Publishers Weekly
Fans of Trussoni’s well-received Angelology (2010), set in a world where angels are real, should be satisfied with this sequel, but those looking for a consistent, well-thought-out alternative universe may be disappointed. In the book’s present, art historian V.A. Verlaine, who 10 years earlier realized that his flawed vision allowed him to “see angel wings without extensive training,” witnesses a mutilated angel’s last moments as she lies dying on a Paris street in “a pool of electric blue blood.” On the body, Verlaine is disturbed to find the New York driver’s license of Evangeline Cacciatore, “the love of his life,” who had turned into the sort of rogue angel that Verlaine now hunts. This murder marks the latest chapter in a centuries-old battle between humanity and the various categories of angels. Suspenseful actions scenes compensate only in part for thin characters, contrived situations, and Verlaine’s perplexing turnaround in his attitude toward Evangeline at the end. 5-city author tour. (Mar.)
Kirkus Reviews
Sequel to the best-selling Angelology (2010), wherein a dedicated cadre of Angelologists battle the beautiful yet sadomasochistically evil angel-human hybrids who've controlled human affairs since Noah's flood. In Paris, angel hunter V.A. Verlaine searches for former nun Evangeline, once a normal, wingless, red-blooded human, now somehow metamorphosed into a winged, blue-blooded, angel-powered Nephilim. Evangeline presents Verlaine with a fabulous Fabergé egg before allowing herself to be captured by Eno, the blackhearted, lesser-angel servant of the Grigori family, the most powerful Nephilim. Since Eno will convey Evangeline to the panopticon, the Grigoris' vast prison/research center in Siberia where she will face torture and experimentation, the egg is an important clue. Where better to research the egg, Verlaine reasons, than the Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg? The egg, it emerges, contains the secret to an elixir that may prove decisive in the struggle against the Nephilim. Another key to the elixir is found in an old album of jottings and pressed flowers left by Rasputin, but some of the plants mentioned in the recipe are now extinct. But wait! Fortunately, Noah didn't just pack all the animals aboard his ark, he also grabbed plants and seeds! So, while Verlaine climbs aboard the train to Siberia to rescue Evangeline, his colleagues head for the Black Sea, where settlements flourished before Noah's flood. The plot, of which the foregoing is barely a hint, twisting itself into knots trying, and failing, not to contradict itself, and upon which an ordinary world beyond eggs, floods, documents, battling angels, pressed flowers and what-all barely impinges. Despite the frequent violence, the action consists largely of antagonists whose main objective, seemingly, is not to defeat, kill or seriously inconvenience their opponents. Expect pages and pages of abstruse discussion about Fabergé eggs, Noah, genetics and angelic anatomy. Even Angelology addicts likely face disappointment. Then again, maybe not.
Library Journal
Filling their ranks with trained mercenaries, the once scholarly Society of Angelologists have entered into battle with the fallen angels in this sequel set ten years after the events in Angelology. V.A. Verlaine, a fully trained angel hunter, has never forgotten his lost love, Evangeline, whose transformation into an angel is a secret Verlaine has kept throughout the years. Now, a seemingly harmless Fabergé egg that has fallen into Evangeline's possession places her in jeopardy. She entrusts it to Verlaine so that he may discover its secrets. This leads him and his companions on a trek across a bleak Siberian landscape. VERDICT Trussoni's unevenly paced second offering is not quite up to the standards set by her debut novel. Exciting skirmishes and conflicts are dragged down by extensive historical explanations, and the introduction of a new major character falls flat. Despite the inconsistencies, devotees of Trussoni's first novel will enjoy this continuation of the crusade to save humankind. [See Prepub Alert, 11/12/12.]—Joy Gunn, Henderson Libs., NV
