Skin Deep

by Neal F. Litherland

The City of Angels is going to hell, and it’s doing it by the book. Miracles happen though, and Malachi’s witnessed it first hand. When someone on the wrong side of town tries to take that miracle away though, the rules get broken. When that happens Malachi picks up the bloody tools of his trade and sends a message that will not be ignored.
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Genres: Fantasy

23 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 13, 2013

About the author

Neal Litherland lives in Valparaiso, Indiana and holds a Bachelors of Criminal Justice from Indiana University. A professional storyteller, and an amateur adventurer, he's lived all over the United States and has had occasion to wonder what strange rivers might run just beneath the surface of even the most normal places. That, in part, is what many of his stories are about.

Reviews

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basic Plot: Earth-bound angel Malachi goes to bat for a succubus turned to the light.

Another short piece that teases at a fascinating world just barely touched on in the story. I like the idea of a pot-bellied, cranky, un-handsome angel. It makes me smile. He's something that crawled out of an old film noir movie, with a holy pistol as back up.

There wasn't as much action as I was expecting in this piece, but that's okay. The story still moved steadily. Again, I just wish there was more to it.

[Fangs for the Fantasy · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Roxy comes to Mal, she brings trouble. That’s ok – trouble, fighting of evil and protecting the innocent is what Mal does

There may be demons in this terrible, corrupt world – but there are also rules.



This could make a fascinating chapter in an excellent book.

We have angels and demons, monsters and corruption all displayed in really excellently artistic terms. We have hints of a world full of possibilities of redemption and damnation, temptation, fallen angels and suggestions of epic conflict. We’ve also got some other traditions peaking round the side suggesting a world that is much wider and broader than first appears.

The main character, Mal, is an excellently grizzled, hard, crusty hard boiled protagonist. It’s obvious what he is from the very beginning, but part of me always appreciates angelic forces in the guise of hard bitten, cynical, rough veterans with a huge grumpy grudge against everything (even if I do kind of picture a winged figure shaking his fist out the window yelling at demons to get off his lawn).

It’s all written in a style that you’ll either love or hate. A classic film noir, dark and full of hard boiled monologue and gloriously over the top elaborate descriptions starring some of the most dramatic metaphors possible. It’s gritty and dark and grim displaying these broken neighbourhoods and dark establishments with excellent detail and atmosphere

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[Jessi Guggenheim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, well written and fast paced. Great lead character Malachi that I want to see more of. Some sexy stuff and dark. I really like the imagery and mood that was created as well as the action sequences.