nephilim army, with horrifying consequences for humanity.
Angelology moves with electifying sweep from the icy mountains of Bulgaria to Nazi-occupied Paris, to twentieth century New York, as the greatest conspiracy of them all is finally brought to light.
Source: Info in the About Angelology was taken from Penguin's press release (29/03/2010).
Verdict: Needs a lot more editing to get rid of inconsistent story lines.
Review:
This is not the first angel book around. So for originality it does not rank too high. I would give it a 2 out of 5. The premise is that there are good angels and bad angels. But the way this was explained in the book was not satisfactorily logical. In fact it defies the explanation given in the book! Ambivalent even. I also like my story to make sense. And there are several points in the book where it contradicts itself! Inconsistent lines!! This kind of put a snag on the story. Throw in some scenes where it is just not believable. An old lady jumps out of a moving vehicle clutching a case (which couldn’t have helped with balancing), hit the road running and evade pursuers… what?? “Suspension of disbelief” will have to be a 2 out of 5.
This book is a slow starter which continued on at a steady pace. The story telling quality is good but not a grab-you-by-the-throat-and-take-you-away-to-another-place, but chugs along nice and steady. Trussoni masterfully weaved fact with fiction that the line between the two blurs a la Da Vinci Code. She gives the "imagined events" a depth with obviously a well researched topic. I would give the story telling quality alone, a 3 out of 5. The ending resolved the main dilemma which created the story but the emphasis is on pointing to the dilemma of the next book. I guess this is a good marketing strategy but to me as a reader, has a cliffhanger effect, which don’t score high points. I’d give the ending a 2. Verlaine as one of the main character is well developed and as a reader I can connect with, I would give the character development a 3.5. Overall score? I would give this book an entertainment value of 2.5 out of 5.
Book Links (author, apps, fandom sites):
Danielle Trussoniangelologist.compenguin
My Avenging Angel by Madelyn Ford
