Where Angels Fear to Tread

Remy Chandler, private investigator and seraphim, is still in a rut from the death of his wife, fighting both depression and his angelic nature that flares more strongly with his loneliness. Even his friend is beginning to worry about him – and not much worries the veteran cop.

He also has a new case – a man has run off with his daughter without the mother’s consent, and she is desperately worried for her child. More, this child, Zoe, seems capable of seeing the impossible including both the future and Remy’s true nature.

She has a power inside of her, a power that isn’t meant for humanity but is highly desired. Remy is faced with the challenged of finding the child with what erstwhile allies he can gather, while both the show more soul-consuming seductress Delilah (yes, of Samson and Delilah) and the long weakened god Dagon both seek the same prize for their own reasons – and that doesn’t include the welfare of the child.

I’ve said before that there’s a lot of research that goes into this series and it really does show. It has a very rich, wide and broad world with a lot of weight to it. Everything is solid, non-contradictory and holds up well and still brings in a vast amount of information and different legends. The introduction of Samson and Delilah was nicely done with their lives after the Biblical legend. It was another level of richness and depth to this world.

It’s also interesting to see the depiction of deity – because it does seem to be the ultimate personification of a righteous – but incredibly harsh and unforgiving god. After all, the plot here revolves so much around Delilah trying to escape her excessively cruel punishment. I am curious where this is going to go – because it does fit very well with what we’ve seen of Remy’s Seraphim side and the other angels. Just, right, powerful, determined to fight evil – and utterly lacking in any kind of mercy, compassion or empathy. Yet, at the same time, the scene with the reclaimers suggests the powers that be have at least some level of compassion. I’m curious and I definitely want to see more and how it fits.

In fact, the world has been expanded generally here with the introduction of other deities (albeit ones under god), other powers and a suggestion that there is a lot more out there beyond the Judeo-Christian style divinity we’ve seen so far. I always like to see a world developing and growing.

Remy Chandler is a complicated character – his angelic nature constantly pushes at him, all the more as weird cases are drawn to him. He is still very much grieving for his dead wife which, in turn, makes his angelic nature – and it’s uncompromising, vengeful attitude – far harder to resist and hold down. He has some strong friendships, but even with them the hole in his life is palpable He is a very rounded and powerful character.

Pacing wise, this book is much better than previous books. We have many different points of view as we can see different people focus in on Zoe and what she has, from Delilah to Dagon to her father to Remy. The multiple plot lines are spaced out and do come together well, none of them drag too long and we’re not bogged down in too much extraneous knowledge, red herrings or unnecessary side tracks. I found the writing much tighter and much more exciting than the previous 2 books. There is still some issues with over-description, I think, especially in fight scenes that can drain some of the sense of movement and action out of the depiction, but otherwise it fits nicely and it wasn’t nearly as frustrating as I’ve found in the past.

The story itself wasn’t unpredictable, but there were enough interesting and fascinating elements – and so many different actors all with their own motivations, their own methods and their own slant on things to make it original and interesting. The destination was something we’ve seen before, but the journey had lots of interesting and new things along the way.

This book does have a very large cast of characters and, sadly, like the previous books it is extremely erased. Everyone was straight and the only POC were in minor roles – and 2 out of 3 of them ended up dead. That was about it, it was pretty depressing.

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Not as good as the previous two in the series (or the fourth, for that matter). Somehow I missed this one and had to backtrack and read it after reading the forth in the series. It was a quick read, but I found myself kinda bored and sort of skimmed through parts of it. And the climactic battle scene features... (wait for it)... zombies. Really? Zombies? Must everyone jump on that undead bandwagon? But you've gotta love that black lab, Marlowe.

