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The Fallen and the Elect #1
The Eulogy of Angels
"Not all angels are the same."
After the mysterious disappearance of millions across the world, angels begin to present eulogies at random funerals which have become must go to events. Hoping to catch a glimpse of a heavenly creature, T.V and radio stations hold contests for families of the deceased wanting to fill seats; no longer do the city or county funerals for John and Jane Does go unattended. For ten years this occurs. No one knew where or when one would appear, only that any photograph or video recording of their appearance disappears. If someone were to make a drawing, it immediately fades after the angel’s departure.
It’s during one such funeral In Los Angeles where an angel is suspected to be the cause of a fatal event where all but one of the attendees are killed. This is where our story begins. The Catholic Church dispatches a priest to work with a nun and a former seminary student who have extensive knowledge of angels to begin a detailed investigation of the incident. The three follow the trail to a previous angelic event in Mexico; here they find it has unanticipated ties to events in Los Angeles. What they uncover will lead to a test of each of their beliefs, and answers to questions they never anticipated.
After the mysterious disappearance of millions across the world, angels begin to present eulogies at random funerals which have become must go to events. Hoping to catch a glimpse of a heavenly creature, T.V and radio stations hold contests for families of the deceased wanting to fill seats; no longer do the city or county funerals for John and Jane Does go unattended. For ten years this occurs. No one knew where or when one would appear, only that any photograph or video recording of their appearance disappears. If someone were to make a drawing, it immediately fades after the angel’s departure.
It’s during one such funeral In Los Angeles where an angel is suspected to be the cause of a fatal event where all but one of the attendees are killed. This is where our story begins. The Catholic Church dispatches a priest to work with a nun and a former seminary student who have extensive knowledge of angels to begin a detailed investigation of the incident. The three follow the trail to a previous angelic event in Mexico; here they find it has unanticipated ties to events in Los Angeles. What they uncover will lead to a test of each of their beliefs, and answers to questions they never anticipated.
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First published December 31, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 24, 2020
It's certainly different. I had a hard time getting into it but finally did. I was upset to find out it's a cliffhanger though. I guess you have to read all the books to find out what happens.
July 6, 2021
I received a free copy of this book through the GoodReads First Reads program.
A priest, a nun, and arabbi professor walk into a crime scene. It's not a joke, it's just part of how this story starts, and while my unoriginality in using a tired joke does not reflect the originality of the book in question, it does accurately reflect the tediousness of it.
"The Fallen and the Elect" (or "The Eulogy of Angels," as it seems to be called now; this title appears no where on my copy, with the cover, title page, and copyright page all referring to it as "The Fallen and the Elect;" I don't know why this irks me so much other than that if I had seen that it was simply book number one in a SERIES titled "The Fallen and the Elect," I may not have had as much interest in reading it ...) is a novel primarily about a trio of researchers - the aforementioned priest, nun, and professor - who have been hired by the Catholic church to investigate a mass fatality event that happens when an angel shows up at a funeral. I say it's primarily about these characters because it mostly is, but throughout the novel we also have perspectives from the lone survivor of the event (and his sister), a high-level assistant director of a division of a business who was supposed to be in attendance but was running late that day (and his wife), the assistant director's boss, a pair of detectives, a forensics expert, the bishop who coordinated the research team, and the cardinal directing him. Among others. The story is third person omniscient, but it feels like the author uses this to include FAR more perspectives than is necessary and relies on it as a reason not to cut needless parts out of the story. The research trio finds in the process that there's something connecting the business and the Catholic church that relates to the funeral that was the site of so many deaths (as well as one that preceded it by 10 years). If it feels like my description here is making too many tangents that are sort of related but not that important, you can kind of get the feeling of what it's like to read this story. This book is such a slog, at least early on, that I had to restart it four different times before I could finally get myself to the finish line.
In short, I'd rate this a 1.5 starts (rounded up to 2). Strong premise, somewhat weak execution. I'm not familiar with J Brown Editing Services, but I wager they charge much more than the value of services rendered, as throughout my reading experience I constantly thought "This book could really have used a better edit," only to find that as I was trying to verify the title on the copyright page that the company that did the editing is credited on that page.
