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Asymmetric Angels
Angelica Salvatori, AKA Sal, thought her problems were over. After marrying the man of her dreams and settling down, her delusions and violent tendencies seemed to be a thing of a past. Unfortunately, her past is just her problem. When one of her previous cons comes back to bite her, Sal hightails it out of town, leaving her husband to pick up the pieces.
Cole Warner is on a desperate hunt for his wife. With the help of Sal’s interfering uncles and born again brother, he’s in a race against time to get to his wife before her enemies do. Unfortunately for him, Sal has a lot of enemies.
A few hours away, at the hottest drag club in Key West, a mysterious woman holds the key to solving both their problems. Angel Sunshine, a woman with no past and a ridiculous name, wakes up screaming from dreams filled with blood and violence. As she tries to untangle the secrets of her past, she wakes up an enemy who may just cost her, Sal and Cole their lives.
Cole Warner is on a desperate hunt for his wife. With the help of Sal’s interfering uncles and born again brother, he’s in a race against time to get to his wife before her enemies do. Unfortunately for him, Sal has a lot of enemies.
A few hours away, at the hottest drag club in Key West, a mysterious woman holds the key to solving both their problems. Angel Sunshine, a woman with no past and a ridiculous name, wakes up screaming from dreams filled with blood and violence. As she tries to untangle the secrets of her past, she wakes up an enemy who may just cost her, Sal and Cole their lives.
211 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 24, 2012
14 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Essa Alroc
3 books13 followersEssa Alroc is a general miscreant, occasional recreational drug hobbyist, and frequent user of the word 'shenanigans.'
She also writes books. You should read them.
You should also use the word 'shenanigans' more. It's just so fun to say. Like any minute now, a bunch of short Irish children are going to come bursting out of a closet and some old guy is going to complain "damn those shenanigans!"
What the hell was I talking about again? Was this supposed to be my author bio? Also, I'm supposed to be talking about myself in third person.
It shows I'm fancy.
Sorry, anyway Essa Alroc writes books. You should read them. Finally...
Shenanigans.
She also writes books. You should read them.
You should also use the word 'shenanigans' more. It's just so fun to say. Like any minute now, a bunch of short Irish children are going to come bursting out of a closet and some old guy is going to complain "damn those shenanigans!"
What the hell was I talking about again? Was this supposed to be my author bio? Also, I'm supposed to be talking about myself in third person.
It shows I'm fancy.
Sorry, anyway Essa Alroc writes books. You should read them. Finally...
Shenanigans.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 16, 2023
Most fascinating book I ever read in the recent past!!!
This fabulous book kept me glued to my kindle from the word Go!!! It was enthralling, engrossing and the narrative was fabulous. The incidents, characters and situations were captivating, intriguing and spellbinding and the narrative exemplary with the characters starting with Angel/Sal to everyone were endearing to say the least.
I felt like I had emerged from a world that I had lost myself in. Looked for more books by this author but could not get any. None of them is available anywhere and that is most disappointing without knowing the reason !
Thank you for an awesome, outstanding and unforgettable reading experience, Ms. Essa Alroc. I hope to find more of your exciting books in the near future!!
This fabulous book kept me glued to my kindle from the word Go!!! It was enthralling, engrossing and the narrative was fabulous. The incidents, characters and situations were captivating, intriguing and spellbinding and the narrative exemplary with the characters starting with Angel/Sal to everyone were endearing to say the least.
I felt like I had emerged from a world that I had lost myself in. Looked for more books by this author but could not get any. None of them is available anywhere and that is most disappointing without knowing the reason !
Thank you for an awesome, outstanding and unforgettable reading experience, Ms. Essa Alroc. I hope to find more of your exciting books in the near future!!
June 6, 2013
I won Alroc’s first novel in this series, Strangely Sober, in a First Reads Giveaway. It was the first independently published novel (and the first review copy) I’d ever read, and I was a little nervous about it. But I was pleasantly surprised by Strangely Sober (you can read my review of it HERE)and even more so by Asymmetric Angels. I’ve read some great and some terrible indie press since my induction into the category last year. And Alroc’s novels remain pretty firmly near the top of my indie-reads recommendations. I’m giving it 3.5 stars.
Who should read this book? People with a dark sense of humour, a love of quirky characters and bizarre plot lines, and lovers of the mystery/crime fiction genres.
Who shouldn’t read this book? People who get hung up on realism and take themselves really seriously at book club meetings.
Of course, as with any independently published book there is a concern about editing. I think the hardest part of being a self-published author is the fact that resources such as professional editors are either paid for out of pocket (at exorbitant cost, trust me) or bypassed in favour of the less reliable, but more economical, beta-reader editors. Unless the author is very lucky, or very well connected, this often amounts to friends and family. So editing can be a major concern for a nit-picky reader (like myself). However, Alroc seems to have done a very thorough job with her editing. There are a handful of typos, but no glaring grammatical blunders, and nothing that got in the way of my enjoyment of the text.
I actually preferred Asymmetric Angels to its predecessor for a number of reasons. While the characters and plot are still a little “out there” for traditional publishing (a shame) Alroc has a natural skill for pacing. I literally sat down and read this novel in one sitting. She is able to tie together multiple character POVs, and jump between them, with the panache of a professional writer. Her pacing is better than many big name writers in the crime fiction genre, and her characters are infinitely more entertaining than most.
This was true of Strangely Sober as well, but Alroc has definitely tightened up her plotlines and reined things in a bit with Asymmetric Angels, and it works in her favour. Asymmetric Angels feels more grounded and focussed. I’m sure Alroc has a ton of ideas for Sal and her crew, but she managed to keep the number of capers in her second novel down so that we could focus on Angel’s current predicament. We get to know the characters a little better in this novel, and we get to see their softer sides which, after an introduction like Strangely Sober was necessary to humanize them. Especially Sal.
