The Book
A Construct of Angels
The Genre
Urban Fantasy
The Author
Andrew Toynbee has been writing in various genres since he was eleven years old, including publishing articles in various specialist magazines. After his first novel attempt became too big and unwieldy to manage, he changed tack and, in 2009, began work on A Construct of Angels.
The Plot
After accidentally triggering the spontaneous resurrection of a dead student, an ordinarily routine day for York-based paramedic Sara Finn erupts into a series of events that propel her on a terrifying journey, promising to forever change her pragmatic opinions of life and death. Sara finds herself caught in the crossfire between warring forces, powerful beyond human comprehension, that threaten to plunge civilization into hellish chaos and eternal darkness.
The Review
I quite enjoyed this book. The main character, Sara Finn (a pun on “seraphim”, which I love!), is feisty and determined and a great heroine in general. She has to deal with all sorts of unimaginable horrors over the six days leading up to the possible-Apocalypse, and even though the big bad guy goes so far as to invade her dreams and mess with her head, she stays strong and doesn’t bend to his will (well, not when it matters, anyway!).
I really loved the start of this book — a dark star driving people crazy, zombies rising from their graves, etc. It was a very cool concept, and I felt very grounded in her messed-up world. As the story progressed, I got a bit lost in what was happening; the book is quite long, and I feel the story lost its focus in the middle. The ending, however, was appropriately apocalyptic, and featured some great scenes (dancing zombies!) that effortlessly pulled me back into the story and the explosive finale.
A long read, but a good one if you’re a fan of urban fantasy or the angels vs. demons concept!
The Rating
4 out of 5 stars.
Click here to check out A Construct of Angels!
Click here to visit Andrew Toynbee’s blog!
Unrelated media of the day:
Random, amusing K-POP video urging listeners to “Get your “cray” on”.
Thanks for your review Michelle. It’s always fascinating to read how a novel is regarded by others. It was a long one – the result of the story being set over six days.
For the sequel, I will work on tightening up that sagging middle – probably the result of too many late-night cookies.
As for the losing focus – it’s me age, y’know. I remember when all these blogs were just fields of static…
Hahaha oh dear. Once someone makes the shift from “my” to “me”, you know s**t’s gonna get real. Seriously though, I really enjoyed the book — and yes, the middle’s a bit long, but you sound like you have that well in hand for the sequel 🙂 And the name Sara Finn … ah, man. Pure genius!
Lol and thank you. That was one of the few things that survived the two years of editing…however, did you find the hidden meaning in the name of Sara’s Big Boss?
No! Enlighten me.
Will email it to you…just to tease everyone else.
Oooh just found the review you posted for Imminent Danger! Many thanks 🙂
No probs. Enjoyed it muchly. Hope you didn’t mind being compared to Douglas Adams.
Dude, I love Douglas Adams.
I could sense his influence in your work…or I like to think that I did. It radiated a similar lightness of heart.