Angel Burn [Hardcover]

L.A. Weatherly (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 24, 2011 | Series: Angel

Willow knows she’s different from other girls, and not just because she loves tinkering with cars. Willow has a gift. She can look into the future and know people’s dreams and hopes, their sorrows and regrets, just by touching them. She has no idea where this power comes from. But the assassin, Alex, does. Gorgeous, mysterious Alex knows more about Willow than Willow herself. He knows that her powers link to dark and dangerous forces, and that he’s one of the few humans left who can fight them. When Alex finds himself falling in love with his sworn enemy, he discovers that nothing is as it seems, least of all good and evil. In the first book in an action-packed, romantic trilogy, L..A. Weatherly sends readers on a thrill-ride of a road trip - and depicts the human race at the brink of a future as catastrophic as it is deceptively beautiful.

They’re out for your soul . . . and they don’t have heaven in mind.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Weatherly (Child X) launches a supernatural YA trilogy with a terrific, action-packed romantic thriller. Sixteen-year-old Willow is a gifted mechanic and psychic living in upstate New York. When she does a reading for her classmate Beth, who is planning on joining the cultlike Church of Angels, Willow becomes scared; Beth thinks she's been blessed by an angel, but Willow sees that the "angel" feeds on humans' life force, poisoning bodies and damaging minds while leaving the victim euphoric. At 17, Alex has been an angel assassin for years, but when he receives orders to kill Willow, he's confused--she's not his typical target, and he's suspicious about why she's been marked for death. Looking for answers, Alex rescues Willow and takes her on the run, trying to foil the angels' plans before all of humanity is lost. Weatherly's plot and writing are first-rate, adrenaline- fueled while still taking the time to thoughtfully develop the characters and build the romance. This elevated twist on the angel genre deserves to be spread far and wide. Ages 14-up. -- Publisher's Weekly - Starred Review

Weatherly's dark paranormal romance, the first in a trilogy, distinguishes itself by taking the already-saturated angel market in a new direction. Angels aren't benevolent guardians or Gods messengers; they are interdimensional beings that feed on energy, and with their world dying, humans are their best source. Though people who've been visited by an angel believe they've had a transcendent experience, they've really been drained of life; those with angel burn develop serious illnesses before an untimely death. Alex is a trained Angel Killer sent to assassinate Willow, a psychic unaware that she is half angel, but when he learns that Willow might have the power to stop the Invasion, he takes her on the run. Alex and Willow are equally distinctive characters - one driven and grim; one compassionate but headstrong - and the slow progression of their relationship is believable. Their intense romance eventually draws too much focus away from the more exciting angel takeover, but when on point, this is a thrilling, action-packed story with insidious villains and a disturbing conclusion. -- Booklist

A beautiful blond half-angel and the dark, handsome assassin sent to kill her fall in love in this fast-paced thriller romance, the first installment of a series first published in Britain (the sequel, Angel Fire, is due out in December 2011). Due to an energy crisis, the ethereal sphere is dying and angels are crossing over to feed off humans, who are too bedazzled to connect visits from heavenly beings with growing mental/physical illness, aka angel burn. Alex, raised to be an AK (angel killer), is one of the few to realize the danger. When he tracks down his assigned target, he is surprised to discover she's only half-angel and that the Church of Angels cult wants her dead. Willow is just as surprised. She thought the only reason she was considered "Queen Weird" at school was because she was psychic and a whiz car mechanic. The two go on the run and eventually become involved in a plan to save the world from a Second Wave of angelic invasion. The story is told alternately via Willow's voice and a third-person account that provides the perspective of Alex and others. It's worth noting that the secondary but substantial falling-in-love plotline is quite chaste (they don't kiss until three-quarters of the way through the book). Perfect for the Twilight crowd. -- Kirkus Reviews

Angels are not, in fact, benevolent, divine creatures but parasitic energy fiends who feed off of humans' psychic auras, leaving people's bodies broken and their minds warped enough to believe that the vampiric creatures were actually helping them in their time of need. Alex has known about this since he was five years old, when his mother's unnatural death spurred his CIA-trained father to form an angel-killing organization. Willow, on the other hand, knows absolutely nothing of any of this until her psychic abilities reveal her to be half angel.