Dare I say it? Asymmetric Angels, though it pushes some boundaries, could easily be picked up by a daring agent/publisher, polished, and sold to the masses. The trouble is, finding that daring agent/publisher (if such people even exist anymore).
I’m not going to summarize the plot for anyone. The jacket blurb does that well enough. But I will say that I enjoyed Alroc’s decision to bring her antagonists a little closer to home. The ridiculous Reverend and his gay-bashing bible thumpers, though they should be satirical, are disturbingly close to the real-life born-again crowd. The battle between the drag queens and the holy warriors is both hilarious and sad. Alroc touches on other real life issues, such as domestic abuse and mental illness. Admittedly in an extreme way, but she doesn’t make light of these situations either. Overall, I’m very impressed.
My biggest issue with Strangely Sober had been the relationship between Sal and the over-protective control freak, Cole. This is largely resolved in Asymmetric Angels, first by separating the two so that Cole’s control freak instincts have to work at a distance and later by Sal putting her foot down once and for all. Thank the gods!
Alroc has clearly set up the ending to make room for another book in the series, and I'll be keeping an eye out for it. If Alroc’s evolution as a writer between the first two novels is any indication of what she is capable of, I think the third novel in the series will be extremely promising.
Who should read this book? People with a dark sense of humour, a love of quirky characters and bizarre plot lines, and lovers of the mystery/crime fiction genres.
Who shouldn’t read this book? People who get hung up on realism and take themselves really seriously at book club meetings.
Of course, as with any independently published book there is a concern about editing. I think the hardest part of being a self-published author is the fact that resources such as professional editors are either paid for out of pocket (at exorbitant cost, trust me) or bypassed in favour of the less reliable, but more economical, beta-reader editors. Unless the author is very lucky, or very well connected, this often amounts to friends and family. So editing can be a major concern for a nit-picky reader (like myself). However, Alroc seems to have done a very thorough job with her editing. There are a handful of typos, but no glaring grammatical blunders, and nothing that got in the way of my enjoyment of the text.
I actually preferred Asymmetric Angels to its predecessor for a number of reasons. While the characters and plot are still a little “out there” for traditional publishing (a shame) Alroc has a natural skill for pacing. I literally sat down and read this novel in one sitting. She is able to tie together multiple character POVs, and jump between them, with the panache of a professional writer. Her pacing is better than many big name writers in the crime fiction genre, and her characters are infinitely more entertaining than most.
This was true of Strangely Sober as well, but Alroc has definitely tightened up her plotlines and reined things in a bit with Asymmetric Angels, and it works in her favour. Asymmetric Angels feels more grounded and focussed. I’m sure Alroc has a ton of ideas for Sal and her crew, but she managed to keep the number of capers in her second novel down so that we could focus on Angel’s current predicament. We get to know the characters a little better in this novel, and we get to see their softer sides which, after an introduction like Strangely Sober was necessary to humanize them. Especially Sal.
Dare I say it? Asymmetric Angels, though it pushes some boundaries, could easily be picked up by a daring agent/publisher, polished, and sold to the masses. The trouble is, finding that daring agent/publisher (if such people even exist anymore).
I’m not going to summarize the plot for anyone. The jacket blurb does that well enough. But I will say that I enjoyed Alroc’s decision to bring her antagonists a little closer to home. The ridiculous Reverend and his gay-bashing bible thumpers, though they should be satirical, are disturbingly close to the real-life born-again crowd. The battle between the drag queens and the holy warriors is both hilarious and sad. Alroc touches on other real life issues, such as domestic abuse and mental illness. Admittedly in an extreme way, but she doesn’t make light of these situations either. Overall, I’m very impressed.
My biggest issue with Strangely Sober had been the relationship between Sal and the over-protective control freak, Cole. This is largely resolved in Asymmetric Angels, first by separating the two so that Cole’s control freak instincts have to work at a distance and later by Sal putting her foot down once and for all. Thank the gods!
Alroc has clearly set up the ending to make room for another book in the series, and I'll be keeping an eye out for it. If Alroc’s evolution as a writer between the first two novels is any indication of what she is capable of, I think the third novel in the series will be extremely promising.
December 29, 2014
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. After reading "Strangely Sober" I was excited to have the opportunity to read the next in the series. I liked it even more! I truly came to love the characters, very unique. In this book, you discover new layers to already complex personalities and see them get into different types of trouble. Who can resist a story full of kind-hearted drag queens? I couldn't put it down. I appreciate the moments of escape from the stresses of daily life that this book brought me. I hope this author writes new thrills and surprises. And (hint, hint) I'd like to read more about the heroine's sister, I have a feeling she's a character just waiting to burst alive!
I won "Strangely Sober" after it was sent to me in a Goodreads giveaway, and enjoyed it. Then, the author contacted me and offered to send me "Assymetric Angels" and I jumped at the opportunity.
I won "Strangely Sober" after it was sent to me in a Goodreads giveaway, and enjoyed it. Then, the author contacted me and offered to send me "Assymetric Angels" and I jumped at the opportunity.
February 21, 2014
Again, I won't bother with details of the story since the synopsis is at the top of the page. However, Alroc has another winner. I really enjoyed this book. The proof reading/editorial issues I had with Strangely Sober were still here but not as profound as before. The story definitely has some unexpected twists and turns and I loved everyone of them until the last page. If I could have gotten my hands on the author I would have gladly strangled her! Great book anyway!
June 10, 2013
won the first novel in this series, Strangely Sober, in a First Reads Giveaway. Also received this for a review. Sal is a great character. There is no way to predict what she will do next. They have a sense of family and help Sal in many ways throughout the book. Read it, you will love it! Must Read Strangly Sober first!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews