Angelology

I read and enjoyed Danielle Trussoni's first book, Falling Through the Earth, a memoir about her Vietnam-Vet father. That in no way prepared me for her first novel, Angelology, a wildly imaginative, bordering on the silly, example of speculative fiction that incorporates the fantastic with the kind of puzzle-solving that made Dan Brown a multimillionaire. This is the book that Dan Brown could write if he were a good writer.

Trussoni delves into the world of angels. I remember reading a poll that a majority of people in this country believe in angels, and those people will like this book, because it accepts their existence as a given. But even if you don't believe in them you'll enjoy the wonderfully evocative writing, as well as the Indiana-Jones style treasure hunt. In this case, the object of desire is no less that Orpheus' lyre.

Here's the plot in a nutshell: eons ago some randy angels mated with human women. Those angels were punished, imprisoned by Michael and the other archangels in a cave somewhere in Bulgaria. The offspring are the Nephilim, and they are baddies. There has been a war going on between them and humanity for centuries, and angelologists have been fighting on the side of good. The Nephilim, meanwhile, have amassed great riches, have wings, and are responsible for godless science like Darwinism.

But over the years the Nephilim have continued to breed with humans and their powers have diminished. They seek the lyre, which was cast into that Bulgarian cave, believing its music will restore their greatness. So the forces of good and evil hunt it down.

Trussoni casts her main characters well. They are a young nun, Evangeline, who has a link to the angelologists (there's a bit of paternity that's easy to anticipate and smacks too much of a daytime soap opera) and a cynical art historian, deliciously named Verlaine. At the start of the book they have no idea of the war going on, but by the end they're getting chased by red-winged angelic demons. The plot also includes Abigail Rockefeller, which leads to a showdown at the Rockefeller skating rink. Each chapter provides new delights, as Trussoni displays a marvelous imagination.

I enjoyed this book, but it does straddle the line between literary excellence and pulp novel goofiness. I was thinking this would make a good movie, but by the time a hundred "Gibborim" (those red-winged creatures) attack a nunnery, I realized it's one think to conjure this up in the mind, it's another to actually see it.

The book's central section, a flashback to a World War II-era expedition to that cave in Bulgaria, is necessary but really slows things down. I did read the last fifty pages in a gulp, though, as a dedicated team of angelologists scour New York City for the missing lyre. The next time you're at Rockefeller Center, take another look at the statue of Prometheus.