Forging a Nightmare

Jackson modernizes Christian lore in her action-packed debut. FBI Agent Michael Childs is investigating the serial homicide of people born with extra fingers and toes. The killer mutilates his victims by cutting off the corpses’ eyelids and burning their tongues. Even more unusual is the Enochian script carved in the victims’ faces and Childs’s run-in with presumed dead Marine sniper Anaba Raines. Childs comes to discover that the victims were all Nephilim, half-human and half-angel—and so is he. Uncovering his heritage leads Childs to realize his destiny as an apocalypse angel and puts him on the trail of a plot to kill all Nephilim to spur an angelic war. Now reluctant chosen one Childs must pull deep from within to accept his calling and protect the innocent. This fast-paced urban fantasy builds momentum by toggling between the protagonist’s and antagonist’s points of view, but at times character development takes a back seat to the breakneck plot and descriptive clashes between Nephilim, angels, fallen angels, and humans. Still, urban fantasy fans will be happy to charge through to the end. Agent: Sara Megibow, KT Literary. (Nov.)