From Publishers Weekly
Burnham's bestselling nonfiction titles A Book of Angels and Angel Letters and her novel, Revelations , proved there is a craving for inspirational literature in a readership outside the confines of the "religious" audience. Her new novel, which she calls the third and last in her angel cycle, is both a fable/homily about the way to reach God and a polemic against the immoral use of power--both personal and political--to create conflict. It is set in a futuristic world ruled by two garrison states, the U.S. and the Enemy, aka the Eastern Orthodox, where military weapons are the major currency and the Barbarians on the borders are engaged in unceasing wars. When an angel appears in the White House bedroom of President Matthew Adams, the chief executive is almost unhinged. On the one hand, he wants to aspire to higher purpose. Yet he is committed to ingrained beliefs: "People love to make war. It staves off boredom." Eventually, however, Adams is led to understand the power of prayer, and the novel ends with a glorious epiphanic vision. Burnham is a fluent writer who urges an ethic of individual choice and responsibility. If her short narrative will seem simplistic to some, others in need of spiritual sustenance may accept its transcendental message.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Kirkus Reviews
The third and final entry in Burnham's self-proclaimed ``angel cycle'' (A Book of Angels; Angel Letters--not reviewed). More narrative sermon than fully developed novel, it's the story of the spiritual transformation of a President. ``It was on the 695th night of his reign that the President saw the angel. He awoke from a light and fitful sleep to see the form balancing on the end of his bed.'' That rhapsodic opening gives way to a description of an apocalyptic near-future in which the Free World's leader lives in a ``Presidential Palace,'' cynical and burdened by a war that rages ever closer to a Star Wars-like conclusion. At first, the angel terrifies--a flaring column of light, it takes human form and stares at the President with such love and compassion that he feels his whole life thrown into question. He tries to forget the apparition, busying himself with his advisors, particularly bitter workaholic Jim. But the angel reappears and leads the President's gaze out his bedroom window. It then flies out the window and into a park filled with ragged war protestors; there, the angel stops and bows to an especially abject-looking beggar. Haunted by the beggar, the President ponders the meaning of it all. Meanwhile, his advisers--convinced that their leader is losing his grip--plot to depose him. In the course of all this, moreover, a reporter's young daughter also happens to see an angel in the Presidential Palace. In the end, the President makes his peace with the beggar, who, it seems, is another angel. Reconciling with all these celestial beings, he also gains the confidence to make peace with the Russian premier--who has an angel of his own. Burnham says she wrote this in a ``transport of joy.'' Her inspiration is palpable--but her story and characters remain pale images, never taking on real life or force. --
Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
