Review: Marked for disposal
Rating: 1 out of 5
Date: 11 20, 2013
It is difficult to describe this novel by S.J. Pierce. It is a chimerical blend of new age religious and supernatural horror, with the slightest hint of SF. It starts out as the literary equivalent of a chick flick, going on endlessly about the protagonist's life in the bustling city of Atlanta. Girlfriends and coworkers and the daily trial of walking to work in 4 inch heals while fetching lattes for her bosses are discussed ad nauseam. After wandering about a bit, a plot finally develops and horrible things begin to happen. The story reaches a climax, only to have the book launch into a lengthy exposition of the pseudo-theological underpinnings of the world where all this takes place.The characters in the book are mostly superficial, with the women being better fleshed out than the men. The main character, Alyx, oscillates between narcissism and self doubt while making a shambles of her career, love life and secret, supernatural mission. For a being supposedly 300 years old, who spent two previous lives among humans, Alyx is whiny, self absorbed and terminally naive. She has the emotional maturity of a high school sophomore. She also has a penchant for getting drunk on wine and passing out in awkward positions.The men are one dimensional and unattractive with the exception of the main love interest/obsession. He is a widower, making him sympathetic, a painter, making him sensitive, and Irish, making him charming with a touch of roguishness. The book lurches dangerously close to becoming “angle porn” at one point—Alyx in in the shower fantasizing about her “Marked,” starts to masturbate only to be interrupted by her boyfriend. She then has sex with him while thinking about the Irish painter she is supposed to be protecting. Remember, this woman is supposed to be an angle.The setting of this series is a world where “angles” walk among us, charged with protecting certain special people called their “Marked.” The foundation for this is based on a strange amalgam of new age muzzy headedness and bastardized Judeo-Christian theology. God is not omnipotent or all powerful in this Universe. Instead he is getting his but kicked by Serpious, a bad angle “more evil than Lucifer and his minions.” Who this premise is supposed to appeal to is a mystery.Finally there is the writing style. The author is addicted to long run-on sentences that meander across the pages, larded with superfluous adjectives. There are also a number of odd word choices, where the meaning of a word does not quite align with the intention of the sentence—just enough to throw the reader off rhythm. If this is intentional, it is more annoying than inventive. In all, this book seems aimed at young women with minimal educations and no strong traditional religious beliefs. Men, the faithful and those who value good writing should stay away.