The characters were not terribly likeable. Like, at all. And I felt like some of them were dumbed down, a lot, from what I would expect. For example, a seminary student dropout schools an actual priest on the linguistic roots related to the naming of angels, who in turn uses that info to school a bishop above him. Parts of the mystery the researchers are working on seem ... I guess put together in a really silly way? For example, early on, one clue comes from the fact that the placement of the bodies spells out a series of letters that rearrange to a phrase that translates to the name of a city near where a relevant event happens, which struck me as incredibly bizarre when you realize this all was influenced by angels who should be transcending varies things of the human world and culture. It just struck me as really bizarre that angels would arrange bodies to spell out letters, first of all, but then to add the layer that the letters need rearranged to make any sense - even more bizarre - and then that what they spell in the rearrangement needs translated to a new language, not of the area where the event has happened - I just figure, if angels truly have the ability to impact situations like that, they would find a way to do it in a way that makes more sense.
Of course, the novel is following in the great tradition of novels that find conspiracy associated with the Catholic church. As a Catholic personally, I'm not offended by this - I enjoyed the couple of Dan Brown novels that connect to this, and I am disappointed in the real-life cover-ups that have come to light in more recent years that the Catholic church has been involved in, so I'm not someone who holds the institution up as one you cannot write fiction about in this way due to the idea that it might be disrespectful or anything. Tell a good story, and I don't care if it's one that says "Yeah, but what if we live in a world where the Catholic Church is covering up the fact that Jesus Christ had a wife and children?" because fiction isn't going to change my spirituality or anything like that. What does offend me is it didn't seem like the author understood some aspects of the religion - like, down to even what the Holy Trinity is, even? I guess it's not explicit, he never specifically says "The Holy Trinity is X, Y, and Z" with me going "Yeah but it's not though, it's A, a, and a," but certain sections are written in a way that it sounds like he is trying to talk about the trinity, but it's like he thinks the trinity is your stove, refrigerator, and freezer. If you're gonna write a novel that makes a boogey-man of the Catholic Church, at least have an understanding of some of the basic beliefs of the members of that religion, even if you don't believe it yourself personally.
Lastly, the thing that bugged me the most was that
Reading this novel felt like the author just has a very clear image in his mind of how this story would be told if it were a movie. In some scenes of the novel, this worked, but in a lot, it was just ... a nuisance. It results in "scenes" that would make for shocking reveals if they were being revealed visually, but are just awkward when written here. Think of the ending of "The Sixth Sense" and how flashbacks help you, as an audience member watching the screen, piece together that . Then imagine you are reading it like this: A lot of the way this reveal his shot and edited for the movie is amazing - but when you try to put it in the way you would communicate it directly in a novel, it's just dull. But that's kind of how certain scenes in this novel worked - I read them and thought, "I can tell exactly what he's trying to communicate as if he were directing it in a movie ... but it's just not that interesting in this format." It got frustrating frequently.
So, to reiterate: Promising and exciting premise. Unfortunate execution. Could have used a much stronger edit. My rating is 1.5 stars, rounded up to 2 for the GoodReads system. I'd be willing to see this if it were a movie; but if the quality of the writing and structure of subsequent novels in the series is in the same neighborhood as this first one, I'm not interested.
A priest, a nun, and a
"The Fallen and the Elect" (or "The Eulogy of Angels," as it seems to be called now; this title appears no where on my copy, with the cover, title page, and copyright page all referring to it as "The Fallen and the Elect;" I don't know why this irks me so much other than that if I had seen that it was simply book number one in a SERIES titled "The Fallen and the Elect," I may not have had as much interest in reading it ...) is a novel primarily about a trio of researchers - the aforementioned priest, nun, and professor - who have been hired by the Catholic church to investigate a mass fatality event that happens when an angel shows up at a funeral. I say it's primarily about these characters because it mostly is, but throughout the novel we also have perspectives from the lone survivor of the event (and his sister), a high-level assistant director of a division of a business who was supposed to be in attendance but was running late that day (and his wife), the assistant director's boss, a pair of detectives, a forensics expert, the bishop who coordinated the research team, and the cardinal directing him. Among others. The story is third person omniscient, but it feels like the author uses this to include FAR more perspectives than is necessary and relies on it as a reason not to cut needless parts out of the story. The research trio finds in the process that there's something connecting the business and the Catholic church that relates to the funeral that was the site of so many deaths (as well as one that preceded it by 10 years). If it feels like my description here is making too many tangents that are sort of related but not that important, you can kind of get the feeling of what it's like to read this story. This book is such a slog, at least early on, that I had to restart it four different times before I could finally get myself to the finish line.
