Angels walk among us, but so do other unearthly beings in this brand new series by #1 New York Times Bestselling author Laurell K. Hamilton. Intrigued? Read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from A Terrible Fall of Angels, which releases on August 17th 2021.
Meet Detective Zaniel Havelock, a man with the special ability to communicate directly with angels. A former trained Angel speaker, he devoted his life to serving both the celestial beings and his fellow humans with his gift, but a terrible betrayal compelled him to leave that life behind. Now he’s a cop who is still working on the side of angels. But where there are angels, there are also demons.
There’s no question that there’s evil at work when he’s called in to examine the murder scene of a college student—but is it just the evil that one human being can do to another, or is it something more? When demonic possession is a possibility, even angelic protection can only go so far. The race is on to stop a killer before he finds his next victim, as Zaniel is forced to confront his own very personal demons, and the past he never truly left behind.
The first in a new series from the author of the Anita Blake and Merry Gentry series.
Lieutenant Charleston’s smile faded until his expression matched his eyes, sort of unfriendly and taking no shit. “So, the angel had a message for you?”
“It gave me the message,” I said.
“Don’t play word games with me, Havoc. One of my detectives is lying in a bed unconscious and no one knows why, or how to wake him up. Answer my damn question.”
I told him what little information the angel had given me. It sounded even less helpful than it had at the crime scene.
“So, the murderer isn’t a demon, but it’s somehow part of the Devil’s plans?” Charleston asked.
“The Adversary, yes.”
“That’s just another term for Satan, right?”
“It’s what I was taught to use at the College of Angels,” I said.
“Just making absolutely certain we’re talking about the same being.”
“It’s the same,” I said.
“Could the murderer be possessed?”
“The angels are aware of what a possession is, Lieutenant. This was something new, or unusual, and whatever the murderer is, it’s something that the angels don’t understand, and that is powerful enough that it can hide its movements from Celestial powers.”
“If it’s not a possession, then the hot lead I was going to tell you about just got colder.”
“What lead?” I asked.
“There was a security video in the parking area across from the apartment building. The camera caught a man leaving the building at the right time to be the murderer. Looked like there might even be blood on his clothes, but if we’re looking for something supernatural this kid isn’t it.”
“Kid, so you have an ID?”
“Mark Cookson, nineteen; his grades have fallen in the last semester enough that he’s on academic probation at UCCA, University of California, City of Angels. He got some complaints by female students for being overly persistent in his attentions after they’d made it clear they weren’t interested; nothing violent, nothing illegal, just socially awkward and bordering on stalking. He’s definitely a creeper. One of the students that had complained about him was our victim.”
I looked at him and felt that eager rise when everything starts to fall into place on a case. “Did you find him yet?”
“He’s not in his dorm and his roommate changed schools midsemester so no new roommate to question.”
“Is there anything in the dorm room that says he’s into black magic, or demonology?”
“Had to send someone else to see the dorm room and try to find any friends he might have, because I got a call that one of my detectives was in the hospital.” He gave me a look.
“Sorry, Lieutenant.”
“Mark Cookson sounds like he could be good for this, Havoc, but your angel makes it sound like we are looking for someone a lot more dangerous than a horny teenager with bad social skills and no criminal record.”
“If they find things in his room that say he’s been messing with black magic, then he may still be the guy.”
“But if he is, then we’re looking for him right now. He’s from an upper-middle-class family, he’s not going to know how to hide from the police. We will find him, probably soon, which makes me think he’s not it, because if he was, why would we need a message from the angels?”
“I don’t know. The angel shouldn’t have given the message to me at all, Lieutenant. It should have gone to an Angel Speaker at the College, then they would have given the message to their handler, they would have given it to the administrative assistants, and they would have contacted the prophet on duty.”
“How long would all that have taken?”
I thought about it. “Hours, maybe a few days.”
“This is a murder investigation, Havoc; maybe God knew we needed the information sooner rather than later.”
“The Big Guy can do anything He wants to do.”
The lieutenant sighed. “Then he sent the message to you personally, because he knew we needed to know sooner.”
“Perhaps, but in the twelve years I’ve been gone from the College I’ve never had a message given to me.”
“You’ve never had another angel speak to you since you left?”
I looked away then, not sure what my face would show. I chose my words carefully, because Charleston wasn’t just a good cop, he was a Voodoo Priest, and I knew he worked his own brand of magic to give him better insight into people when he needed information from them.
From A TERRIBLE FALL OF ANGELS published by arrangement with Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 2021 by Laurell K. Hamilton.
