Veena’s review of Angelopolis (Angel Trilogy, Book 2) by Danielle Trussoni
Fantasy published by Viking Adult 26 Mar 13
I was offered this book to read specifically to write a review. I wasn’t familiar with the author’s work and had not read the first book in the trilogy. I picked it up thinking it was a typical paranormal romance, but what I found was an unexpected gem that skillfully blends history, biblical lore, myths and ever day traditions to create a mesmerizing tale. I assure you it’s Easter, but I will not be viewing Easter eggs in the same way I viewed them before I read this book. Nalini Singh, in her Guild Hunter series, presents a view of Angels who are cruel and capricious, but this book takes Angelology to a whole different level.
Evangeline, who was born with angelic blood but brought up as a human, is being hunted. She is the target of the Nephilim, the elite angels who want to preserve the purity of their race, but at the same time she is targeted by Angel hunters who want to destroy her for being an angel. In a completely unexpected twist on typical angels, we see an evil race who preys on humans in the same way as the strong prey on the weak in the survival of the fittest. Verlaine first met her and worked with her in his role as an angel hunter, believing her to be completely human, and perhaps she was at the time. I have not read the first book to understand how and when she evolved, but it is clear that in her early years she was wholly human. Completely disillusioned when he found that she was an angel, he went on to become one of the premier angel hunters of his time. He is suddenly confronted with her again when he finds a brutally murdered angel, who is identified as Evangeline, at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.
But, of course, things are not as they seem, because, otherwise, the story would end right here. It was a case of mistaken identity and Evangeline is still alive but being hunted by the Nephilim, who want to kill her in order to preserve the purity of their race. As Evangeline is captured, Verlaine engages in a frantic race to save her from her fate, using the only clue in his possession, a Faberge egg.
Starting out at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, he begins to crack open the clues hidden in the egg like puzzle pieces and begins a journey that takes him across Russia to Siberia. He is helped in his quest by old friends, his mentor Bruno, his ex-lover Vera, and new friends like Yana, another angel hunter like himself, who saves his life several times on his journey.
I saw several reviews that expressed disappointment that this book was not a worthy successor to the first. Fortunately I haven’t read the first, so I can safely say that I very much enjoyed this book and want to read Book 1 and am really looking forward to Book 3. I also want to set the right expectation here. I am not sure if this book is classified as fiction or romance, but there is a purity in the love that Verlaine and Evangeline feel for each other, but there are no sexual interludes, touching, or even kissing.
Grade: B+
Summary:
A decade has passed since Verlaine saw Evangeline alight from the Brooklyn Bridge, the sight of her new wings a betrayal that haunts him still. Now an elite angel hunter for the Society of Angelology, he pursues his mission with single-minded devotion: to capture, imprison, and eliminate her kind.
But when Evangeline suddenly appears on a twilit Paris street, Verlaine finds her nature to be unlike any of the other creatures he so mercilessly pursues, casting him into a spiral of doubt and confusion that only grows when she is abducted before his eyes by a creature who has topped the society’s most-wanted list for more than a century. The ensuing chase drives Verlaine and his fellow angelologists from the shadows of the Eiffel Tower to the palaces of St. Petersburg and deep into the provinces of Siberia and the Black Sea coast, where the truth of Evangeline’s origins—as well as forces that could restore or annihilate them all—lie in wait.
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
