Review: Angelology by Danielle Trussoni

This is what the back cover reads:

THE NEPHILIM WERE ON THE EARTH IN THOSE DAYS

GENESIS 6:4

When Sister Evangeline finds the mysterious correspondence between Mother Innocenta of the Saint Rose Convent and legendary philanthropist Abigail Rockefeller, it confirms that angels 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 they have so far been prevented from reaching their apocalypse goal by one, clandestine organization: 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 the innocent Sister Evangeline, who holds the key to unlocking Abigail Rockefeller's hiding places...and whose own destiny may yet find her prey to the terrifying Nephilim army, with horrifying consequences for humanity.

I had really high hopes for this book especially now that vampires are out and angels are in. I wanted to read a can't-put-downable book about angels. But I could put this book down. Alot. It took me almost 3 agonizing weeks to finish it.

This book reminded me of Dan Brown's DaVinci Code in that the characters are secondary to the plot.The main character, Sister Evangeline, the young nun, just didn't resonate with me. I wanted to like or be able to relate to the MC, but I couldn't even sympathize with her as she was vapid. I didn't hate her- it was much worse- I felt ambivalent towards her. Every time she was around it was like watching paint dry. The premise is that she was dropped off at this convent by her father for boarding school and became a nun. There's never any sense of vocation.

The supposed? hero Verlaine was a character that I couldn't get a grasp on- he was so slippery. Was he young? Was he old? Was a nerd? Was he workaholic? After reading 450 pages of the book, if you were to ask me to describe him, I couldn't.

I've come to the conclusion that I prefer character driven stories.

The story goes back and forth between 1999 NYC and World War II Paris. The story in NYC takes place over a day, day and half period, so it is suspenseful in that sense. The story in Paris against the backdrop of Hitler's tanks rolling in is quite good and that would have to be my favorite part of the whole book.

There is the inevitable twist in the end but the reader is left with some loose ends, mainly in regards to Evangeline. Perhaps there will be a sequel. I prefer some resolution at the end in regards to the main character.

2.5/5

My Favorite Quotes from Books I've Read

Of all the books I've read over the years, there are certain books that will stay with me forever, be it a line, a passage, an image or just a real good laugh. Here are just a few:

"Ten days after the war ended, my sister Laura drove a car off a bridge."

The Blind Assassin
Margaret Atwood


'You've got to stop being so spineless,' Freddie said, trying to sound stern. 'Oh, this is so cool,' he squealed excitedly, spoiling the effect. 'I feel like the head nun in The Sound of Music, telling Maria to get back and nail the Captain before the Baroness gets her mitts on him.'

The Disengagement Ring
Clodagh Murphy



Then she sat down at his table, and put her head on it, and was silent, with the patient suffering of black women, with the suffering of all oxen, with the suffering of any that are mute.

Cry, The Beloved Country
Alan Paton



It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

Pride and Predjudice
Jane Austen


"I mean that you paid us more than if you'd been telling the truth," he explained blandly, "and enough more to make it all right."

The Maltese Falcon
Dashiell Hammett


He is coming and I am here.

The Time Traveller's Wife
Audrey Niffenegger


‘Land is the only thing in the world that amounts to anything.’

Gone With The Wind
Margaret Mitchell


Last night I dreamt I went to Manderly again.

Rebecca
Daphne DuMaurier


He only dreamed of places now and of the lions on the beach.

The Old Man and The Sea
Ernest Hemingway


The garden was still wet with last night’s rain and the black earth was streaming in the sun, while between my toes the ground was soft and squishy-I had taken off my shoes and left them on the garden path so they wouldn’t get caked with mud-and I remember thinking how much fun it would be to go barefoot all the time.
Seventeenth Summer
Maureen Daly


He looked up with a face filled with yesterday. “I want her to know the feeling of being in love,” Tomas said, “if only once and if only for a little while. It might help later on to know that for one little time there was a boy desperate for her. She’s got to have that much,woman, she’s got to have that.”
Trinity
Leon Uris


For sixteen days, Tomas Larkin, son of Kilty, lay in a coma…On the seventeenth day, the giant fell.
Trinity
Leon Uris

Write Away

Perhaps you've noticed my new 'wordometer' to the left of my blog. It will keep track of my new WIP-work in progress, tentatively titled, A Blast from the Past.

I've spent the last 14 months laboring over a paranormal YA and it has come to the point where I have to retire it to a drawer for the time being and move onto another project. I'm stuck. The characters still bang on in my head but I've stalled at 40k words. When I got stuck the first time at around 40k, I put that draft aside and wrote a completely different version, 2nd draft and became stuck at 40k. You'd think if you'd put them together you'd have 80k and a book- (is it too much to ask?) and everything would be golden but it didn't work out that way. At the end of the day, I still had 2 very different drafts of the same book. However, I don't see it as a waste of time. Instead, I choose to look at it as a writing exercise. I loved writing it and I loved the characters, but for now it's time to move on.


Anyways, I was already to start my first 'Irish' themed book centering around 3 very different women from one housing estate. It's presumptuous of me to think I could pull it off being an American but I thought I'd give it a try. That is until an off the cuff comment from my fellow writer friend and published author, Clodagh Murphy (The Disengagement Ring, Girl in a Spin) said, "What about that one book you were writing about the detective?" Jesus, I'd forgotten all about that. It was a story about a 30 something woman whose questionable uncle returns after a 30 yr absence. I opened that document up this morning and reread it and still loved it and what's more I knew how that story had to end. Oh yeah, this is what I want to write!


It was a simple conversation with Clodagh Murphy and Trina Rea about where we were and what we were writing next and I mentioned about the Irish themed book when Clodagh asked me about my previous WIP. It was serendipity at it's best.

Happy Writing.