Of Love and Evil

Genre: Metaphysical Suspense
Rating: 9.8 out of 10
Buzzword: BITTERSWEET
Theme Song: "The Angels" by Melissa Etheridge
Favorite Quote: "Ah, what broken creatures we are, and how we endure."

Pros:

Stunning prose, meticulously crafted
Beautiful recreation of history, perfectly researched
Excellent main character

Cons:

May be difficult to connect if you don't share the faith
Painfully short!

Summary: Former assassin Toby O'Dare meets his 10-year-old son, Little Toby, and reunites with his mother, Liona. But just as he becomes comfortable back in his own time, he embarks on his second mission for the angel Malchiah. This time it is to Renaissance Rome to the home of Vitale, a Jewish doctor who is haunted by a cruel spirit. When Vitale is suspected of show more poisoning his best friend, a wealthy Gentile, Toby is sent to help him.

Review: What can I say? The prose of this book is Anne at her best. That is to say, pure genius. Each word is in the perfect place, carries the perfect emotion, like the notes of the perfect song.

The story is suspenseful and fast-paced, interspersed with Toby's musings on the nature of the universe, of love and evil, of temptation and salvation. And the character of Toby drives the plot forward at break-neck speed. I fall increasingly in love with him. Certainly he has some of Lestat in him, some of that tendency to fall in love with every person he meets to one extent or another, some of that cultured, reasoned approach to the universe. But where Lestat reveled in his evil deeds only to regret many of them later, Toby is more mature. He has known evil, but is now making every effort to do good. He knows himself, who he was and who he wants to be. He grows up before our eyes.

I could go on and on about the amazing historical imagery in this book. For the same reasons I adored Angel Time and it's discussion of the historical topics closest to my heart, I am infatuated with this book. Anne's research, as always, is spot-on, and her recreation of this period is both accurate to the period and touchingly personal to the characters. So many times we historians wish we could visit historical periods; this is the next best thing.

There is a sadness to this work, a melancholy with a hopeful turn, that I didn't feel in Angel Time so much. It's a rich emotion that is threaded through the work, an old favorite in Anne's novels, one I hope to see more of in upcoming novels. She is in her element, masterfully crafting stories and characters like no one else can.

If there is a fault with this novel, and I hesitate to use that word, it is that some readers may find it difficult to make a connection with Toby at this point in his life. Anne presents Toby's world of angels and God as a given, as if it were truth and needed no explanation. Normally for fantasy or sci-fi, this kind of as-you-go world-building is what I prefer. But when you're dealing with religion, it's a little more complex. My concern is that if you don't share a "Christian-ish" faith, it would be very difficult to empathize with Toby, or even relate to his motives. I didn't experience this personally, but I can certainly imagine it being a problem for some readers.

Don't let that scare you, though. It's certainly my best read in adult fiction since her last work. I highly recommend this to anyone and everyone that loves to read words well-written. show less

Gawd, this book was tedious. I'm afraid it's a perfect example of how Ms. Rice's writing has declined. The whole thing is told with little description and no character development. It was like reading the wikipedia page for the novel.

Another problem was the utter lack of tension or drama. There are no real challenges. There are no real problems. The main character simply shows up, speaks the truth and all troubles are instantly resolved. Just bizarrely boring and at times cryptically mystical. Not recommended.

The NY Times, I believe, described this book as a theological ghost story. It is, and I enjoyed it. The plot held my attention. The concept underlying the premise of this series is intriguing. The historical context invites further study. The theology gets a little too heavy-handed for me from time to time.

Rating: 4 stars

I read Angel Time by Anne Rice and enjoyed it a lot, I love the way she writes. WIth Of Love and Evil I felt she was trying to convince me of something but of what...I didn't get. I like the premise of Toby O'Dare, assassin turned angel helper but was underwhelmed by the book as a whole.

Of Love and Evil is the second novel in The Songs of The Seraphim series written by my favourite author Anne Rice.

In the first novel we met assassin for hire Toby O'Dare when he was given the opportunity to turn his back on evil and use his skills for good by helping the angel Malchiah.

Toby is back and this time Malchiah takes him to fifteenth-century Rome for his next assignment. Toby is answering the prayer of Vitale, a Jewish Physician who is tending a patient and friend who has clearly been poisoned, but by who? Toby must also get to the bottom of a haunting by a dybbuk while not being distracted by his surroundings.

Toby also finds out he has a 10 year old son, and wonders whether he is worthy of his love after all of the lives he show more took in his past as a deadly assassin.

Of Love and Evil was rich in a sense of place and I revelled in the sense of history it conveyed. It can be read as a stand-alone, although for character background it's probably best to read Angel Time first. I hope there's a third in the pipeline soon, but I can't find any news on that front just yet. show less

Well, I think I was expecting more with the second book in this series. It was appealing that Toby made progress with his lost love and now has a kid. It was compelling in how he is trying to keep his past from destroying his future. But I thought she could have done more with the travel in the past part of the story, though meeting up with a possible demon is right up her alley for themes right now.

There is the normal debate of what is good or evil. But it is such a focus now, there isn't much else that seems to be interesting. There were also editing issues within the first few pages, and a general sense there could have been more fleshing out of the story. It seemed a bit unfinished in some places.

Maybe I'm just not happy with the show more way Anne Rice's new books are heading. I miss the old characters and gothic subjects. Angels are appealing in a way, but not as gripping as vampires, witches, and ghosts. show less