In short, I'd rate this a 1.5 starts (rounded up to 2). Strong premise, somewhat weak execution. I'm not familiar with J Brown Editing Services, but I wager they charge much more than the value of services rendered, as throughout my reading experience I constantly thought "This book could really have used a better edit," only to find that as I was trying to verify the title on the copyright page that the company that did the editing is credited on that page.
The characters were not terribly likeable. Like, at all. And I felt like some of them were dumbed down, a lot, from what I would expect. For example, a seminary student dropout schools an actual priest on the linguistic roots related to the naming of angels, who in turn uses that info to school a bishop above him. Parts of the mystery the researchers are working on seem ... I guess put together in a really silly way? For example, early on, one clue comes from the fact that the placement of the bodies spells out a series of letters that rearrange to a phrase that translates to the name of a city near where a relevant event happens, which struck me as incredibly bizarre when you realize this all was influenced by angels who should be transcending varies things of the human world and culture. It just struck me as really bizarre that angels would arrange bodies to spell out letters, first of all, but then to add the layer that the letters need rearranged to make any sense - even more bizarre - and then that what they spell in the rearrangement needs translated to a new language, not of the area where the event has happened - I just figure, if angels truly have the ability to impact situations like that, they would find a way to do it in a way that makes more sense.
Of course, the novel is following in the great tradition of novels that find conspiracy associated with the Catholic church. As a Catholic personally, I'm not offended by this - I enjoyed the couple of Dan Brown novels that connect to this, and I am disappointed in the real-life cover-ups that have come to light in more recent years that the Catholic church has been involved in, so I'm not someone who holds the institution up as one you cannot write fiction about in this way due to the idea that it might be disrespectful or anything. Tell a good story, and I don't care if it's one that says "Yeah, but what if we live in a world where the Catholic Church is covering up the fact that Jesus Christ had a wife and children?" because fiction isn't going to change my spirituality or anything like that. What does offend me is it didn't seem like the author understood some aspects of the religion - like, down to even what the Holy Trinity is, even? I guess it's not explicit, he never specifically says "The Holy Trinity is X, Y, and Z" with me going "Yeah but it's not though, it's A, a, and a," but certain sections are written in a way that it sounds like he is trying to talk about the trinity, but it's like he thinks the trinity is your stove, refrigerator, and freezer. If you're gonna write a novel that makes a boogey-man of the Catholic Church, at least have an understanding of some of the basic beliefs of the members of that religion, even if you don't believe it yourself personally.
Lastly, the thing that bugged me the most was that
Reading this novel felt like the author just has a very clear image in his mind of how this story would be told if it were a movie. In some scenes of the novel, this worked, but in a lot, it was just ... a nuisance. It results in "scenes" that would make for shocking reveals if they were being revealed visually, but are just awkward when written here. Think of the ending of "The Sixth Sense" and how flashbacks help you, as an audience member watching the screen, piece together that . Then imagine you are reading it like this: A lot of the way this reveal his shot and edited for the movie is amazing - but when you try to put it in the way you would communicate it directly in a novel, it's just dull. But that's kind of how certain scenes in this novel worked - I read them and thought, "I can tell exactly what he's trying to communicate as if he were directing it in a movie ... but it's just not that interesting in this format." It got frustrating frequently.
So, to reiterate: Promising and exciting premise. Unfortunate execution. Could have used a much stronger edit. My rating is 1.5 stars, rounded up to 2 for the GoodReads system. I'd be willing to see this if it were a movie; but if the quality of the writing and structure of subsequent novels in the series is in the same neighborhood as this first one, I'm not interested.
