Ooh, now this one was a really nice book. Every other angels/demons book I’ve read so far was either trashy or belonging to a cliched, worn-to-shreds trope. This one, though, was good.
Meet Samantha Martin.
She’s rude, crude, mean, childish, nasty, delights in causing chaos and bar fights and traffic accidents, and thinks nothing about sucking the souls of humans she likes.
Right on the other end, meet Gregory.
He might be an all-powerful archangel, the leader of the host, but he isn't all that a good guy, either. He’s grumpy, aggressive, volatile, unreasonable, overbearing, alpha-male-asshole. And he doesn't really care about human lives, either.
The local werewolves have a problem that needs solving, and they contracted Sam to do it for them. And the problem is an angel gone rogue, so Gregory gets involved, and proposes that they work together to achieve their common goal. So its an imp, an angel, a human and a werewolf, and they all walk into a bar...
No, really. They actually do walk into a bar at one point.
There are a bunch of side characters, and they are all, fortunately, interestingly three dimensional (Well, except for Wyatt. He’s a bit flat. But more on that later) There’s Michelle, the other half of Sam’s rental empire (An aside – its pretty impressive how Sam manages her businesses, how deeply involved she is in her human life. It is actually a surprising insight into her character, a quirk I found myself admiring. I liked this detail), and a delightfully immoral person. Theres Candy, the local were alpha, pragmatic and hilariously prudish, made the funnier when interposed with Sam’s perpetual horniness. And then there’s Wyatt – Sam’s human neighbor, and the primary love interest . I dislike him on principle – I am strictly Team Gregory.
He does odd jobs around at Sam’s house, and realises that Sam isn't human, when he accidentally tries to own him. After that, he forgives her and ends up becoming her sexy sidekick, helping Sam ad the others with tracking down the rogue angel with his mad computer skillz. A lot of hidden talents, our Wyatt has. Like I said before, I found him a slight bit flat – the human that falls in love with the demon, and becomes her conscience, teaching her compassion and love... not that this has happened so far, but I see the way the author is steering this ship and I like it not...
Alright, alright. I’m being jealous. its Wyatt with Sam at the moment and not Gregory. I’ll stop.
Then there’s the gate guardian, and the Low, near the end, and Uriel... there actually aren't that many side characters who play a major role in the series, but this book clearly sets a stage for the series to kick off on, and it does this well.
One awesome thing about this book is its refreshing amorality. No one tries to be unrealistically good when they aren't. Humans are after just one thing – profit, and they don’t care if its under the deal. Demons aren't misunderstood, tortured souls, they are genuinely evil – and they don't care about redemption either. Candy isn't above manipulation and lies if it means achieving her objective ( you go, girl.) Angels aren't perfect, saintly beings either – they are stubborn and set in their ways and just as prone to sin as demons. The lack of hypocrisy was invigorating.
So, overall impressions – It was a good book, I liked the writing, loved the characters, liked the story, loved the ideology and the word-building and definitely think that this is a series to watch out for.
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