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A Construct of Angels
After accidentally triggering the spontaneous resurrection of a dead student, an ordinarily routine day for York-based paramedic Sara Finn erupts into a series of events that propel her on a terrifying journey, promising to forever change her pragmatic opinions of life and death.
Still haunted by her domineering and abusive stepfather and driven by a life-long search for her missing younger brother, Sara finds herself caught in the crossfire between warring forces, powerful beyond human comprehension, that threaten to plunge civilisation into hellish chaos and eternal darkness.
This, the first in the 'Angels of York' series, follows Sara's increasingly dangerous adventures during the six days that lead up to the September Equinox, a time of increasing darkness. As the population of York is plunged into panic, overwhelming the emergency services, Sara finds her loyalties torn between her newfound companion, now incarcerated within York's largest mental institution, and her sworn medical duties.
Should she lend any credence to his insistence that his purpose on Earth is to prevent an imminent catastrophe? Or that it is being orchestrated from within the city itself?
As her nights are filled with terrifying dreams and she is once again confronted by the memories of her abusive childhood, Sara is forced to accept that only one avenue remains open to her - to put her own life to one side in order to help prevent the rapidly approaching doomsday.
Still haunted by her domineering and abusive stepfather and driven by a life-long search for her missing younger brother, Sara finds herself caught in the crossfire between warring forces, powerful beyond human comprehension, that threaten to plunge civilisation into hellish chaos and eternal darkness.
This, the first in the 'Angels of York' series, follows Sara's increasingly dangerous adventures during the six days that lead up to the September Equinox, a time of increasing darkness. As the population of York is plunged into panic, overwhelming the emergency services, Sara finds her loyalties torn between her newfound companion, now incarcerated within York's largest mental institution, and her sworn medical duties.
Should she lend any credence to his insistence that his purpose on Earth is to prevent an imminent catastrophe? Or that it is being orchestrated from within the city itself?
As her nights are filled with terrifying dreams and she is once again confronted by the memories of her abusive childhood, Sara is forced to accept that only one avenue remains open to her - to put her own life to one side in order to help prevent the rapidly approaching doomsday.
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First published October 15, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 28, 2014
Key Plot Elements: Strong female protagonist who does the right thing, even when it isn’t comfortable; a not-quite-angel who while very powerful, is flummoxed by a box of cereal; demons and zombies; quirky humor (because how can you have angels and zombies without humor); fantasy, supernatural, and some historical touches; insight into EMT practices; details about the city of York and its surrounding suburbs; drama, action, mild intermittent language and sexual tension.
Andrew Toynbee’s debut book takes off at a dead run, and doesn’t ever let up. An immersive read, it is very well-paced, balancing suspense and action with brief snippets of backstory and generous doses of humor. This is a meaty tale with plenty of action and lots of rich detail. The telling manages to be tight, while providing a solid emotional punch and plenty of local color.
At great cost, the battle was won… but not the war. Unlike many books constructed as part of a trilogy, “A Construct of Angels” ends with a very satisfying close, tying up all the loose ends while still leaving great potential for books two and three.
I feel compelled to mention this book is set in York, and is authored a British English speaker, so is appropriately written in BrE. For an AmE reader, this means: some words are spelled a bit differently; punctuation variances; and strange terms like knickers and bollocks. In my opinion, these added to the depth and realism of the story. Better than AmE, in my opinion, as the language is proper for the region, and characters, while still entirely understandable. There are a few terms I relied heavily on contextual clues, but nothing which detracted from my enjoyment of an outstanding story.
Reader caution: The female protagonist was abused, in a very bad way, as a young girl. As a mother to daughter, those passages were not easy for me to read. However, Toynbee handled flashbacks to her trauma in a courageous, appropriate, and delicate manner. While the reader clearly knows what transpired, there are no graphic details. As events unfold and history is revealed, the plot element helps the reader to fully appreciate the strong, caring and resilient woman she has become.
Andrew Toynbee’s debut book takes off at a dead run, and doesn’t ever let up. An immersive read, it is very well-paced, balancing suspense and action with brief snippets of backstory and generous doses of humor. This is a meaty tale with plenty of action and lots of rich detail. The telling manages to be tight, while providing a solid emotional punch and plenty of local color.
At great cost, the battle was won… but not the war. Unlike many books constructed as part of a trilogy, “A Construct of Angels” ends with a very satisfying close, tying up all the loose ends while still leaving great potential for books two and three.
I feel compelled to mention this book is set in York, and is authored a British English speaker, so is appropriately written in BrE. For an AmE reader, this means: some words are spelled a bit differently; punctuation variances; and strange terms like knickers and bollocks. In my opinion, these added to the depth and realism of the story. Better than AmE, in my opinion, as the language is proper for the region, and characters, while still entirely understandable. There are a few terms I relied heavily on contextual clues, but nothing which detracted from my enjoyment of an outstanding story.
Reader caution: The female protagonist was abused, in a very bad way, as a young girl. As a mother to daughter, those passages were not easy for me to read. However, Toynbee handled flashbacks to her trauma in a courageous, appropriate, and delicate manner. While the reader clearly knows what transpired, there are no graphic details. As events unfold and history is revealed, the plot element helps the reader to fully appreciate the strong, caring and resilient woman she has become.
December 10, 2012
A Construct of Angels is no doubt a page-turner. From the brginning you are taken on a journey of confusion and mystery alongside of the main character Sara a/k/a Jinx. But she isn't the only one who starts out confused. A mysterious man brought back to life who cries golden tears sets Sara on a journey she never thought her life would take.
This story was so refreshing for me. There was tons of humor mixed in with paranormal aspects as well as a new take on Angels. I loved how original it was and I was always kept guessing. I don't want to give away any of the fun stuff, but this book is a must-read! It will leave you wanting more! Keep writing Andrew! Your words are effortless and flow off the page like magic!
This story was so refreshing for me. There was tons of humor mixed in with paranormal aspects as well as a new take on Angels. I loved how original it was and I was always kept guessing. I don't want to give away any of the fun stuff, but this book is a must-read! It will leave you wanting more! Keep writing Andrew! Your words are effortless and flow off the page like magic!
January 5, 2014
This was definitely a page-turner. From the very beginning I was taken on a journey of confusion with some mystery our main character Sara a/k/a Jinx. Sara isn't the only one who starts out confused. When a mysterious stranger was brought back to life who cries golden tears sets our heroine on a journey she never thought her life would take.
This story was definitely invigorating for me. As the paranormal storyline is starting to become one of my favorite things to read I give this story 5 angels and encourage the author to continue his work!
StoneAngel Reviews
This story was definitely invigorating for me. As the paranormal storyline is starting to become one of my favorite things to read I give this story 5 angels and encourage the author to continue his work!
StoneAngel Reviews
October 26, 2012
A Construct of Angels pulls you in from the first page. I couldn't put this book down. Author Andrew Toynbee takes you on an epic journey through the daily life of Sara, the main character, who just can't catch a break. Lots of humor tossed in with a fast paced plot that has you flipping the pages to find out what comes next. The highest of compliments I can give an author is: The words disappeared and the scene played out in my mind. A Construct of Angels did just that for me.
August 10, 2014
Following around paramedic Sara Finn was truly fascinating. I would have sworn the author had been a paramedic with the amount of detail and authentic-ness (had I not read the author's bio at the back of the book). But her day wasn't just filled with technical detail of the world of a paramedic, the accidents she responded to were fascinating in their oddness, like the accident where all the victims had vanished, or the star gazers that they called her in to attend to. Not to mention that her co-workers had personalities and weren't just cardboard cutouts--from Alec reading his wife's romantic vampire series, to her sexist boss who enjoyed picking on her, to Lynne and Harry with their relationship, to her friend Ed at the hospital, and Morty the medical examiner. The dialogue flowed easily and all the characters felt real(with the exception of the Aryan. But then it's hard to make a villain without practically visualizing the twirling a virtual moustache. Mainly I was wondering why people kept calling him the Aryan when Sara was the one who came up with the nickname to begin with. I mean, straight through to his son and Michael's higher-ups were calling him the Aryan, which they shouldn't have even known the name). There was also the bi-location which seemed like it was thrown in mainly because the book had been completely in Sara's viewpoint and she had to be absent for several scenes, so it had been employed to keep Sara as the viewpoint without actually having her in the room. And I did wonder why the public didn't seem more interested in the Black Star. Would have thought a score of scientists would have been obsessing over it. I did love the hinted at romantic angle between Michael and Sara. Michael himself seemed larger than life, which is a problem in writing since it makes the character undefeatable without taking the character's powers away, and made him beyond good, but I did love how the author made it so that his background wasn't entirely certain and he might not be the complete force of good that he looked like, making the character seem grey at times and possibly even evil under the guise of good, which makes for a good mystery and makes the character rich with complications. I had lots of fun reading through all of the twists and turns of the mystery and I often had trouble putting it down.
August 18, 2014
***I was gifted a copy of this eBook by the author in exchange for an honest review***
Nicknamed "Jinx" by her work colleagues, Sara Finn is a paramedic/ambulance driver with a boss that likes to make her working life a misery.
We meet Sara as she enters the mortuary to identify a body of a man that she prays is not her brother who went missing when he was nine years old. As she examines the body, Sara's senses tell her there is a spark of life floating beyond the reach of a normal human's senses.
The story is based over 6 days and follows Sara as she tries to understand her position in the war that's brewing between Michael and the Aryan. A war that humans are caught in the middle of.
'A Construct Of Angels' makes for a really good read, but it's not the kind of book that's classed as a "light read". I found myself wondering about the hows and whys in certain parts of the story that I felt were never fully explained, which meant the story didn't flow as smoothly for me as I would have liked.
