An Internet attack on the Federal Reserve brings together two colleagues, Michael Thomas and Gabrielle Sinclaire. Once members of the Archangel project, a Special dark-ops government computer intelligence team, they suspect the attack was committed by another Archangel, Uriel/Lucifer, gone rogue. While investigating this cyber-crime from Thomas’ Mississippi home, they are called to assist in the analysis of a teenager’s home computer that may hold clues to her disappearance and the murder of other young girls.
Preying Angels is a dark cyber-thriller made all too chilling by the knowledge that internet stalking exists and we, especially the young and trusting, are all at risk.
Jeff Davis’ debut novel is a very good beginning for a career that promises to engage the reader in plots that are intriguing and push the envelope. He deals in a straight forward manner with, I believe, just the appropriate amount of violence, with young people as victims of adults with sick and twisted minds and the grief and pain of their family and the law enforcement officials who hunt the killer, He takes it to the next level by introducing us to a master villain whose very willingness to manipulate a psychopath to achieve his own ends creates a new level of psychological horror.
If I had any suggestions, it would be to make the hero and heroine more three dimensional. Mr. Davis writes the bad guy well. I would like to know more about his protagonists, what makes them tick, what are their own flaws. How did they stay on the right side of the law when Uriel/Lucifer did not. He hints at it, but I want to feel more of what Gabby and Michael feel. Don’t worry, he doesn’t have to go all romance on us in the next book but maybe a little more Jason Bourne. We know that Bourne is a killing machine but he get a sense of his personal demons and torture. I’d just like him to dig deeper into their psyche and let us see it on the page.
I give Preying Angels 3-1/2 triskeles and look forward to even better coming from this inventive and fearless new writer.
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