The Lost Angel

I have been waiting a long time for Javier Sierra to publish another book so I was pleased to see The Lost Angel on the book shelves at B & N last week. This book is centered on a mysterious pair of 16th century stones used for communicating with God. It is a fast-paced story that combines historical fact with fiction.

The story opens with Julia Alvarez working on restoring the artwork at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. While preparing to leave one morning after midnight she hears the sound of someone lurking in the locked church. It is Nicholas Allen, a U.S. Special operative. Then there is gunfire and Julia leaves with Colonel Allen. He tells her that he has a message from her husband Martin Faber whom she has not seen in a show more month. Martin was in Turkey working on gathering data on Mount Ararat for a climate change study but now he has been kidnapped by the Kurdistan Workers Party and Colonel Allen has a recorded message from Martin for Julia to view. At the end of the video while holding a rock in his hand Martin tells Julia "if you squander the remaining time, all will be lost. The discoveries we made together. The world that opened up to us. All of it. Fight for me. Use your gift. And though others may strive to steal what was ours, keep envisioning a way for these two halves to be made whole again." Colonel Allen wants know what the message meant.

The Kurdistan Workers Party is a Middle Eastern terrorist group that wants the world to end. The members believe that they are the descendants of angels and that they can be returned to heaven with the help of Martin. Martin's research has led him to an extraordinary secret. For Martin, his hope for survival depends on his wife who has a rare psychic gift. Colonel Allen and Julia try to save him using the clues he left in the video for his wife to interpret. The story travels from Spain to New Mexico, Turkey and Washington, D.C.

I was hooked from page 1. There are many more twists and turns in the plot than I have mentioned that keep you reading until the end. The pace is fast and the characters interesting. I wouldn't mind seeing them in another novel. As with his "The Secret Supper" and "The Lady in Blue," Javier Sierra has crafted another terrific religious thriller, which is his chosen genre. He is good at it so if I have to wait 2 or 3 years for each novel, the wait is worth it. show less

This book had almost too much going on, with an extensive glossary in the beginning pages - complete with color photos - that I needed to read beforehand to keep up with the plot. Javier Sierra made a point of mixing fact with fiction in this novel, and the book reads like an extensive 'conspiracy theory.' My husband is much more familiar with many aspects of the plot, and I often asked him if what I was reading about was really true or not. The book opens with a quotation of Genesis 6: 2-3, which states "...the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And the Lord said, 'My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be show more one hundred and twenty years.'" This is followed by a quote from John Dee, who figures prominently in the plot, though I did not find the quote to be especially inspiring.
The main focus of the book is about a group of people who consider themselves descendants of those angels that joined with "the daughters of man," and want to find a way to get back into heaven. They will use any means necessary to accomplish this -- murder, deceit, even putting the whole planet in jeopardy.
The main character, Julia Alvarez, is a psychic who is completely duped by their antics. I understand that the author means for the reader to feel sympathy for the angelic descendants through Julia's narration, but the way that Julia allows herself to be used and deceived by even her own husband disgusts me. She believes whatever they tell her and does not question anything. In fact, anyone that does question this main family is characterized as foolish and forgettable, such as Ellen Watson and Inspector Figueiras.
There was one main problem I had with the plot, which is that in the Bible, the angels that mate with human women are 'fallen' because they disobeyed God, which is never addressed. What is also never addressed is any scriptural substantiation for what they believed about Noah and the ark. They believed they could force God to take them back into heaven with their thrown-together mish-mash of technology. How is that believable? God kicked the angels out - they certainly can't force their way back in! Not to mention, this family does not back up their belief that they are descendants of angels with actual scientific proof, such as DNA tests, even though they all claim to be men (and woman) of science.
Overall, the book twists a blasphemous tale of Biblical scripture, using factual information to support a fictitious plot. It has suspense, intrigue, and even a bit of romance, but the end is neither believable nor enjoyable. While books of this nature became popular thanks to the works of Dan Brown, (yes, I've read his stuff, too), I found this book to be merely an okay read. show less

This is my first read of Javier Sierra. The book has been translated into English from Spanish. I'll admit it is a bit Dan-Brownish, but... This is a bad thing? I say NAY to the nay-sayers that dog any inspired work by a man who clearly "got it right." I'm all for it as long as it isn't a photocopy and this book is an original!