Third in the series featuring ex-Seraphim angel Remiel, currently residing on Earth as Private Eye Remy Chandler. This story followed the kidnapping of a 6-year old girl named Zoe York, who draws pictures of future events. And Zoe's mother has found a picture of an angel who rescues her, along with Remy's name and address. There were a couple of fun things about this book, including Samson as a virtual eternal being still in love with yet wanting revenge on Delilah. (Who knew Samson had such a foul mouth?) And of course Remy's faithful dog Marlowe, who is the only dog in the world who can actually communicate with his owner. I just love that dog, and luckily he has a lot of scenes in this book. Enjoyable book with just the right mix of show more action, character development, and storyline. I'll look forward to the next. show less

The third book in a wonderful series, Where Angels Fear to Tread has a mother hiring our detective-angel to locate her child, who has been kidnapped by her father. Remy is drawn into the case when the mother shows him a picture the child drew of him and Marlowe -- though she has never met him. Remy quickly discovers that he is once again wrapped up in a supernatural mystery involving historic characters.

If you have not read the Remy Chandler novels by Thomas Sniegoski, you are in for a treat. They are dark and gritty detective tales with a difference: the detective, Remy Chandler, is a Seraphim, a warrior angel who left heaven in search of his own humanity. Remy's angelic nature (and his wings!) are firmly held in check, until show more occasionally required - generally in battle. One delightful side benefit of an angelic nature is that Remy can speak every language on earth, including that of animals. He has great conversations with Marlowe, his black lab, and occasional (snobby) cats that he comes across. Remy's relationship with Marlowe is well done, and touching, as is his relationship with his best friend, Steven, a policeman. show less

I'm not sure I really get the point of this book. There was sort of a running plot (rescue kidnapped girl) but a lot of asides with peripheral characters, unnecessary deviations to show how bad the bad guys really were, unnecessary introductions of new characters. It's as though having Lucifer as a plot point in the previous book meant this villain had to be soooooo bad to compete with that. I get it. Delilah's a bad guy. She does terrible things and can control everybody around her. Can we move on, please? And really, telling someone they can't eat or drink until they accomplish a mission is a good way to not get that mission accomplished. Wouldn't Delilah know this after a millennium?

Plot points disappeared entirely (what happened to show more the little boy? or the old priest? did all Samson's kids die? why was Samson still alive? if God lost a piece of himself why would angels have to follow a succubus to find it--wouldn't they just know where it was?), and other things were harped on with no follow-through (lots with Francis, lots with uncertainty in hell, lots with the waitress). Even the dog, Marlowe, wasn't enough to save this one. Also, what's so wrong with wanting to mourn a dead spouse for more than six months? Particularly if you were married for 50 years!

This book just needed another round of revisions. Unfortunate, as it could have been an interesting story if it had just been tighter. (I'm convinced the entire book was written so there could be zombies. Just sayin'.) show less

This is the third book in the Remy Chandler series; the most recent information that I can find says Sniegoski was contracted for four books in this series. This book was a great addition to the series.

Remy gets contacted to work a missing child case; only this missing child is drawing prophetic pictures in crayon and is more than she seems. Deliliah, cursed to forever live without love, is also looking for the child. Samson gets pulled into the mess in an attempt to help Remy fight Deliliah, as he has been tasked by God to destroy her. Drawn into the mess is also an ancient god Dagon, who is trying to use the child to be reborn.

There are some interesting characters in this book but they aren't necessarily the strong point of the story. show more What really distinguishes this book (as well as the first two) from others in the genre is the tight plot and great action scenes. Sniegoski does an excellent job of weaving a tight and engaging mystery/plot that doesn't waste space. Remy always has a clear goal and follows a logical path to get there. I just love that there is no rambling in these books or any sense of Sniegoski not knowing what he wants the characters to do.

Those who were hoping that this book would expand on the changes that happened in Hell in book 2 may be disappointed. Though the reformed Hell is mentioned in passing, it is not a focal point of this story. In fact this book could be read without reading the first two (although you would be missing some of Remy's background); in general it is a very contained story.

This books are also starting to get a bit formulaic for me. They always start with Remy getting a case, they always end with Remy having to yield to his angelic nature in order to save humanity from destruction. I am not saying this is bad; in general the books in this series have been quick, fun reads that are well written and enjoyable.

Overall I thought this was another solid addition to the Remy Chandler series. I was a little disappointed that the main story arc involving the reformation of Hell wasn't dealt with much; in fact many of the side characters from previous book were missing. Still, it was an entertaining read. I enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next book in this series. show less

An angel is on the search for a missing 6 yo girl that is drawing prophetic pictures including on that shows an angel that rescues her