Exiled from heaven, fallen angel Matthew spends his time on
earth by fleecing the suckers with his traveling preacher
act. Matthew turned his back on faith and hope long ago. He
has little respect for himself and even less for the true
believers who stupidly, blindly sit in their folding chairs
with their eyes turned upward, their hands clutching prayer
books while he preaches fiery sermons and gives them
miracles that a mediocre magician would be ashamed of. His
tent show goes bad one night when instead of his usual
shill, a member of the audience is lead forward by newsmen
hoping to discredit Matthew on national TV. As soon as
Matthew lays hands on the girl, he realizes her possession
by demons is genuine. For the first time in centuries,
Matthew finds himself in a battle against evil and in a
fight for his life.
Matthew's "act" that night is witnessed by Natalia Ashley,
who manages rock superstar Cain. She's impressed by
Matthew's charisma and wants to hire him to participate in
Cain's stage show. Natalia realizes right away that Matthew
is a fraud, but one with the allure her show needs. Part of
Cain's bad-boy image is his claim that he has sold his soul
to the devil. Natalia's idea is that Matthew come up on
stage with Cain to "drive the demons out" in a show-
stopping number at the end of each performance. Trouble is,
Cain has stupidly sold his soul to the Devil and a couple
of Satan's henchmen are in place as roadies to make sure
Cain fulfills his part of the bargain. They know who
Matthew is, even if Cain and Natalia are in the dark, and
aren't keen on him joining the group. They have a plan and
a timetable and disposing of Matthew and Natalia has just
moved on to their list of "things to do." Matthew finds
himself coming back to life with Natalia. His love for a
mortal woman turns out to be just what it takes to restore
Matthew's spirit and get him back into the fight between
good and evil.
Margaret Weis has been writing for decades, so is an
author with plenty of experience who knows her way around a
plot. What I'm not certain about is angels, Biblical
angels, as the romantic and sexual lead. Sharon
Shinn used angels successfully, but there's a science
fiction twist that explains exactly what they are. Anne
Bishop uses men with wings, but they're an alien race,
no one can call them angels. There is some literature about
fallen angels, the nephilim, coming to earth to marry human
woman and have children. But the sexless, fiery warrior
angels who "take neither man or wife"...I don't know. It's
not that I think biblical angels should be "off limits" in
any way -- I'm not coming from a religious viewpoint -- I'm
just not certain they're the "fantasy men" I want to read
about.
He thought he'd never find heaven again . . . until he
met her.
Matthew Gallow is a fallen angel, cast out
of heaven for daring to disbelieve. Furious, frustrated,
and empty, he roams the earth, pretending to cast out
demons and preserve souls. He doesn't have faith in
anything—or anyone—until the night he nearly dies fighting
a true fiend. His whole world is shaken. And when he meets
Natalia, he isn't sure if he can trust her...or the
attraction he feels for her.
Natalia works for
Cain, a rocker living on the edge, and she invites Matthew
to be a part of his wild stage show. It's perfect—an
exorcism for a man who says he's sold his soul to the
devil. Only Cain really is in league with Lucifer, and all
mankind is at risk. Matthew never before cared whether or
not the world went to hell. But as his passion for Natalia
grows, he'll fight to the death to rescue her from evil's
grasp...and realize that love is the one thing that can
save a fallen angel.
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