Archangel

Conner's (Eye of the Sun) second novel, though obviously influenced by Geoff Ryman's Was (1992), is a tour de force. Set in an alternative Minneapolis (``Milltown'') in a world that was infected near the end of WWI by the ``Hun,'' a disease that kills whites but leaves blacks unharmed, the narrative refreshingly features no significant adult characters who are wholly sympathetic. Everyone, black or white, is driven by prejudices, a trait that Conner uses to enhance the frisson that keeps the action moving along. The Archangel of the title is a pirate radio broadcaster (whose identity is obvious well before it is revealed), who rails against the town leaders' refusal to acknowledge the dire present and future. Conner exposes the corruption in all strata of the society through the investigations of reporter Danny Constantine, who accidentally photographs one of a series of grisly deaths in which the victims' blood is entirely drained from their bodies. Danny and black police sergeant Dooley Willson's search for a ``vampire'' leads them to Dr. Simon Grey's Hematological Institute, which is working on a cure for Hun. The several subsequent pilot twists follow naturally from the biases and presumptions of Conner's fascinating melange of characters, ranging from charming Selena Crockett and precocious Shirley Lund to alcoholic reporter Bing Lockner and misguided Lou Ravelli, a pro baseball player in a major league that integrates by necessity. The real-life parallels to Conner's tale are obvious yet elegantly understated; even those tired of the recent myriad of ``vampire/AIDS'' stories should delight in the author's fresh, character-driven approach. (Feb.)