2011 Book 64: Sins of the Angels
Book 64: Sins of the Angels (The Grigori Legacy Book I) by Linda Poitevin, isbn 9780441020911, 325 pages, ACE, $7.99
The Premise: (from the back cover): A detective with a secret lineage. An undercover Hunter with a bullet-proof soul. And a world made to pay for the sins of an angel… Homicide detective Alexandra Jarvis answers to no one. Especially not to the new partner assigned to her in the middle of a gruesome serial killer case-a partner who is obstructive, irritatingly magnetic, and arrogant as hell. Aramael is a Power-a hunter of the Fallen Angels. A millennium ago, he sentenced his own brother to eternal exile for crimes against humanity. Now his brother is back and wreaking murderous havoc in the mortal realm. To find him, Aramael must play second to a human police officer who wants nothing to do with him and whose very bloodline threatens both his mission and his soul. Now, faced with a fallen angel hell-bent on triggering the apocalypse, Alex and Aramael have no choice but to join forces, because only together can they stop the end of days.
My Rating: 4 stars
My Thoughts: Urban fantasy runs in cycles. Of course the cycles overlap and merge occasionally, but usually vampires are hot, then werewolves, then zombies, then angels. Linda Poitevin seems poised, alongside Thomas Sniegoski, to lead the resurgence of angels in urban fantasy. Yes, I realize angels have been hot for a while in the world of paranormal romance, but I think as the lead characters in crime and mystery-based urban fantasy they've been lagging a bit behind the other types mentioned.
And while I'm willing to mention Poitevin and Sniegoski in the same introductory sentence, make no mistake: they are two very different types of writers. Poitevin's book is much grittier than the Remy Chandler books right from the start. While Remy Chandler solves mysteries, the main characters of Sins (human detective Alexandra Jarvis and Aramael, the partner she doesn't know is an angel at first) deal with bloody, horrific crimes.
I'm a fan of strong female lead characters, probably because there are so many strong women in my life. Alexandra Jarvis is a well-written strong woman. There's nothing of stereotype about her. She's got her baggage (and what that baggage is is pretty clear from the beginning of the book, and our understanding deepens as the book progresses). She's not perfect, and she's not a machine. The fact that we get to see how her mind works is one of the great facets of this book: what she's willing to accept point blank and what we see but she can't allow herself to.
Poitevin's strength lies in knowing when, and how far, to shift point-of-view so that we as the reader get the bigger picture before either of the main characters do. It heightens the tension throughout the book -- the old "no, don't go in there!" feeling from horror movies plays very well here. So much urban fantasy is first-person-narrated or at the very least told slightly omnisciently but from one character's point of view, and we don't get that "I know something you don't" feeling that I love. With all the effort the author has put into world-building, shifting POV really enables her to explore it all, while still leaving some surprises for the reader (one in particular I won't spoil, but I can say took me completely by surprise and has me eagerly awaiting the next book).
The Premise: (from the back cover): A detective with a secret lineage. An undercover Hunter with a bullet-proof soul. And a world made to pay for the sins of an angel… Homicide detective Alexandra Jarvis answers to no one. Especially not to the new partner assigned to her in the middle of a gruesome serial killer case-a partner who is obstructive, irritatingly magnetic, and arrogant as hell. Aramael is a Power-a hunter of the Fallen Angels. A millennium ago, he sentenced his own brother to eternal exile for crimes against humanity. Now his brother is back and wreaking murderous havoc in the mortal realm. To find him, Aramael must play second to a human police officer who wants nothing to do with him and whose very bloodline threatens both his mission and his soul. Now, faced with a fallen angel hell-bent on triggering the apocalypse, Alex and Aramael have no choice but to join forces, because only together can they stop the end of days.
My Rating: 4 stars
My Thoughts: Urban fantasy runs in cycles. Of course the cycles overlap and merge occasionally, but usually vampires are hot, then werewolves, then zombies, then angels. Linda Poitevin seems poised, alongside Thomas Sniegoski, to lead the resurgence of angels in urban fantasy. Yes, I realize angels have been hot for a while in the world of paranormal romance, but I think as the lead characters in crime and mystery-based urban fantasy they've been lagging a bit behind the other types mentioned.
And while I'm willing to mention Poitevin and Sniegoski in the same introductory sentence, make no mistake: they are two very different types of writers. Poitevin's book is much grittier than the Remy Chandler books right from the start. While Remy Chandler solves mysteries, the main characters of Sins (human detective Alexandra Jarvis and Aramael, the partner she doesn't know is an angel at first) deal with bloody, horrific crimes.
I'm a fan of strong female lead characters, probably because there are so many strong women in my life. Alexandra Jarvis is a well-written strong woman. There's nothing of stereotype about her. She's got her baggage (and what that baggage is is pretty clear from the beginning of the book, and our understanding deepens as the book progresses). She's not perfect, and she's not a machine. The fact that we get to see how her mind works is one of the great facets of this book: what she's willing to accept point blank and what we see but she can't allow herself to.
Poitevin's strength lies in knowing when, and how far, to shift point-of-view so that we as the reader get the bigger picture before either of the main characters do. It heightens the tension throughout the book -- the old "no, don't go in there!" feeling from horror movies plays very well here. So much urban fantasy is first-person-narrated or at the very least told slightly omnisciently but from one character's point of view, and we don't get that "I know something you don't" feeling that I love. With all the effort the author has put into world-building, shifting POV really enables her to explore it all, while still leaving some surprises for the reader (one in particular I won't spoil, but I can say took me completely by surprise and has me eagerly awaiting the next book).