Review: A Good Read in Disguise
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 14, 2013
Several years ago, John Travolta starred in "Michael," a movie about an angel who was sent to earth for doubting the veracity of his Father (God). Additionally, Michael had authority issues and tended to question why things existed and happened the way they did.In this regard, this is not so very different from Erick Angell, the main protagonist in Sandra Ross' "Dark Knight in Disguise I: Earthbound Angels Book 1." Erick was sent to Earth as punishment by his Father for not living up to parental expectations and for demonstrating utter contempt for human beings, whom God created in his image as near-perfect creatures with frailties and foibles that reinforced God's opinion that they needed guidance and redemption regardless of their successes and failures in their individual lives.Due to his Father's omnipotence, Erick's warped humility needed to be broken down and reshaped, much as Marine recruits are re-created in the image of the larger military society that is indicative of an elite fighting force.To add insult to perceived injury, Erick was sent to dwell among humans. This seemed to be more than Erick could bear, and so he ensconced himself within a walled-off, gated ubermansion whereby he could live as well as could be permitted without having to reveal too much of whom he really was.Prior to meeting his eventual love, Hollianne, Erick had met numerous other women who had tempted him to make love to them, but he had resisted his human urges, as he believed his real identity would be compromised, and his work on earth jeopardized. His ultimate goal was to return to Heaven, and his journey to that destination was marked by surreptitious good deeds as a way of self-redemption.Then he met Hollianne.Initially hired to write Erick's biography, their professional relationship gradually bloomed into a strong emotional and sexual attraction which Ross skillfully weaves throughout the story. Erick initially is loath to reveal his real emotions to Hollianne, as he has bottled them up for years. Nevertheless, as the days progress, their interactions prompt one another to deal with long-dormant emotions that threaten to disrupt the working relationship.Erick is a good creature at heart. (If one is an angel, I'd suppose they'd have to be in order to play on Jehovah's team, no?) As the story progressed, I figured that Erick must be a pretty special angel for God to test. I interpreted Erick's ordeal as God's way of telling him that regardless of earthly or heavenly status, all of us are responsible for our actions, and that there are consequences for everything we do.Fortunately, Erick learns from his isolation, and is properly humbled in the process via personal misfortune that humans encounter on a daily basis: murder, kidnapping, war, pestilence, anger, jealousy, and so forth. These experiences transform this Doubting Thomas into a creature who ultimately emerges stronger in his belief that events happen for many reasons and that it is paramount to learn self-acceptance and the presence of tragedy and pain before truly being able to love and laugh.And he finds this in Hollianne."Dark Knight" crackles with intensity throughout the book, and Ross is able to create a tension-filled story that reveals Erick Angell's inner torment. It's worth the time and the minimal cost and provided this reader a satisfying ending.