ECHOES OF ANGELS

Book 1 of the Keeper of Eternity series

by Caitlyn McKenna

Highly Recommended

Super model Julienne Hunter has paid dearly for marrying playboy James Hunter. Not only did he introduce her to the destructive world of cocaine addiction, he has mutilated her face in a fit of rage and ransacked her financially. As Julienne undergoes treatment to cleanse her body of the drug addiction, her estranged husband threatens to hurt her further through blackmail. Julienne's devastation is completed when she discovers that the modeling campaign she believed would help re-establish her career suddenly falls through. But in the midst of these horrific realities an offer of financial help arrives from Virginia, from the family Julienne believed had forgotten her. The Blackthornes want her to return to their Virginia estate -the very home Julienne's mother had run away from when Julienne was but a little girl.

Grandmother Anlese is anything but the monster made out to be by Julienne's mother. But the estate's true ruler is Julienne's cousin, Morgan Saint-Evanston, a man with an aura of corruption and indifference that lords over everything and everyone he touches. While Julienne rebuilds the relationship with Grandmother Anlese she realizes that Morgan's flaws are only the surface distinctions of a dark and unworldly character. On Samhain night Julienne is unwittingly baptised fully into Morgan's brutal agenda..an agenda that has used and thrived on the ancient sacred magickal traditions of Julienne's ancestors.

Author Caitlyn McKenna's writing in Echoes of Angels is exceptionally beautiful and descriptive. The dialog is imbued with notable realism, and the fantasical theme here is enhanced with artful twists on traditonal romance. Morgan Saint-Evanston is a multi-dimensional being with an evolving soul torn between the mercenary immoralities of his alien nature and the few but tempting pleasures and virtues of humanity he has found in the earthly plane. As powerful as he might be in the mortal state, his fate throughout the ages is not entirely his own. Immortal reckoning awaits him and any mortal who might be unwise enough to care for him. And despite her wariness of all men and in particular this despicable user of the Blackthornes, Julienne finds herself attracted to Morgan. Her struggle to resist her human desires and Morgan's battle between his innate character and evolving soul make for a fascinating drama. Society's antagonisms against pagan witchcraft as practiced by the Blackthorne family have been well used by author McKenna to portray the inhumanities familiar in our own world. She also examines the delicate balances of human relationships as demonstrated by those Morgan has been involved with throughout his associations on earth. The impetuses for Julienne's self-centeredness and insecurities are examined, too -her unbalanced mother, the unhealthy relationship with James Hunter, the sense of unattractiveness left from her disfigurement- all things which have created this very multi-faceted woman. As strange as the situation is in the Blackthorne estate, the complex and contradicting personalities of Morgan and Julienne are convincing, the sexual tension between the two deliciously pursued. When at last Morgan must face the penalties of his past we are thrust along with Julienne into a dimension of pervading evil, where her only salvation lies in Morgan's ability to disguise his affection under the aura of amorality honed for generations.

A fantasy novel of exceptional quality, Echoes of Angels is a mesmerizing story of love, magick and redeeming humanity. I look forward to reading the next installment to the Keeper of Eternity tale!

Reviewed by Maria Osborne Perry September 1, 2002

September 1, 2002