So…an angel walks into a bar and cracks wise.
The Angel Bayliss – who has an obsession with Raymond Chandler noir fiction – witnesses the murder of the Archangel Gabriel. Now that there is a job opening, he is given the task to find a nice docile replacement angel. Instead, he winds up with Molly – or as he likes to refer to her, “Flametop”. Molly turns out to be anything but and wastes no time getting into trouble. In addition to being newly dead and adapting to being an angel, it seems that the “powers that be” think she is in possession of a weapon of enormous power – the “Jericho Trumpet”. There are conspiracies within conspiracies.
The story’s point of view flips between Bayliss’ “Chandler-esque” telling of the tale and the more normal “Molly” point of view. The tale takes place in a near future where the satellites have been knocked from the sky, water is at a premium, and the oceans and the planet are essentially dying.
Angel Murder Mystery ala Raymond Chandler.
Highly recommended.
