Book: The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels
Author: Janice Hallett
Pages: 432
Read: The paperback edition (pictured above)
Read in: ~6 hours
Plot Summary:
Open the safe deposit box. Inside you will find research material for a true crime book. You must read the documents, then make a decision. Will you destroy them? Or will you take them to the police?
Everyone knows the sad story of the Alperton Angels: the cult who brainwashed a teenage girl and convinced her that her newborn baby was the anti-Christ. Believing they had a divine mission to kill the infant, they were only stopped when the girl came to her senses and called the police. The Angels committed suicide rather than stand trial, while mother and baby disappeared into the care system.
Nearly two decades later, true-crime author Amanda Bailey is writing a book on the Angels. The Alperton baby has turned eighteen and can finally be interviewed; if Amanda can find them, it will be the true-crime scoop of the year, and will save her flagging career. But rival author Oliver Menzies is just as smart, better connected, and is also on the baby's trail.
As Amanda and Oliver are forced to collaborate, they realise that what everyone thinks they know about the Angels is wrong. The truth is something much darker and stranger than they'd ever imagined. And the story of the Alperton Angels is far from over..
After all, the devil is in the detail...
Things I Liked:
1. I have really enjoyed Janice Hallett's The Appeal and even though I had mixed feelings about The Twyford Code, she is an author whose books I look forward to! So, when I saw this book at the Crossword Store (haul linked here), I simply had to pick it up! Plus, it helped that the premise was so interesting! A cult of people, who believed they were angels and were about to sacrifice a baby that they believed to be the Anti-Christ. What is not to love?!
2. This book, like the two previous ones by Hallett, are written in a sort-of epistolary style. The story unfolds via interview transcripts, WhatsApp chats, emails, news articles, text messages and such. However, this does not, at all, get in the way of the flow of the narrative- past and present- as well as getting to know the characters for who they were. So, overall, the author's style of presenting the story via these channels makes the book a real page turner.
3. The characters were interesting and well-developed. The epistolary style manages to bring the key characters to life really well.
We have Gabriel Angelis- the leader of the cult, who believed he was an Archangel and here on earth to end the Anti-Christ. We see him for the kind of charismatic, possibly con-man, that he is.
Then, we have Amanda Bailey- our true crime author, who is working on the book about this cult- who is very, very grey. There are plenty of admirable things about Amanda but she is not the most scrupulous person there is and as you go through the book, you'll get to witness all of her kosher and not-so-kosher actions and decisions.
Oliver, the other author, also working on the same case, is another interesting character. Insensitive, entitled and foolish. An interesting contrast of sorts to Amanda.
Ellie, the transcriber and PhD student, who is, easily, the most likeable character of the lot. We get to know her through her notes as she transcribes Amanda's interviews and WhatsApp chats and, like I said, we do get a sense of her as a person nonetheless.
4. The book is fast-paced, well written and incredibly interesting! Was Gabriel really an Archangel? Was the baby possibly evil? Is there an element of supernatural to the events of that fateful night in 2003? Or was it something else all together? As the true events of that night are uncovered, we learn the truth and that is very nicely done!
Rating: 5/5
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