The Reapers are the Angels

The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell, Reapers #1

Zombies have infested a fallen America. A young girl named Temple is on the run. Haunted by her past and pursued by a killer, Temple is surrounded by death and danger, hoping to be set free.

For twenty-five years, civilization has survived in meager enclaves, guarded against a plague of the dead. Temple wanders this blighted landscape, keeping to herself and keeping her demons inside her heart. She can't remember a time before the zombies, but she does remember an old man who took her in and the younger brother she cared for until the tragedy that set her on a personal journey toward redemption. Moving back and forth between the insulated remnants of society and the brutal frontier beyond, Temple must decide where ultimately to make a home and find the salvation she seeks.

Apocalyptic stories have always been a type of story that I have been particularly drawn to. And I found that The Reapers are the Angels fits right into that category. The Reapers are the Angels is the first book in the “Reapers” series and is written by Alden Bell, a pseudonym for Joshua Gaylord.

It’s hard to start the review of The Reapers are the Angels because there are so many things still running around in my head. All of it good stuff to be exact.

The first thing that I must say is that there are quite a few zombie stories in modern fiction but I haven’t come across one that is told in the way that The Reapers are the Angels is being narrated. The way that Alden Bell writes the whole story of it is really unique. For starters it really puts you in the place of Temple (the main protagonist) herself and how she is navigating through the fallen America. And even more so is the close relation there is to the world that we know ourselves and makes the impact of the story that much stronger. It just feels like the events in The Reapers are the Angels couldn’t happen to us right now. I really liked the world that was created, on one level it gave me a certain laughs when things went well with Temple, the chills in certain encounters and a heart breaking moment in the end. The Reapers are the Angels is a work of fiction but has a very strong emotional side to it, that makes it an truly unique book to read.

In The Reapers are the Angels you follow the main protagonist Temple, a young girl, who lives on her own in what is left of America filled with zombies. Especially the cover of the book did produce a delicate image of Temple, and the introducing chapters, with her living her own life in the lighthouse only further added to this. Her life starts of “easy” if you can say it, she is doing quite well for her own, but she finds it enough and ventures to the mainland, and from this point on you are readily introduced to the fallen America. This really enlarges the whole scope of the story.  What you also see in Temple once she is on the mainland is her rough and bold side, the first encounters with the slugs (that’s how she calls the zombies), are quite vicious and brutal. Next to this is that Temple is quite young, under the twenty. The world that she knows is normal to her, she has never known the world before it all happens, and how she reflects on several things that happen in the world really add much depth and a certain feeling of compassion to her characters. It’s like you just want to hug her and say everything will be ok, but on the other hand she probably won’t need it.

Though the focus is on Temple for most of the part there are some other characters that are pretty interesting to read about, especially here the relation between them and Temple is nice feat. The first one is Moses Todd. Temple meets up with Moses in one of the safehavens and from this point onwards Temple life changes much. Moses has a certain believe and I think he is actually quite a psychopath, with what he says and what he does. Only convinced that what was done was unfair and he has to exact his own justice/revenge on Temple. His introduction to the story added a great secondary element. Secondly there is Maury, who Temple refers to as dummy since he can’t speak. Though Maury isn’t that stupid. The first few chapters when you read about Maury remain a bit unclear as to how the story of Maury will unfold, but later on it does become clear and Temple helps Maury to get home. What was in particular nice to read about that both Temple and Maury are a bit impaired by one thing or another they are able to find a way to communicate and continue onwards. This really gave an humanly touch to The Reapers are the Angels.

The story of The Reapers are the Angels has a very interesting concept and this is a book that really lets everything come together; the characters, the setting and the storyline. As soon as Temple is on the mainland, she ventures from safehaven to safehaven and in her travels Temple, makes some wise and maybe unwise decisions. In one place Temple makes a powerful enemy which forces her to run for her dear life. This chase next to Temple’s quest, that she later accepts are combined to give a certain sense of panic and fear to the storyline and a great pacing overall. How this all came to pass just comes to show that the America in The Reapers are the Angels is really destroyed and people have different opinions, it feels that sometimes society is hardly there, same as for some morals and ethics of specific people. Overall the storyline is very strong and you get a good feeling of how that version of America should look like. And as the story progresses there are a few twists and turns that really hit me. The ending of the book is on one part pretty sad and left me a bit struck right there. It made me feel sad. However it does give a beautiful ending to The Reapers are the Angels.

The Reapers are the Angels is a recommendation for everyone, even if you’re not totally into the zombie genre, this is still a book that you will quite enjoy. The writing style of Alden bell is just amazing, its rich and really engages you in the book. The whole concept of the book, not turning this into a hack n slash zombie book but highlighting the effects on the nation and how several characters now navigate through it was really done quite nicely and does come to show that this is a versatile genre. The ending of The Reapers are the Angels made me blink away, it was something unexpected but does produce a very nice ending. I can highly recommend this book to anyone, you will be amazed.