FATE OF THE SISTERS

In Ristau’s fantasy novel, two sisters and their guardian angels look into a mystery in their past.

As the story opens in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, in 2015, editor Liz Miller has just wrapped up the most recent issue of the monthly, ad-supported tabloid she founded. She gets a call from her younger sister, Lee, who has an idea for a novel and believes that Liz would be the best person to write it. To that end, Lee reveals that her old friend Melanie Montgomery recently contacted her, and their brief conversation brought up some strange memories. She recalls that Melanie once had an interest in witchcraft and was eager to see a supposed satanic altar in the woods near Salinas, California. But as Lee recounts her suspicions about her friend (“I think Melanie put a curse on us back then and I think she’s stalking me again, now,” she says), Liz isn’t the only one listening. Also invisibly present is Hannah, a guardian angel who’s watched over Lee for years, and her trainee, Roy Barrett. It’s Roy’s first job, but Hannah, who’s Liz’s and Lee’s distant ancestor, has been doing it for more than 300 years. The angels can’t save the sisters from the darkness that’s coming, but they can guide the girls, “where and when [they] can.” Liz isn’t so sure about Lee’s talk of demons and curses, but the more the siblings investigate, the more they realize that there really are evil, supernatural forces in the world—and they don’t want their secrets revealed. In this straightforward paranormal novel of good versus evil, Ristau leans heavily into Christian iconography with a tale of guardian angels and opposing demons, and their effects on the world. Intriguingly, Hannah and Roy have the ability to slide into the past to view events that have taken place in the past—even hundreds of years ago—and see how those incidents led to current predicaments. These scenes have a distinct flair, with word choices and descriptions of settings that feel accurate to the disparate time periods.

A sometimes-engaging time-hopping tale of two sisters entangled in an ancient conflict.