THE COUNCIL OF G.O.D.S.

Seraphim battle over the future of Earth.

Thousands of years ago, the Council of G.O.D.S. (Guardians of Dominant Species) assigned three seraphim brothers–Balthus, Lucian and Micah–to seed Earth with humans and watch over the project as the race evolved. But Lucian grows annoyed with human bickering and becomes nostalgic for the Oneness, a time before the Big Bang, and finds a way to reverse all of Creation: All he needs are the Medallions of his brothers. Micah and Balthus think Lucian is insane, and Balthus and Lucian fight to the death. Well, not quite, since seraphim are immortal–Lucian survives, but is disfigured. He then spends thousands of years plotting his revenge. Fast forward to the present day: The three seraphim are still around, inhabiting human bodies and blending in, but Lucian is more dismayed than ever with the human race, and decides it’s time to enact his plan. He eliminates Balthus, leaving Micah as the only barrier between Lucian and universal destruction. Meanwhile, archaeologist Abigail Bishop announces her plans to decipher the strange symbols that are shared by some of the world’s oldest landmarks, and the angels take notice. The symbols form an ancient map that marks the locations of important seraphic sites. Lucian needs Abigail to decipher the symbols for him, while Micah joins Abigail’s team in the guise of a human. Lucian turns his government minions against Micah, and Micah must contend with international law-enforcement agencies while trying to stop Lucian and hide his identity from the rest of the world. Despite the confusing history surrounding the symbols and a few jumps in narrative logic, the plot unfolds crisply, and aside from punctuated moments of melodrama and cliché, the narrative’s considerable momentum carries it along to a satisfying conclusion.

A quick, enjoyable read.