An Occupation of Angels by Lavie Tidhar
(0 9538598 6 X; 90pp; £4.99 pbk)

In 1945, the Archangels materialised over the battlefields of Europe, ushering in a new Cold War. Fifty years later, they are being killed off... one by one.

But who - or what - can kill an angel?

Killarney is a shadow executive for the Bureau, British Intelligence's most secret organisation: so secret it doesn't even officially exist. She is the best - and she always works alone. Sent on a desperate mission to locate a missing cryptographer who may prove the key to the murders, Killarney finds herself running for her life, from London to Paris to Moscow, leading to a confrontation with a very human evil in the frozen wastelands of Novosibirsk.

Plagued by dreams of a different world, and haunted by a swastika adorned with angel wings, it ould take all of Killarney's resources to survive, when heaven itself may be threatened, and God herself may be walking the earth...

With an introduction from Liz Williams, An Occupation of Angels is a taut, high-octane thriller in the tradition of Adam Hall's Quiller novels, and a meditation on God and religion that echoes both Philip Pullman's Northern Lights and Tim Powers' Declare. This first novella from the winner of the Clarke-Bradbury Prize is a hallucinatory trip that is guaranteed to get you high... as high as angels.

Cover design & illustration by Ben Baldwin

 

"A novella of blistering, ballistic energy and ferocious cleverness. A nonstop fantasy spy adventure of the kind that John le Carré might write, if he ingested a few strange, strong drugs first. Fans of Tim Powers should love this. Fans of high-class supernatural action drama should love this. Fans of ballsy, gun-toting heroines should love this. In fact, everyone should love this."
James Lovegrove

"Fast moving, powerfully phantasmagoric fantasy; a gorgeous mutant cross between James Bond, Constantine and Rilke. Sharp, witty, violent and liable to haunt your dreams. Don't say you weren't warned..." Adam Roberts

"The Cold War has suddenly become cool" Jay Caselberg

"Lavie Tidhar's novella is like a coiled sprinter launching himself at the B of BANG. The pace is relentless, the tension continually ramped. A blackly humorous amalgam of subtle SF invention and flat out thrills with a hard-boiled wiseass hero. Great fun." Conrad Williams

"Sharp, brutal, cool - yet also stunningly imaginative and perfectly realised. This is the most compelling thing I've read in a long time: the only bad thing was that it had to end."
Michael Marshall Smith

Reviews

"It is all entertaining stuff, and suggests that God and Satan might really want to be more careful before tangling with those devious humans." Cheryl Morgan, Emerald City

"This emotionally gripping, fast-paced novella is hard to put down." Mari Adkins, Apex

"A impressive novella by Lavie Tidhar... an author whose fine reputation is growing rapidly." John Berlyne, SFRevu

"Tidhar is a rising star in the British fantasy and SF scene and this dark thriller gives ample demonstration of why." Patrick Hudson, The Zone

"It sparkles with the odd touch of brilliance." Guy Haley, SFX

"Lavie Tidhar here has proven that he gets the ideas, the good ones, the ones that mean he has a chance of having a long career as an author. Now to see if he has the career this promise suggests." Steve Mazey, Eternal Night

"... the best homage to [Adam] Hall and [Tim] Powers one could possibly want."
William D Gagliani, Chizine

"... a master-class in pulp fiction; the pace is break-neck... a lovably comforting and hokey espionage fantasy, [with] some wonderful literary experiments." Neil Ayres, www.laurahird.com

"A violent, exhilirating spy thriller/fantasy held together by the skin of its teeth by a talented new writer." Ellen Datlow, Year's Best Fantasy & Horror (Honourable Mention)