Peter's Angel

by Aubrey Hansen, Rachel Newhouse

In the wake of a lost War for Independence, Peter Jameson, a young colonel, struggles to protect his tiny patriot state of Rhode Island from the oppression of New Britain, the wealthy British duchy. When New Britain invades and attempts to seize Rhode Island’s newly-discovered mine, Peter finds himself leading his small cavalry against the massive British army. But war becomes the least of his worries when his own men kidnap him and hold him for ransom. Facing certain death, Peter is freed by a mysterious boy who vanishes without leaving his name. Indebted, Peter determines to find his "angel" and reward him. But his rescuer has a secret of his own—he is the exiled rightful heir of New Britain, and he will do anything to keep from being found.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Alternate History, Young Adult, Christian Fiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 2012

About the author

Aubrey Hansen is the retired penname of Rachel Newhouse.

‘Sup! Thanks for reading my books. My name is Rachel Newhouse (previously published under the penname Aubrey Hansen), and I’m an author, editor, housecleaner, and secretary from Kansas City, Missouri. I love sci-fi, dystopia, and kid lit. In addition to the Red Rain series, my first easy reader, Mack Moves House, is now available. I also help other indie authors succeed through my editing and book design business, elfinpen designs. When I’m not writing, I spend most of my time hanging out with my Sunday school class, growing peppers that are too spicy to eat, cooking Asian food, or watching age-inappropriate shows like My Little Pony and Gravity Falls with my husband, Joe.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Age Appropriate For: 12 and up for some violence
Best for Ages: 15 to 25

Well, this was my first historical fantasy (a what-if genre, in this case what if the British had won the American Revolution) and it will probably be my last. Hansen has a lot of talent. Her style shines as it did in one of my all-time favorite books, Red Rain. However, I found as a lover of history, this genre just isn’t my cup of tea.

The first third of this book was a bit hard to get into and seemed to drag. I really didn’t feel connected to any of the characters. It wasn’t until tragedy struck the characters of both Edwin and Nathan that I really got into the book.

Peter was my least favorite of the whole cast. He was a nice guy, and I found a lot of admirable qualities about him. However, I just never felt connected with him. After he was kidnapped, he is so embarrassed and keeps acting as if everyone will turn on him because he was so stupid as to get kidnapped. I really wanted to slap him and then yell that the people who would blame him for being kidnapped were not the type of people you want to listen to.

Edwin’s story was the most heart-breaking one and the one I most enjoyed. His love for his family, his faith, and his determination were all believable. Nathan also tugged at my heart, especially toward the end of the book.

The hardest thing about this book is that it leaves you hanging, and the second book hasn’t been released, nor does the author seem to have a release date set. I would hesitate to recommend anyone to get into this series until we are sure the author plans to complete the trilogy.

I recommend this book to those who enjoy what-if scenarios, strong writing, and well-rounded characters.

[Leah Good · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I came to the last page of this book, I was rather sad to find it over. Many story lines remain open, ready to be picked up in book two, Peter's Ally. I'll be first in line for a copy when the author publishes it. All of the characters (at least the main characters) are easy to like and sympathize with. Edwin was my personal favorite, but it's hard to pick. Because of a few references to a romance gone bad, I wouldn't recommend this for younger children, but teens and adults will definitely find this book enjoyable. It is important to know that Peter's Angel is an alternate history. The book explores the question "what would have happened if Britain won the War for Independence." I was impressed by the way Aubrey made this "different" America feel realistic and believable. I definitely recommend this story.

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit conflicted about this one. On the one hand, the story was compelling and kept me engrossed—I read most of the book in one sitting, eager to find out what was going to happen next. I thought the alternate-history setting was well done, bearing a resemblance to actual post-Revolutionary times, but with some interesting imaginary twists in matters of government, for instance. I also appreciated how the Christian element was presented as simply a part of the characters' lives, instead of being made to serve as a forced framework for the plot.

On the other hand, there were some things about the way it's written that bothered me. For instance, it grated on me somewhat that during conversations, especially, every character's physical movements were described down to the flick of a finger, as well as their mental reactions to every word spoken. For me that kept derailing the flow of a conversation, and distracting me from what was going on in the scene. It also seemed a tiny bit unreal to me that most of the characters, despite differing personalities, had such violent emotional reactions to everything that happened to them.

Interestingly, I found the lengthy prologue to be perhaps the most tightly-written, lifelike section of the book. Among the main characters, I thought Mark was the most intriguing, even though he fills the role of antagonist—there are plenty of interesting questions about his motives and where they will lead him, and I'm looking forward to seeing where that goes in future installments of the saga.

[Jonathan Lovelace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is largely adapted from my 2013 review on my blog.

Here's how highly I think of Peter's Angel: I ordered it on the first day it became available, devoured—inhaled—it in an afternoon the day I got my hands on it, started a page-by-page and in places line-by-line close rereading, then gave that copy away and bought another copy to give away, in the days when I didn't have the budget to buy books for myself.

Peter's Angel was originally planned to be a "Ruritanian fantasy" (set in a nonexistent European country in something like the Middle Ages, like what feels like three-quarters of fantasy novels of the decades around the turn of the millennium), but was completely reworked to be alternate history set in the late eighteenth century of a world where the War of Independence, begun early, ended in the colonists' defeat. It's a story of political intrigue, character growth and arguably "coming of age", already introducing weighty themes in this first volume of a planned trilogy.

After reading Red Rain and praising it highly, yet identifying several drawbacks or weak points, I found Peter's Angel suffered from essentially none of those same issues. Red Rain was so starkly minimal in style and tone that the "bones" of the narrative "skeleton" were obvious; Peter's Angel is lushly descriptive, with most every page dripping with detail. In Red Rain nearly every step of the narrative follows necessarily from the last, with our point-of-view character apparently having no real "agency" for most of the book (aptly represented by the door after door after door that Philli tries and finds locked in the station on Mars), and with no sub-plots or digressions, while in Peter's Angel there is a large ensemble cast, the plot is largely driven by the actions and conflicts of those characters, and the novel is (the first third of) a tapestry of interwoven plot and sub-plot threads.

The two features Red Rain and Peter's Angel have most in common, in my view, are the compelling can't-put-it-down narrative voice (very different between the two books, but with the same irresistible quality carrying the reader along in both) and the fact that almost every serious "flaw" that I could identify in either story followed directly from some central feature of the story and would require a nearly total rewrite to "fix". There are some definitely frustrating features in Peter's Angel (some of which will probably be addressed in revision before it returns to digital storefronts), but I feel them so keenly because even with all of these frustrations Peter's Angel is a great and weighty book.

Red Rain is a book I think highly enough of to buy to give away; Peter's Angel is one I think highly enough of to (once the trilogy is complete) make shelf space for to own in hardback.

[Jeremiah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter's Angel is a tale of epic proportions, set in an alternate America a few years after the Revolutionary war was lost. You meet Peter, a young colonel struggling to serve the people of tiny patriot state Rhode Island from New Britain, with which they have been able to preserve a semblance of peace. But things don't go well for the patriots when New Britain expresses interest in their new-found mine--intended to help their own frail economy.

When Peter is kidnapped and subsequently rescued by a mysterious young boy who vanishes without giving his name, he wants to reward his 'angel'. But his rescuer has other plans.

This story is incredibly deep, with multiple story lines and main characters, yet it never drowns the reader, or gets tangled up in its complexity. All of the main characters (and several of the side charries as well) are well-developed, and grow throughout the book; also, you don't get the feeling that any of them were neglected for the sake of seeing other characters through the story. Every piece of this story struck me as well-handled. None of the characters or story lines fell through the cracks to get the main story across to the reader, as every bit of it fit in perfectly with said main story.

I don't normally care so much for historical fiction (that's how I classify this book, despite its alternateness), but this story pulled me in from the first few pages, setting a vivid scene for the story, while simultaneously plunging me into it.

