Archangel Protocol (Paperback)

by Lyda Morehouse (Author) "My hairline itched where the dead receiver lay just under the skin..." (more)
Key Phrases: holographic armor, traffic tubes, credit counter, New York, Jordan Institute, Second Coming (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
First the LINK-an interactive, implanted computer-transformed society. Then came the angels-cybernetic manifestations that claimed to be working God's will...

But former cop Deidre McMannus has had her LINK implant removed-for a crime she didn't commit. And she has never believed in the angels.

All that will change when a man named Michael appears at her door.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Roc (May 8, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451458273
• ISBN-13: 978-0451458278
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #133,744 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You will not want this book to end., June 6, 2001

By	Mfitz... "Mfitz..." (Cincinnati, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

If for some unfathomable reason William Gibson and Andrew Greeley co-wrote a book and took a few plot suggestions from Nora Roberts, that book might have turned out like Archangel Protocol. There is a dark dis-utopian future. Government is a Theocracy. Citizenship is controlled by access to a cyber world called the Link. The Link may be haunted by Angels. The hero is an excommunicated Irish Catholic Cop with good soul and lost faith. There are a whole flock of ethnically diverse Angels who use multiple and revolving pronouns when they talk about God. To top everything off there is a nice romantic subplot.

None of this should work together, but it does. Wonderfully. Morehouse has woven all these elements with a deft hand. This is a novel where the action never stops, but at the same time she has characters who are more than cardboard and even tosses in some ideas for you to think about.

As I neared the end of the book I found my self in the reader's dilemma of wanting to read slowly so it would last longer and at the same time unable to slow down because I wanted to see how it was going to end. I definitely am putting Morehouse on my list of authors to watch for.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Lost Sleep to Finish This Book, December 17, 2002

By	Sires (It's a Toss Up Right Now) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

It's been a long time since a book has kept me up half the night, but Archangel Protocol succeeded. It is an intriguing mix of religion and technology. In this post-apocalyptic world, the end of the old order came with the Medusa bomb. The effects of this bomb were so horrific that the nations turned against secular humanism, preceived as the philosophy that allowed this science to flourish. The new governments required that each person have a declared established religion in order to be a citizen and to be connected to the commerce and information web of the LINK. One of the harshest punishments is to be deprived of this connection, which is implanted at birth (if the individual is born under comfortable circumstances). The have-nots in this case are a combination of dissenters, criminals and the desperately poor.

Deirdre, the viewpoint character, was a police officer. Now she is an excommunicate private detective eking out a bare existence doing work for barter. The story is told in first person so the reader begins as cut off from information about the current state of the culture as Deirdre is. As the story unfolds, Deirdre meets a cop named Michael who asks her to become involved in a risky investigation.

Deirdre already has her own risky connections though with the leader of a Jewish terrorist cell and Mouse, the owner of mouse.net, an illicit version of LINK that is available to the disenfrancised. Mouse is also the programmer of Page, an Artificial Intelligence that is one of the two recognized as closest to humanity. Page operates as Mouse's presense online hence the name-- as in Home Page.

Sly humor, fast paced action and the ability to convey suspence make this book one of the best reads I've had in Science Fiction this year.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the price of admission, August 30, 2002

By	Kelly McCullough (Western Wisconsin United States) - See all my reviews

Archangel Protocol is a fast fun read. CyberPunk with a sense of humor, the book starts when detective Deidre McMannus is asked to take a new case. Her prospective client has the name of an angel, looks to die for, and a profession that makes Deidre very nervous. He's a cop. A former officer herself, Deidre hasn't had the best relations with her fellows since a scandal involving her partner cost her her badge, her faith, and her access to the LINK -- the computer system that runs the world. Since a person can't even buy a cup of coffee legally without the LINK, she's been living on the fringes of the law ever since. Now, maybe, just maybe she has a chance to get some of her own back. A world divided into theocracies, a murdered Pope, and a senator who seems to be God's own choice for the next U.S. president add spice to the mix. Pick up a copy, put up your feet, and settle in for a good story.