Disappearing accident victims, zombies, an Angel that cries golden tears and an enemy that loves to torment. There are plenty of different characters in this story. Some of who the main cast interact with more than others.
Annoying: I did find it irritating how Sara would correct Michael's way of talking. I just thought it was unnecessary, especially when Michael then kept correcting his own speech. It's not like he was using the wrong words.
Confusing: As I said above, I did find some parts of the story confusing especially because they weren't explained untill much further into the book. I personally think the structure of some of the events should probably have been thought out a bit more before it was published - but that is my own opinion.
Overall: By the end of the book, I had quite enjoyed the story and I was quite keen to see how it ended and yeah, I'd probably read the rest of the series at some point. So, bearing all that in mind, 3.5 Shamrocks for 'A Construct Of Angels'.
Posted on D'eBook Sharing Book Reviews: www.debooksharing.wordpress.com
Nicknamed "Jinx" by her work colleagues, Sara Finn is a paramedic/ambulance driver with a boss that likes to make her working life a misery.
We meet Sara as she enters the mortuary to identify a body of a man that she prays is not her brother who went missing when he was nine years old. As she examines the body, Sara's senses tell her there is a spark of life floating beyond the reach of a normal human's senses.
The story is based over 6 days and follows Sara as she tries to understand her position in the war that's brewing between Michael and the Aryan. A war that humans are caught in the middle of.
'A Construct Of Angels' makes for a really good read, but it's not the kind of book that's classed as a "light read". I found myself wondering about the hows and whys in certain parts of the story that I felt were never fully explained, which meant the story didn't flow as smoothly for me as I would have liked.
Disappearing accident victims, zombies, an Angel that cries golden tears and an enemy that loves to torment. There are plenty of different characters in this story. Some of who the main cast interact with more than others.
Annoying: I did find it irritating how Sara would correct Michael's way of talking. I just thought it was unnecessary, especially when Michael then kept correcting his own speech. It's not like he was using the wrong words.
Confusing: As I said above, I did find some parts of the story confusing especially because they weren't explained untill much further into the book. I personally think the structure of some of the events should probably have been thought out a bit more before it was published - but that is my own opinion.
Overall: By the end of the book, I had quite enjoyed the story and I was quite keen to see how it ended and yeah, I'd probably read the rest of the series at some point. So, bearing all that in mind, 3.5 Shamrocks for 'A Construct Of Angels'.
Posted on D'eBook Sharing Book Reviews: www.debooksharing.wordpress.com
August 5, 2013
I quite enjoyed this book. The main character, Sara Finn (a pun on “seraphim”, which I love!), is feisty and determined and a great heroine in general. She has to deal with all sorts of unimaginable horrors over the six days leading up to the possible-Apocalypse, and even though the big bad guy goes so far as to invade her dreams and mess with her head, she stays strong and doesn’t bend to his will (well, not when it matters, anyway!).
I really loved the start of this book — a dark star driving people crazy, zombies rising from their graves, etc. It was a very cool concept, and I felt very grounded in her messed-up world. As the story progressed, I got a bit lost in what was happening; the book is quite long, and I feel the story lost its focus in the middle. The ending, however, was appropriately apocalyptic, and featured some great scenes (dancing zombies!) that effortlessly pulled me back into the story and the explosive finale.
A long read, but a good one if you’re a fan of urban fantasy or the angels vs. demons concept!
I really loved the start of this book — a dark star driving people crazy, zombies rising from their graves, etc. It was a very cool concept, and I felt very grounded in her messed-up world. As the story progressed, I got a bit lost in what was happening; the book is quite long, and I feel the story lost its focus in the middle. The ending, however, was appropriately apocalyptic, and featured some great scenes (dancing zombies!) that effortlessly pulled me back into the story and the explosive finale.
A long read, but a good one if you’re a fan of urban fantasy or the angels vs. demons concept!
November 27, 2014
Very interesting concepts presented I this complex, onion-layered novel. The plot was fresh, and I never knew what would be revealed next- so it kept me turning pages to discover what was making the world go so crazy. I enjoyed the characters, but struggled a bit with all the running around from place to place- it seemed the characters were in a constant state of motion-- like a really wild car chase. This aspect was essential to the plot, but was exhausting at times.An enjoyable read and I will be looking for the next book in the series.
October 1, 2013
4 1/2 stars ! What an interesting story ! Angels and demons and humans oh my ! This was a very long book with a lot of details ! It kept my attention throughout. A different take on the fallen angel storyline. I would recommend this to anyone who loves to read about fallen angels.
January 18, 2014
"A Construct of Angels" is a well-told tale with an interesting twist on what we usually think of as 'Angels.' The main characters are well-rounded and the story was exciting from start to finish.
I would definitely purchase anything else Mr. Toynbee writes.
I would definitely purchase anything else Mr. Toynbee writes.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews