Author: Mark D. Chevalier

ISBN: 978-1-59526-697-2

       In a modern day world, an angel sent from God showing up in the middle of Chicago would cause much confusion. Imagine the media and police trying to understand a being with wings falling from the Sears Tower, hitting the ground, and running away unscathed. In Azriel The Angel Chronicles, Mark D. Chevalier writes just that very tale. The story is of a thirty year old man, Scott LeClair, realizing that he is the angel Azriel, bringer of death, trapped in a human body for punishment. The story opens with Azriel facing Gabriel in a battle to the death. Azriel flashes back to his thirtieth birthday, the day he realized he was an angel, and all the action leading up to the battle. Chevalier uses an interesting technique of switching from first to third person to show the almost schizophrenic nature of Scott and Azriel trapped in one body. Once Azriel and Scott come to terms with each other, the journey begins.

            Under orders from God, Azriel must seek out and destroy his former best friend, Abaddon, also known as Satan, because the time God had given him to disprove the case against him was up. For conflicting reasons still unknown to both Azriel and the reader, God also sent Gabriel under orders to prevent Azriel from seeing Abaddon. During his journey, Scott falls in love with Elisabeth Hamilton, his psychologist. He does what is forbidden for Angels and impregnates her unknowingly, putting her life in danger. When he goes to obey God and destroy Abaddon, Abaddon seeks Elisabeth out and tells her his story.

            Much like the Satan of  Milton’s Paradise Lost, Abaddon is a sympathetic Devil, who even a prejudiced reader can find no fault with. God had created the Humans at first so they were immortal, but still able to die from sickness or accident, just not of age. But, when they died, their souls just disappeared and never went to heaven. Abaddon found this to be a horror, and decided that God, being perfection, should never have created something imperfect. He tried to plead his case to God, but God just would not listen. Therefore, Abaddon set out to prove to God that the human race was just chaos, and he tried to speed up the process by going back in time and getting Eve to eat the infamous apple. Since then, he has intervened in such times as WWII and the Cuban Missile Crisis in an attempt to keep humans from destroying themselves completely. The one thing he had managed to do was to open heaven for those who died. Most souls, however, choose not to go to heaven due to either unwillingness to believe they are dead or because of unfinished business.

            When Elisabeth hears this tale, she instantly sides and takes protection from Abaddon. The remaining plot is the battle between Abaddon, Azriel, and Gabriel, which concludes in the ultimate choice for Azriel – Keeping the love of Elisabeth and leaving his Master forever to side with Abaddon or loosing Elisabeth but remaining loyal to God.

            In Azriel The Angel Chronicles, Chevalier creates a new perspective of the good versus evil battle, mixing them up until it is unclear which is which. Ultimately, the fetching story carries an anti-war message for all humans, telling us that wars in which we kill each other will ultimately lead us into chaos. The book ends with a choice for the reader to make as well – continue on the barbaric path to chaos that God has lain before us, or abstain from war, and side with the Devil. I would recommend this book to any who enjoy reading thought provoking perspectives on biblical themes.