Tour: Review: Angelkiller and Traitor Angel, H. David Blalock

Welcome to The Oaken Bookcase’s stop on the Traitor Angel tour! In this post you will find my reviews for both books one (Angelkiller) and two (Traitor Angel) in this trilogy. Make sure to stop by the other stops on the tour for more opinions and other goodies!

Title: Angelkiller (Goodreads)
Author:  H. David Blalock

Rating:

Why do bad things happen to good people? Simple. In the ancient war between the Angels of Light and Darkness, the Dark won. Now it is the job of an undercover force simply known as The Army to rectify that.

Using every tool available, The Army has worked to liberate our world from The Enemy for thousands of years, slowly and painfully lifting Mankind out of the dark. On the front of the great Conflict are the Angelkillers, veterans of the fight with centuries of experience.

Details

Series: The Angelkiller Triad #1
Genre: Paranormal Sci-fi/Fantasy
Published: Seventh Star Press, 2011
Pages: 207
My copy: From the publisher for the tour

Paper copies: Amazon.com • Amazon.co.uk • Book Depository
E-copies: Amazon.com • Amazon.co.uk • Barnes & Noble

Review

The Conflict between the Light and the Dark has been raging for centuries. Jonah Mason is a veteran in The Army, working to free mankind from the clutches of evil. Together with his fellow soldiers and an impressive array of  high-tech wizardary, they are gradually gearing up for what could be the battle of their lives.

Set in the near future, Mason and the members of his cell have been using full-virtual-reality MMORPGs (online games, for the uninitiated) as the most secure meeting points. At least, they did until their security is breached and a Minion of the Enemy pays them a visit, offering a deal that could strike a decisive blow in the Conflict.

I’ll admit, the cover and title of Angelkiller did not entice me to pick up a copy of this one during Seventh Star’s open day a couple of months ago, but I’m so pleased I took part in this tour because I really enjoyed reading these two books. They are both fairly short reads which did make them feel a little like one longer work that was broken up into parts, but in the case of this first part, that is not a problem. Occasionally I felt the descriptions of events did not flow as smoothly as I would have liked, but in general the writing style is very enjoyable. There are even a few black and white drawings dispersed throughout the story to aid in visualisation of events!

In Angelkiller, We’re dropped into the action right away with only a few flashbacks to give us context about the cell and their activities in the Conflict. This is a Good versus Evil story on a grand scale, and the author has done a fantastic job of creating the history of the Conflict through the characters and their stories. Even though there are angels and demons involved and plenty of references to “the Master”, this is not a preachy story.

The tension in Angelkiller is brilliant – gradually building up to a tense showdown that was described in loving detail. I was very pleased to have Traitor Angel on hand to carry on with right away!

Title: Traitor Angel (Goodreads)
Author:  H. David Blalock

Rating:

Jonah Mason, called Angelkiller, faces more than one decision. His Army resistance cell is wounded physically and emotionally, on the brink of falling apart. The mysterious allies calling themselves Knights are pressuring him to abandon his people. Meanwhile, the world outside draws closer to Armageddon.

As Mason and his friends pursue their campaign against Dorian Azrael’s global megacorporation, Andlat Enterprises, the stakes get higher with each desperate foray into the enemy’s computers. They are fated to lose one of their number and gain an unlikely ally, but any advantage they gain could be fleeting at best.

Details

Series: The Angelkiller Triad #2
Genre: Paranormal Sci-fi/Fantasy
Published: Seventh Star Press, October 2012
Pages: 228
My copy: From the publisher for the tour

Paper copies: Amazon.com • Amazon.co.uk • Book Depository
E-copies: Amazon.com • Amazon.co.uk • Barnes & Noble

Review

In this second book in the Angelkiller Triad, Mason and his cell must try to decipher the files recovered from Azazel, work out who the mysterious Andrael is and try to take down the corporation headed by Azrael.

I felt this instalment suffered from being the middle part in this larger story – there was quite a lot more talking and plotting and nowhere near as much action as there was in Angelkiller, but it does feel like it’s all building up to something amazing in the final part.

The events of Traitor Angel opened up quite a few new questions – who captured Martin and what has happened to him? We only get hints of what is happening in the rest of the world – there’s something brewing in the Middle East, but what? Also, there were tantalising glimpses of what cities are like in this time (in the USA, at least). We are only told that travel is restricted and most people don’t need to commute, but that’s about all. Perhaps it’s not relavent to the story, but I hope part of the third book is set in a city so we can see the society at work!

Even though I didn’t enjoy Traitor Angel as much as Angelkiller, I will be very interested in reading the third part of this Triad. I love a Good versus Evil battle, especially when the combatants are as bad-arse as the Army and the Knights!

Warnings: Supernatural scary bits, but clean.

About the Author

H. David Blalock has been writing speculative fiction for nearly 40 years. His work has appeared in print and online in over three dozen publications, spanning every format from short stories to novels, non-fiction articles to screenplays. He is also editor of parABnormal Digest for Sam’s Dot Publishing. To find out more visit his website at www.thrankeep.com.

The Tour

10/29 Great Minds Think Aloud – Review
10/30 Splash of Our Worlds – Character Post
10/31 A Book Vacation – Guest Post
11/1 The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia – Excerpt
11/2 JeanzBookReadNReview – Interview
11/3 Vilutherial Reviews – Interview
11/4 Crossroads Reviews – Review
11/5 The Bunny’s Review – Character Interview
11/6  Ali’s Bookshelf – Review
11/7  Red Headed Bookworm  – Guest Post
11/8 Azure Dwarf Horde of SciFi & Fantasy – Review
11/9  From the Bootheel Cotton Patch  – Character Post
11/10 A Few Words – Review
11/11 The Independent Review – Review
11/12  The Oaken Bookcase – Review
11/13  Beauty in Ruins – Interview
11/14  Ginger Nuts of Horror – Interview
11/15 Bookishly Me – Review
11/16  Full Moon Bites – Interview
11/17  A Daydreamer’s Thoughts – Guest Post
11/18  Stuck in Books – Guest Post
11/19 Sheila Deeth – Review
11/20 Bee’s Knees Reviews – Review
11/22  Darlene’s Book Nook  – Guest Post
11/23  Book and Movie Dimension – Review
11/24  Jess Resides Here – Interview

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for review from Seventh Star Press author as part of a virtual book tour. I was not compensated nor was I required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”