August 11, 2022
Holy Disaster
Jerry Rogers has a cracking tale filled with excitement and esoteria. It reads like a thriller and tells of a threat to the entire world. The characters, other than the angels, are believable flawed people who are trying , by their own lights, to do the right thing. The question is, what is the right thing when the centers of power are deceived and are deceiving? Where do loyalties lie? When does faith become fallacy?
My one problem with the book is its lack of editing. The ideas presented are difficult enough to grasp without the reader being handicapped by obtuse language.
Aside from that caveat, though, it is a compelling story.
Jerry Rogers has a cracking tale filled with excitement and esoteria. It reads like a thriller and tells of a threat to the entire world. The characters, other than the angels, are believable flawed people who are trying , by their own lights, to do the right thing. The question is, what is the right thing when the centers of power are deceived and are deceiving? Where do loyalties lie? When does faith become fallacy?
My one problem with the book is its lack of editing. The ideas presented are difficult enough to grasp without the reader being handicapped by obtuse language.
Aside from that caveat, though, it is a compelling story.
October 12, 2021
Decent story but too many grammatical errors
The synopsis was very intriguing and is what caused me to buy this book. I feel like it was missing something, but I'm not sure what. I do know the editing was terribly poor with far too many errors. It was annoying to say the least. The ending was absolutely a letdown and I'm not sure I want to buy the next book just to find out what happens next. I just don't feel vested enough in the characters to care.
The synopsis was very intriguing and is what caused me to buy this book. I feel like it was missing something, but I'm not sure what. I do know the editing was terribly poor with far too many errors. It was annoying to say the least. The ending was absolutely a letdown and I'm not sure I want to buy the next book just to find out what happens next. I just don't feel vested enough in the characters to care.
November 23, 2025
Story Is Outstanding For Such a Time As This
The story stands out, especially for the time we live in, however there are numerous grammatical and syntax errors. Whoever edited this, if anyone, shouldn’t be in the business. That being said, i would still choose to read it and will continue on with book 2. I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline of a post=raptured world where good angels war against a fallen angel to prevent destruction of the human race, with certain humans being used to help the good angels and some being used to help the fallen, notable the Catholic Church. Definitely a good read, i couldn’t put it down.
The story stands out, especially for the time we live in, however there are numerous grammatical and syntax errors. Whoever edited this, if anyone, shouldn’t be in the business. That being said, i would still choose to read it and will continue on with book 2. I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline of a post=raptured world where good angels war against a fallen angel to prevent destruction of the human race, with certain humans being used to help the good angels and some being used to help the fallen, notable the Catholic Church. Definitely a good read, i couldn’t put it down.
June 12, 2021
Entertaining and good stuff!
The first thing I thought was about how the author would create a theme that was about the most popular subject of angels. The plot twists are very different from being boring.
The whole notion of 10 years after the disappearance of the true believers is making us stretch our minds to encompass a God who has his/her own time line of how things will play out. Much better than the Left Behind series!
The first thing I thought was about how the author would create a theme that was about the most popular subject of angels. The plot twists are very different from being boring.
The whole notion of 10 years after the disappearance of the true believers is making us stretch our minds to encompass a God who has his/her own time line of how things will play out. Much better than the Left Behind series!
May 28, 2025
very interesting storyline especially in today’s world
This hits you at your heart if you’re a Christian and know about the Revelations, and I have often wondered how would the enemy present itself. The Catholic Church is made up of men who are just like us, but somehow they think themselves to be more Holy and I could see an angel of light influence them and they thinking that they are the one true Church could be deceived by pride.
This hits you at your heart if you’re a Christian and know about the Revelations, and I have often wondered how would the enemy present itself. The Catholic Church is made up of men who are just like us, but somehow they think themselves to be more Holy and I could see an angel of light influence them and they thinking that they are the one true Church could be deceived by pride.
