Angelkiller by H David Blalock

Rating 7.5/10

A noir detective thriller with shades of Philip K. Dick.

Why do bad things happen to good people? Simple. In the ancient war between the Angels of Light and Darkness, the Dark won. Now it is the job of an undercover force simply known as The Army to rectify that.

Using every tool available, The Army has worked to liberate our world from The Enemy for thousands of years, slowly and painfully lifting Mankind out of the dark. On the front of the great Conflict are the Angelkillers, veterans of the fight with centuries of experience.

Jonah Mason is an Angelkiller, and his cell is targeted as part of a plot to unseat a very powerful Minion of The Enemy. Mason and his troop are drawn into a battle that stretches from real-time to virtual reality and back. The Conflict is about to expand into cyberspace, and if Mason is unable to stop it, The Enemy will have gained dominion over yet another realm.

This is an enjoyable urban fantasy romp with a plot set in the twenty second century that also takes place across the ages. With virtual reality generators, programs and multi-player online games Blalock could be talking about today but this novel has its twists and surprises.

‘Angelkiller’ is also interesting as speculative future history and I enjoyed learning what direction Blalock’s world of the future takes.

This is also full of technology, espionage, intrigue, and scheming especially of how to out flank ‘The Enemy.’ Although wrapped up in the age old battle between good and evil this is rooted in a feasible reality even if events do take place in both the physical and cyber world.

At times this reads like a noir detective thriller with shades of Philip K. Dick meeting the television series ‘Supernatural.’ The ancient world doing battle in a feasible future world is a masterstroke of neat juxtaposition.

This novel has given coin to the expression ‘Cyberwar’ as well as introducing an interesting central character in Mason with a life spanning centuries. With the Archangel of Death Azrael and the demon Azazel in the supporting cast you cannot accuse this one of being a ‘light’ read!

This is essentially a story about a battle without boundaries, the characterization is a little thin as is the book itself and I would have liked more as it was such an interesting concept. That in itself is not a problem as this is the first in a trilogy, so I will be eagerly anticipating the second chapter in the ongoing struggle.

Published 2011 by Seventh Star Press
ISBN: 9780983740230

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