Everyone is familiar with the Alperton Angels case. You remember, it was the one where four men were found dead in a London warehouse positioned in a satanic ring on the floor, after cutting their own throats. They had claimed to be angels and one, their leader, Gabriel Angelicus, literally came back to life after he was pronounced dead. The teens, Jonah and Holly, saved the baby from ritual sacrifice and then disappeared. It's now 18 years later and two competing cold crime journalists are out to find the truth and, hopefully get the now grown-up baby's perspective. But as Amanda and Oliver try to separate the facts from the layers of information involved with the case, they find that those who come to their aid seem to be dying.
The novel is written mostly as a transcribed collection of interviews, emails, WhatsApp chats, and phone calls giving the writing both an immediacy and an archival quality. It took a little reading to get used to this format but after a few pages I could follow each of Amanda's contacts pretty seamlessly. I liked that Hallett laid out the "facts" of the case as gospel truth and then used a kaleidescope-like tweaking of those facts to put them in the right perspective. I think you'll enjoy unraveling the real story of the angels, but be careful of getting too near the truth...it might not set you free.
Reviewed by Donna Ballard
Publication date - January 23, 2024
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