A Kiss Before the Apocalypse by Thomas E. Sniegoski
The angel Remiel has lived as a human for over 6000 years. Today, he lives in Boston as P.I. Remy Chandler. When Israfel, the Angel of Death stops doing his job and souls are trapped in bodies that should have died, Remy is contacted by angels sent from above and hired to find him before the Apocalypse comes.
This…should be an awesome book. Or at least, really interesting. As it is, it’s entertaining enough to keep me reading, but it never really takes off. The plot, unfortunately, follows the standard “angels lured by humanity/Death can’t take it anymore” tropes, and none of the characters are exceptionally interesting. The angels are also too…human. That is, they’re pretty much humans with powers who are really old. In something so out there that I can barely recognize it as being rooted in Judeo-Christian doctrine and tradition (like, you know, pretty much any anime or manga to ever have angels or demons) this isn’t really a problem. In something that is clearly trying to adhere to Judeo-Christian doctrine and tradition, however, it can be off-putting.
Then there’s the massive plot hole.
The reason to bring Remy into the Big Picture is that Nathanuel hires Remy to find Israfel. Except that Nathanuel has Israfel the whole time. There’s no reason for Nathanuel to tell Remy what’s going on, thus creating a potential roadblock in accomplishing his goals, save that someone has to tell Remy that Israfel is missing, and send him off looking for him. This is made even worse when we later learn that Israfel told his human girlfriend, Casey, about Remy, putting her in the position to be the one to bring him in, and a much more logical one.
Plot induced stupidity on Nathanuel’s part. Not a good thing when it’s a major plot point.
So, not a bad book, but not as good as it could have been. It’s a pity, though. I really like the Menagerie series Sniegoski wrote with Christopher Golden (which sometimes had similar plots) and they seem to have left off with that series.