October 10, 2017
Thought provoking
The story was well written. If you wonder about faith and belief in a supreme being helping humanity. The story is very thought provoking and truly make u wonder how much of what was written could became some truth to it. Never got boring, well worth reading. Thank You
The story was well written. If you wonder about faith and belief in a supreme being helping humanity. The story is very thought provoking and truly make u wonder how much of what was written could became some truth to it. Never got boring, well worth reading. Thank You
April 27, 2025
Angels fallen and deceiving
Angels have appeared to many at different funerals,and then the funeral goers are killed. Is this the end of the world. MILLIONS of people just disappear. The Church wants to know why, so they send a Professor, a priest, and a nun to find out why.
Well written book lots of cliff hangers. Some Catholic scriptures are hard to understand.
Angels have appeared to many at different funerals,and then the funeral goers are killed. Is this the end of the world. MILLIONS of people just disappear. The Church wants to know why, so they send a Professor, a priest, and a nun to find out why.
Well written book lots of cliff hangers. Some Catholic scriptures are hard to understand.
October 4, 2022
religious
Personally I found the story confusing and probably that is my issue not the author’s. It is very hard for me to write a review because like other forms of art, writing that appeals to me or doesn’t is personal, other readers will feel differently.
Personally I found the story confusing and probably that is my issue not the author’s. It is very hard for me to write a review because like other forms of art, writing that appeals to me or doesn’t is personal, other readers will feel differently.
April 27, 2021
Have not finished it yet, but it's well written with an intriguing plot, definitely worth being given a try.
April 12, 2022
Very well written. Don't agree with his theology, but did not keep me from enjoying the book. There is a bit of mild swearing, but not enough to detract me from reading it.
June 10, 2022
Oh my gosh...most interesting book that I have read in ages. Looking forward to reading more. 😇
Read
November 2, 2024DNF - Read the first two chapters. Just didn't appeal to me.
May 3, 2025
Intriguing, but
This has an intriguing plot but is poorly written with awkward grammatical errors. It needs to be edited properly. It does have potential.
This has an intriguing plot but is poorly written with awkward grammatical errors. It needs to be edited properly. It does have potential.
February 15, 2020
Absolutely riveting stories!
Very well written, easy to follow, smooth flowing reads with unpredictable surprises around every corner. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat. Never boring, a bit scary, but entirely possible. I was drawn in from the first page to the last. I hated to see the first book end, so I started the second book immediately after the first.
Very well written, easy to follow, smooth flowing reads with unpredictable surprises around every corner. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat. Never boring, a bit scary, but entirely possible. I was drawn in from the first page to the last. I hated to see the first book end, so I started the second book immediately after the first.
February 8, 2022
~I'd like to thank the author for sending me a free copy in exchange for my honest review!~
This was a really intriguing book. With this one, think murder mystery with (speculated) supernatural intervention instead of murderer. Sounds cool, right?!
From the very beginning this book was engaging. I mean, if one of the first scenes is of the main characters walking into a crime scene, you know you're on for a ride and that's what you get.
"The Eulogy of Angels" is an intriguing supernatural murder mystery, that will have you hooked the whole way. It has a great writing style, plot and ending. Also, I feel like the book was the perfect length.
All in all, this was a great thriller, and I enjoyed it all. I definitely recommend it, and I look forward to reading the next book in this series!
~Full Review To Come!~
This was a really intriguing book. With this one, think murder mystery with (speculated) supernatural intervention instead of murderer. Sounds cool, right?!
From the very beginning this book was engaging. I mean, if one of the first scenes is of the main characters walking into a crime scene, you know you're on for a ride and that's what you get.
"The Eulogy of Angels" is an intriguing supernatural murder mystery, that will have you hooked the whole way. It has a great writing style, plot and ending. Also, I feel like the book was the perfect length.
All in all, this was a great thriller, and I enjoyed it all. I definitely recommend it, and I look forward to reading the next book in this series!
~Full Review To Come!~
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February 16, 2018Interesting
I've read this story line a few times. Each author has done it a bit different and each one has been interesting enough to hold my attention. And that's not an easy thing to do lol
I've read this story line a few times. Each author has done it a bit different and each one has been interesting enough to hold my attention. And that's not an easy thing to do lol
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews