Review: An Occupation of Angels by Lavie Tidhar

Apex Book Company, 2010
ISBN: 978-0984553532
Available: Trade paperback and multiformat digital

Fast-paced and stylistically intense, An Occupation of Angels is pseudo-paranormal spy story set in a world where angels came to Earth, ending World War II. Killarney is a secret agent first assigned to assassinate an archangel, and then tasked with discovering who’s really behind the systematic slaying of the angels of the world. Could it be Nazis?

Tidhar’s style is urgent and wickedly ironic. There are a lot of spy stories with Nazi conspiracies, but this one is different from others that can be summed up in a similar way. Readers will wonder if Killarney herself is something different too, as they travel through her head in this world-spanning short novel. An Occupation of Angels is a great, vivid story perfect for libraries looking for something unique. It won’t be up every reader’s alley, but it’s a standout example of fantasy fiction.
Contains: violence