One In A Million

Cosmic chaos erupts in this tale of adultery, murder, and monsters.

The regret that married Kyle Fasano feels after sleeping with office hottie Caitlyn Hall gives way to fear when she morphs from a woman with “long blond hair and a Pilates body” into a possessed creature with black orb eyes and the will to kill. Escaping their hotel room and rushing into the crisp night air, Kyle encounters a “man with a gray face, who was in a gray suit and wore a gray hat.” The Gray Man tells Kyle he is a “millionth,” meaning he is “a light of hope” for the million people minus one who have sinned just as he has. Kyle is told his success in an assignment will allow all those others to choose salvation through repentance. But first he needs to flee, as Caitlyn is found dead, and detectives Parker and Napoleon Villa consider Kyle the logical suspect. The police tell Kyle’s wife, Tamara, a woman of faith, about Caitlyn and their suspicions. Tamara was not Kyle’s first love—that would be Victoria Brasco, whose heart he broke 20 years ago. As the Gray Man reveals to Kyle that his task is to save Victoria from planned wrongdoing, a red-eyed assailant who smells of death overpowers him. “You can’t have her,” the attacker warns him. On a mission to save his former love from evil while dodging the police, Kyle remains unaware his wife is encountering a monster of her own on her home turf. Angels and demons mix it up in Faggioli’s debut paranormal novel, and horror teeters with humor. For example, the Gray Man, perhaps literally an angel, has sworn off swearing (“We all have our vices. Swearing was one of mine once”). Several characters are uniquely creepy, such as the “watcher” Bonespur, with multiple flies on her lips. The premise of Kyle being a savior is a bit hard to take—even he admits he’s “no Jesus”—but once a reader gets past that, the story becomes absorbing and frequently terrifying.

Paranormal fans should enjoy this strange brew of revelations and romance, saints and sinners, remembering the past and attempting to save the future.