It had all the factual mysterious elements that I like in a novel of this sort. The ah-ha ending was a little lack-luster for me, hence only four stars. The pacing was dicey-but the interest was definitely there..

Now I'm on to his other works!

Book Title: "The Lost Angel”
Author: Javier Sierra
Published By: Atria
Age Recommended: 18+
Reviewed By: Kitty Bullard
Raven Rating: 5

Review: A scathing book about terrorism and the possible end of the world. This book is at once frightening and true. Written with an insightful rendering of the hopes and fears of mankind and leaving you with the burning question… what if… could this truly happen?
A wonderfully dark read with many twists and turns, interesting characters and a sound plot!

American climatologist Martin Faber is kidnapped by a group calling itself the Forces of Popular Defense. The price of his release is immediate withdrawal of all NATO forces within 150 miles of Mount Ararat.

Chapters are divided into segments from each character. Julia Alvarez, Martin's wife, narrates her own actions. This change in point of view is hard to achieve but the author did it successfully.

As action unfolds, there is an attempt on Julia's life and she is rescued by Col. Nicholas Allen, of the Natl Security Agency. He informs her of her husband's kidnapping and tells her he believes Martin left a clue about how to save him in the message he was forced to deliver.

Faber is being held by a group that feels they are the descendents show more of angels and are about to be returned to heaven. To do this, they must destroy the world and need two stones that Martin and Julia have.

These stones have come down from history and enable the possessor to see things. It was thought that the stones were used to communicate with angels.

The premise of the novel is hard to accept. I kept thinking of James Jones and his followers commiting mass suicide in Jonestown.

The author provides an interesting index of churches and places in history to support his premise. In attempt to overcome any doubt, he has the characters discuss the events and in persuading each other, they bring the reader into the discussion.

It didn't convince me, although the author certainly knows how to tell a clever tale. The reader must believe in fantasy to accept the idea of the novel. show less

The story at the beginning is very promising, especially in the synopsis where they promise us an incredible story full of terrorists, legends, mysteries, religion, and a young woman with a rare psychic gift who must find the courage to save her husband, Martin Faber an undercover American scientist, who has been kidnapped.

I must admit that this book caught my attention considerably, and I thought for a moment that I would find a book like The Da Vinci Code, or maybe better! The problem was that after I started reading the book, everything they had previously promised and which had drawn my attention, evaporated slowly and I found a dull and hard to believe story with undeveloped characters.

The story is very fanciful and full of ups and show more downs. Sometimes the reader can find really good scenes and a lot of interesting details, but also too boring and unrealistic descriptions and too sophisticated discussions that are too complicated to be understood by the reader. The characters were too plain and not likable at all, so it wasn't a surprise to find myself skipping pages.

What I really liked about this novel: 1) The Glossary at the end of the book, full of incredible pictures and really good information for those who want to know more about the Javier Sierra's research. 2) It's a book you can read fast enough, the story is told in short chapters, making it more enjoyable and easier to skip pages if we are stuck somewhere. 3) Good story for undemanding readers.

So, what can I say? I was waiting for much more. I didn't enjoy this book at all. The Lost Angel is the first book I read by Javier Sierra, and I'm not sure If I want to read something else written by him, even though I have heard a lot of good comments about his other novels. As always I recommend you to give it a try if you think you will enjoy this book. Maybe you will like it more than I did.

Happy Reading! show less

El ángel perdido
Javier Sierra
Publicado: 2011 | 453 páginas
Novela Intriga

Mientras trabaja en la restauración del Pórtico de la Gloria de Santiago de Compostela, Julia Álvarez recibe una noticia devastadora: su marido ha sido secuestrado en una región montañosa del noreste de Turquía.A partir de ese momento, Julia se verá envuelta sin quererlo en una ambiciosa carrera por controlar dos antiguas piedras que, al parecer, permiten el contacto con entidades sobrenaturales y por las que están interesados desde una misteriosa secta oriental hasta el presidente de los Estados Unidos.Una obra que deja atrás todos los convencionalismos del género, reinventándolo y empujando al lector a una aventura que no olvidará.