Book Review: Flaming Dove by Daniel Arenson

Flaming Dove
Author: Daniel Arenson
Release Date: August 19th, 2010

Outcast from Hell. Banished from Heaven. Lost on Earth.

The battle of Armageddon was finally fought... and ended with no clear victor. Upon the mountain, the armies of Hell and Heaven beat each other into a bloody, uneasy standstill, leaving the Earth in ruins. Armageddon should have ended with Heaven winning, ushering in an era of peace. That's what the prophecies said. Instead, the two armies--one of angels, one of demons--hunker down in the scorched planet, lick their wounds, and gear up for a prolonged war with no end in sight.

In this chaos of warring armies and ruined landscapes, Laila doesn't want to take sides. Her mother was an angel, her father a demon; she is outcast from both camps. And yet both armies need her, for with her mixed blood, Laila can become the ultimate spy... or ultimate soldier. As the armies of Heaven and Hell pursue her, Laila's only war is within her heart--a struggle between her demonic and heavenly blood.

The Armageddon has taken place, and now angels and demons are fighting for the Earth.

In the middle of this fight is Laila, the half angel, half demon. Her only place to live is Earth, since the light at Heaven or the hellfire at Hell would burn her. 

Laila was an intriguing character. Since the begging of her story, we know she isn't interested in this war. It doesn't matter to her who wins, since she would still die. She only cares for her wolf, and drinking. But when she discover she may have a future after this war, she decides it's time for her to take her rightful place.

Besides Laila, the other characters were also interesting. They were all angels or demons, but it was difficult to think of them only as good or bad. For example, Michael, the good archangel, likes to lie. And Beelzebud, Michael's brother and the ruler of Hell, can be kind and charming when he wants. As if it wasn't difficult to fight your own family, love is also present, mixing things more, specially when the characters fall for someone at the wrong side.

Personally, I wasn't immediately caught in the story. The first chapters were slow, only trying to explain the war and Laila's life. But as the story unfold, I found myself wanting to know more about the characters and wondering how was this story going to end. It wasn't a light reading, and it took me more time to read it than normally because sometimes I stopped, and continued after a couple of hours.

Overall, I liked the story even when it wasn't the page turner - fast-paced book I prefer. I recommend it if you're interested in the fight between good and bad, angels and demons.

More about this book at www.danielarenson.com, Goodreads, Amazon.

P.S. I really liked the cover. It was made by Timothy Lantz. You can see the original artwork here.

Tomorrow I'm going to post an interview with the author and a little gift for you!!