Angel Time

The Songs of the Seraphim, Book 1

By: Anne Rice

Narrated by: Paul Michael

Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A divinely thrilling series about an assassin with the choice to turn from darkness to light—from the author of Interview with the Vampire

The novel opens in the present. At its center: Toby O’Dare—a contract killer of underground fame on assignment to kill once again. A soulless soul, a dead man walking, he lives under a series of aliases—just now: Lucky the Fox—and takes his orders from “The Right Man.”

Into O’Dare’s nightmarish world of lone and lethal missions comes a mysterious stranger, a seraph, who offers him a chance to save rather than destroy lives. O’Dare, who long ago dreamt of being a priest but instead came to embody danger and violence, seizes his chance. Now he is carried back through the ages to thirteenth-century England, to dark realms where accusations of ritual murder have been made against Jews, where children suddenly die or disappear . . . In this primitive setting, O’Dare begins his perilous quest for salvation, a journey of danger and flight, loyalty and betrayal, selflessness and love.

©2009 Anne Rice (P)2009 Random House

Critic reviews

“Thrilling. . .divinely entertaining.”—PEOPLE magazine (3 ½ stars)

“Full of provocative moral reflections. . . Readers will revel in Rice’s colorful recreation of the historical past and in her moving depiction of characters struggling to reconcile matters of the heart with their personal sense of faith.”—Publishers Weekly

“Readers looking either for a convincing story of faith rediscovered or simply an exciting read will be pleased by Rice’s compelling tale, and many will hope for more books featuring her fascinating and utterly sympathetic new hero.”—Booklist, starred

really tried to like this.....

I love Anne Rice's writing but this has fallen so flat for me... seven hours in and I'm trying to figure out --where is the intrigue? Sorry to say this has not captured my attention at all. Pains me to say this because I have great affection for the writer and loved her recent interview on NPR.

Poor allegory

A redemption tale for an un-involving, one dimensional character.

This jumps from being a not very good book about an eighteen year old who discovers that he is a first class hitman to being a very bad book about one man's quest to save the Jews of Norwich in the thirteenth century.

The Jews are so pious and persecuted and so in need of Rice's rescuing that I found it insulting.

The final straw was brother Toby discovering that it wasn't a dream after all and that his angel needs to take him into another time again - opening the way to make this abysmal story into a series.

When an author credits wikipedia for his/her research, you know its gotta be fluff.

I had hoped for something between Lestat and The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty. No luck.

Also, the narration was preachy and irritating.

Predictable

Angel Time proves that Rice has not lost her gift for visual prose, creating rich landscapes and tapestries of emotion. Sadly, she uses it for a story we've all heard before and know how it ends.

Toby O'Dare is a hit man born of tragic circumstances and guilt, forged by an injustice to man who has been kind to him. He is, however, a most incongruous hit man. Both a lover of music - he plays the lute - and great beauty, and a ruthless killer who arbores blood and cruelty. So much so, that he dispatches his victims with a syringe instead of a gun and then stays to comfort them while they die. What's more, he is burdened with a conscience. Repulsed by his own actions, he wants to die.

Enter the Seraph, an angel sent to redeem Toby and bring him back to God. To do this, the angel explains, Toby must make amends, which is how he finds himself transformed as a Dominican monk sent to 13th-century Norwich village to intervene for the town's Jews. "I always wanted to be a Dominican monk," he exclaims. Seriously? This is where all ability to suspend disbelief is mortally challenged. The choice between good and evil may be nothing more than a bend in the road; the choice between becoming a ruthless killer and man of God is a hairpin curve.

Rice fans know that after the death of her husband, poet Stan Rice, she returned to her Catholic faith, declaring that she would from then on "write only for Jesus Christ." She kept that promise with the "Christ the Lord" books and "Called out of Darkness," the story of her own spiritual journey back to God. "Angel Time" appears to be fictional account of that journey designed to appeal to the readers of her vampire series. Will it? Reader's of faith may find this book affirming: no one is beyond redemption. But, Rice has broken no new ground here. Bad person finds God, earns forgiveness. Predictable.

Not happy

I LOVE Anne Rice and have read everything she has written. I was so excited to read this new book. At the end I was so disappointed, it was like the story was going one way and then out of nowhere it turned left. I had to keep going back because I thought I skipped a chapter or two.

Promising beginning, but the rest not so much...

What would have made Angel Time better?

If Rice hadn't changed the story halfway through. It started out as a story about a modern day assassin seeking redemption, and ended as a story about a jewish couple being persecuted in England during the dark ages.

What do you think your next listen will be?

As a long time Anne Rice fan, I returned to a former favourite: Interview with the vampire

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment

Any additional comments?

I like the idea behind Angel Time. It had the opportunity to be an interesting philosophical delving into eternal questions and the serach for redemption (even though very influenced by what I take to be Anne Rice's own spiritual journey) - but unfortunately, I don't think Rice pulled it off. Instead of exploring these questions more, she made the story revolve too much about a couple experiencing persecution at the hands of stupid and fanatic people. Unfortunately, this seems like an 'easy way out' of complex questions, and made me not want to read/listen more of this series.

Very disappointed

I use to purchase any book authored by Ann Rice. Somewhere after her husbands death she lost her ability to capture one’s attention much less keep it. I almost believe her husband was the true af