The story begins with thirteen-year-old Jonah’s basketball tryout. Jonah wants to make the team but unfortunately lacks prowess on the court. When he’s cut from the team, he takes out his anger and frustration on a soccer ball… and that’s when he discovers he has an incredible, seemingly unexplainable power. He learns that his super strength stems from that fact that he (and his sister Eliza) is actually one-quarter angel. His grandfather is a Nephilim, making his mother half-angel.
Shortly after this startling discovery, fallen angels kidnap Jonah’s mother. The creatures plan to bring all the half angels together and coerce them to do their bidding. It’s up to Jonah and Eliza to travel to the spiritual realm, utilize the whole armor of God, and rescue their mother.
As they travel, the children battle a monster, flee from a demon disguised as an old woman, penetrate the defenses of a mighty fortress, and outsmart their own grandfather. To do this, they must rely on each other, the help of their guardian angel, their faith, prayer, and their newly acquired super powers.
Several scripture references are cited and then woven into the plot of the story.
What I Like: When I first started reading this, I was immediately reminded of Frank Peretti’s novels for adults This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness. Like Peretti, Law tackles the subject of spiritual warfare and gives the reader a glimpse into a spiritual world we humans can’t see.
Also, I think there is a need for Christian fantasy. I believe a good fiction story can touch the heart in a unique way and serve as a great venue to challenge, guide, and inspire readers. So while this wasn’t my favorite story, I think it will still hold some appeal to lovers of this genre. I think Law had an interesting idea and showed a creativity that I hope he will develop as the series develops.
The good news is, right now this is a BARGAIN BOOK on Amazon. It may be worth a peek for a selling price of only $4.00.
What I Dislike: Some of the descriptions of the fallen angels were gruesome, dark, and/or scary, especially considering the age of the lower end of the target audience. Therefore, parents may want to preview this book before their children read it.
I was disappointed that the main character—a pastor’s child—seemed to know so little about prayer and the Bible. Also (and this could just be me) I didn’t have a strong connection to any of the characters. They seemed very “vanilla” (for lack of better term). With “I love it” type stories, I fret and worry about what will happen to the hero; I just didn’t feel the tension with this one.
Finally, I felt a little uncomfortable with the ambition of the children’s guardian angel. He wants to join the ranks of the warrior angels… as if the role of guiding and protecting children is an inferior position to hold instead of (as I view it) one of the most important roles an angel can fill.
Overall Rating: Good
Age Appeal: Ages 9 and up
Publisher Info: Thomas Nelson, 2012; ISBN:1400318432; Paperback, 256 pgs., $9.99
Buy it Now at Christianbook.com for $8.19
OR Buy it at Amazon.com for $4.00 OR Buy the Kindle version for $7.99 OR Buy the audio version for $14.30.
Special Info: This book is the first in the Son of Angels series. Others next one, Fire Prophet, releases December 2012.
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