Although Alex has been sent to kill Willow, he soon realizes something else is going on, particularly when it becomes clear that the angels are hell-bent on destroying her as well. It turns out that Willow might be the weapon needed to eradicate the angels for good, but no one seems to know how and when that will go down. The angelic twist on soul-sucking creatures is certainly an entertaining one, but it is the hard-won romance between the two immensely likeable protagonists that will have readers following Alex and Willow as they attempt to flee the angels on a cross-country road trip. Alex somehow manages to be alluring in both his broody angst and his wry humor, while Willow is adorably spunky but appropriately vulnerable; the teasing development of their relationship is patient and unhurried, based upon shared experiences and pain as opposed to the convenience of fate. There is also plenty of action, and the culminating scene features an epic battle of divine proportions, although the resolution leaves room for future installments. Readers who like their romances slow and steady and their heroes real--even as they battle otherworldly forces--will find Willow and Alex just to their liking. -- Bulletin for the Center of Children's Books

About the Author

L. A. Weatherly is the author of several books for young adults, including Child X. About Angel Burn, she says, "I've known Alex for a long time. He first came to me as a character almost twenty years ago, when he was a thief in a fantasy setting - an expert with knives rather than guns. Nothing came of that particular novel, but Alex always stayed with me. He refused to go away, in fact! And over the years, I began to wonder about redoing his story completely and placing him in a contemporary setting." L. A. Weatherly was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, and now lives in England.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick (May 24, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763656526
• ISBN-13: 978-0763656522
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 1.4 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (110 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #465,183 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Am I Allowed to Scream? August 30, 2011

By Kristen Ahrens

Format:Hardcover

This book had so much potential, it just makes me crazy.

Excellent characterization. Delightfully original plot. Tight pacing. And a fake, shallow romance that brought it all crashing down.

Willow and Alex were such facinating protagonists, but the author completely wasted her brilliant characterization work. Did Alex fall for Willow's quirky, generous, and loyal personality? Did she fall for his mature, experienced outlook on life?

No. From Square One, it was, "He's gorgeous/She's beautiful."

I really should be used to this by now, but coming from this book, it was such a letdown. Just once, couldn't we have a YA romance between normal-looking characters, a romance that blossoms slowly and naturally from their appreciation of one another's inner qualities? What would be so terrible about this?

Also, the scene in which they expressed their feelings for one another was unbearable. To watch helplessly as Mrs. Weatherly slowly and thoroughly undermined all the careful characterization she had built up... ugh. Not only was it incredibly cheesy, appearance-centered, and boring (rehashing every stage of their journey and how their feelings developed), but it just went on too long. As another author puts it, "The more the words, the less the meaning, and what does that benefit anyone?"

Overall, I wish I could rate the elements of this book seperately, but in the end I'm left with a disheartened three stars. Despite all the wonderful elements I've already mentioned, this book was painful for me to read. As an aspiring writer who struggles with characterization and with original plots, to see such a unique premise and such amazing protagonists be knocked into the mud, kicked, and spit on by such a pathetic romance was agonizing.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An incredibly inventive and immensely entertaining read May 24, 2011

By Fiktshun

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

What if angels weren't the benevolent beings depicted on the domed ceilings of churches? What if they weren't even the fierce warrior heroes of so many stories?

What if instead they were beings who took pleasure feeding off the life force of humans - more vampiric than angelic in nature? What if they were the cause of cancer. Heart attacks. Pain. Death. And all for what? For their survival and pleasure.

And, what if their feeding off your life force made you feel admiration for them and left you in awe and indebted to them for their graciousness?

What if they made you desire the very thing that was killing you?

Would you erect churches in their honor? Hunt down their enemies just for the privilege of being near them to be fed on like cattle? You would. Because to feel angel burn is to know bliss.

***

Angel Burn is an incredibly inventive and immensely entertaining thrill-ride of a read that will suck you right up into the action, starting off with an explosive prologue that will completely alter every preconceived notion about angels you have held.

Alex Kylar is a killer. A hired assassin. It's his sole purpose in life to find and kill angels before they destroy the entire human population with their angel burn. Isolated and alone, he receives his orders by text and executes them flawlessly.

But when Alex meets Willow he begins to question everything he believes in and learns that although he may have wanted to give up on love, his heart says otherwise.

Angel Burn is the story of two people who must come together to fight against a common enemy and save humanity from an unimaginably dismal future.

Angel Burn moves with such fluidity as you are carried through the story, which alternates between Willow's perspective, told in the first person, and Alex's perspective, which is in third person. The characters journey is filled with moments that are both beautiful and torturous.

This story is a must read for anyone looking for a very different take on the angel theme, and a story filled with adventure and true love.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars !!!!!!!!!!!!READ BEFORE BUYING THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!! October 5, 2011

By Aggie

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I bought "Angel" and "Angel Burn" thinking that they are first and second book in the trilogy. Boy, I was mistaken. It's one and the same book! It just got published under two different titles in US ans UK. I didn't realized it and was very dissapointing because of that.

All in all, it's a good book. Different point of view when it comes to the angels. Interesting.