KEEPERS & DESTINIES

A modern fantasy novel set in a world of angels and demons.

Debut author Brothers presents the story of James Wexlar, a 33-year-old war veteran who suffers from horrific dreams. They stop, however, after a new woman appears in his life. It turns out that she’s an angel named Andrea who’s tasked by her superiors in Heaven with finding a prophet on Earth who knows details of the upcoming battle of the Apocalypse. James is no prophet, but his abilities as a professional private investigator may help Andrea in her search. Andrea initially helps James with his other investigation work, and later, he helps Andrea find her prophet. This arrangement seems simple enough, but in practice, it becomes rather complicated. After all, demonic forces aren’t going to sit idly by while their plans for a long-awaited battle to end all battles are ruined by an angel and her human ally. Beal “Billy” Z. Roberts, aka Beelzebub, is the son of Satan, and he has more than a few tricks up his sleeve—not to mention werebeasts and nasty creatures called daevatropes on his side. It initially seems that the story will focus mainly on Andrea’s learning the ways of average mortals, as when she expresses excitement about the idea of riding a roller coaster. However, the narrative takes a number of unexpected turns, and as the chapters progress, the stakes get higher and higher. Before long, Andrea and James are engaging in some serious combat, as are others, such as a fierce, “war-hardened” Cherub named Vara. The graphically described action scenes (“A head shot permanently stilled the snarling and jerking bodies”) keep things moving along. That said, there’s also an abundance of dialogue, and not all of it is particularly insightful, as characters often express exactly what they’re thinking as soon as it occurs to them. Nevertheless, the narrative incorporates such epic twists that there’s always plenty to maintain readers’ interest.

An engaging conflict of truly epic proportions, despite some long-winded discussion.