The characters managed to pry tears from my eyes in several scenes throughout the book, they were so real to me that when their heart was wrung, stabbed, or jostled by intense difficulty, mine was too. Other times they made me angry, and I had to remember that ripping the book wouldn't hurt them. Other times they made me laugh at their wit (or lack thereof).

Other times they made me think. They made me think about what I might have done in their place, or what they should have done...what I may have to do in a similar situation one day.

The entire story makes me grateful to live relatively freely, compared to those poor residents of Rhode Island.

There are a few typos in the story that I noticed, but there were not as many as I've seen in other (even traditionally published) books--overall the writing quality is great.

A few things I should mention: there is violence in this story, and some detailed injury. Also, there is a touch of romance between characters that, while handled in a clean fashion, wouldn't be suitable for younger readers.

I'm giving this book 5 stars for a deep, and thoughtful, yet exciting and engaging story.

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would consider Peter’s Angel primarily a historical fiction novel, but it’s also alternate history. The story is set in an alternate North America, featuring a different set of British colonies. Rhode Island is a smaller colony that is required by peace treaty to pay tribute to New Britain, a large, militant colony that’s loyal to England.

Synopsis: The story follows Peter Jameson, a colonel in the Rhode Island army and son of Rhode Island’s Governor, as he fights oppression from New Britain. Rhode Island is in the process of setting up a mine, but New Britain’s leaders want all of the profit from it. A peace-treaty is broken when New Britain invades Rhode Island, seizing the mine. The Governor of Rhode Island has no choice but to surrender the land to the much stronger colony.

The transition of land into New Britain’s hands is quite simple, however Peter is kidnapped by three traitors in his own army and held for a ransom that would plunge Rhode Island’s citizens into extreme poverty. Hope is far from lost, though, when Peter is rescued by a mysterious boy who won’t give his name and won’t explain why.

Plot: Plot is a crucial aspect of Peter’s Angel. The events in the novel revolve around telling the story of three main characters: Peter, Nathan and Edwin. It’s clear that Aubrey carefully chose the sequence of each event in order to achieve a flowing nature that forces the reader to continue reading. Of course, the narration of each character’s current circumstances would be ineffective if not for the characterization.

Characterization: I believe characterization to be one of Aubrey Hansen’s best traits as a writer. Even though there is a long list of important characters in this novel, Aubrey manages to craft a believable personality for each one, and she stays true to their nature. The character development of Peter, his father, his love interest and his mysterious savior allows the events in the novel to work perfectly.

Historical Accuracy: Besides the whole alternate history thing, the novel is very historically accurate. I’m very good at picking out anachronisms, and I couldn’t find any in Peter’s Angel. Everything down to the date matches the time period, and that’s very important to consider when writing about anything set in another time period. It’s clear that Aubrey Hansen did her homework.

With that said, I’ll leave you with a quote that I believe applies throughout the whole novel:

“You can’t take back bullets,” he whispered. “They’re like words. Once shot, you can’t stop the damage.”

[Kaitlin Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was quite interested in this book because it was the first story I've ever read that's alternate history. I also love the time period. Overall, it was okay. Characters are the most important part of a story for me, and sadly, I didn't really connect with them, except for Peter. I did enjoy his character. He was very believable and real. And Mark I found rather intriguing. I'm interested where his story goes. The others . . . I don't know. It seemed to me that Edwin and Nathan acted too young for their ages, especially considering the time period. One of the biggest problems for me was the cover. It looks great, especially for being self-published, but the pistol is all wrong. They would have still been using flintlocks at the time, and as a real enthusiast for the time period, that really jumped out at me. But I'm curious to see where the story goes, so I'll be reading the rest of the series when it's available.

[Olivia Cornwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I think it's one of the few (if there are more, I don't remember them) that made me give an audible response without much warning. I had gasped when the two pieces of the scene and scenes before it clicked together, realizing who one particular character was and understanding the event the characters was involved in. I'm looking forward to the next books.