There are not many books that ever truly come across as horror to me. Heavy gore in a story doesn't scare me, nor does violence, and while thrillers can be tense, they rarely cross over that fine boundary that leads the reader into the realm of true horror. However, Angel of Death, written by J. Robert King and published by Angry Robot, had me turning the pages with a sense of terrified fascination. Yes, there is some gore and violence (it is a book about a serial killer, after all), but it is the twisted perspective of humanity that this book creates that leaves one feeling more than a little disturbed after setting it down. This is the first of King's books that I've encountered, and his strong prose and stark characterizations have me firmly hooked and looking for more of his work.
Angel of Death starts off by introducing the reader to the...well...Angel of Death. At least for the Chicago area. It's his duty to arrange fitting deaths for people when their time comes. Aside from his supernatural powers, he also has a number of human servants--mostly insane murderers--who provide the means of offing people in various symbolically meaningful ways.
But when the angel falls in love with the female detective assigned to the murder cases, his supernatural nature is threatened, as human and angels are forbidden to mingle. Soon the killings themselves are not as much the focus of the mystery as is the angel's true nature. Is, or was he really an angel of God who has fallen from divine favor? Or has he been a deluded psychopath all along, who just rationalized his killings from a religious standpoint? These conflicting perspectives drive the plot up until the very end.
There is certainly a large amount of dark humor throughout the story, coming from unexpected directions. Some of it comes from the angel's recollections of various Biblical events, which are quite a bit different than the traditional stories. How much thicker irony can you get when the angel of death teaches Adam and Eve how to have sex for the first time?
The other character, Detective Donna Leland, who the angel falls in love with, struggles as she wavers between hunting down the murderous angel (in human form), and wrestling with her own love for him. Their relationship has its own path of hope and despair to follow, alongside the angel's "identity crisis."
Angel of Death is available from Angry Robot, and will take you into the darkest corners of the human mind and heart--plus have you struggling to define what separates humans from monsters. If you haven't read J. Robert King before, this is a great chance to sample his work without having to commit to a series.
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