Angelology: A Novel

This book is in the genre of secret histories/societies, a hidden artifact, etc. Given that the genre has had so many entries in the past few years, I didn't expect much from this book, and thought I'd probably read a dozen or so pages and then toss it down.

Wow, was I wrong! I loved this book that takes us from 1998 at St. Rose's convent of perpetual adoration in upstate New York to Paris at the brink of war, to the Balkans near the end of the war, back to the present, with a side trip to a thousand years ago. The author has a real feel for intrigue, giving us just enough information at each moment to keep us interested!

The basic premise is that the offspring of Angels and humans have lived among us for thousands of years, and a nasty bunch of characters they are! A group of people calling themselves "angelologists" study them and try to find ways to make sure that the human race isn't kept in subjugation by them. Our main characters are several generations of humans (Gabrielle, Evangeline) and one very bad family of these hybrid angels.

I loved every minute of this book, although I did find the end a bit unexpected (and not in a good way). But the jarring effect it had didn't take away from the overall loveliness and craft of the work.