Angel Time (The Songs of the Seraphim 1) by Anne Rice
The novel opens in the present. At its center: Toby O’Dare—a contract killer of underground fame on assignment to kill once again. A soulless soul, a dead man walking, he lives under a series of aliases—just now: Lucky the Fox—and takes his orders from “The Right Man.”
Into O’Dare’s nightmarish world of lone and lethal missions comes a mysterious stranger, a seraph, who offers him a chance to save rather than destroy lives. O’Dare, who long ago dreamt of being a priest but instead came to embody danger and violence, seizes his chance. Now he is carried back through the ages to thirteenth-century England, to dark realms where accusations of ritual murder have been made against Jews, where children suddenly die or disappear . . . In this primitive setting, O’Dare begins his perilous quest for salvation, a journey of danger and flight, loyalty and betrayal, selflessness and love. (Goodreads)
The first half of the book tells how Toby came to be an assasin. About his childhood in New Orleans with alcoholic mother and little brother and sister after his fathers death. He’s practically taking care of his sisters and running the house and the thing that helps him going through al this is playing a lute. He has great love for historic books about medieval religious stuff and when he was little he dreamed becoming a priest. But all this ends when he comes home and finds his whole family dead. He leaves without leaving a trace behind. Some time after going to New York he meets a man who’s going to change his life and making him come an assasin. He meets an angel on his latest mission and the angel, Malchiah, send him to 13th century England to save a Jewish family.
I had some fears about reading this book because I couldn’t finish the first Christ book. But I’m a huge fan of hers and love all her other books so I had to try. And I’m glad I did. It’s not just about angels, it’s more about a man trying to find himself. While most of the religious stuff went over my head I always love her writing style and how she describes everything. I have no knowledge about Jews in that time period, or much in general, so it’s interesting to learn more.
4/5
Published: Knopf Doubleday
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 364
Source: my own
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