Book Review: Conquest: Angels of Chicago by C.J. Somersby

The Apocalypse is coming, and private detective Sam Black is standing in its way – unbeknownst to him, that is… In this first in a new series about the literal fight between Good and Evil, we learn that legions of biker angels (on both sides) are preparing to unleash the Four Horsemen and usher in the end of the world. Unless, of course, a small team of renegades can prevent it…

The basic concept is not a new one, although the addition of biker angels certainly was (at least to me). The more-than-meets-the-eye nature of Sam’s character is standard fare in paranormal stories, and while it plays out in some interesting ways, there aren’t that many surprises there. The surprises come in the form of the angels – particularly those on the “good” side, who seem to straddle common notions of good and evil far more than one would expect… Alleam, as the kingpin of these, is an enigma – and not always in a good way. The supporting good guys are not all that well-developed – I’m suspecting that they will play into the story in a bigger and more defined way as the books progress – and the bad guys are fairly stereotypically evil.

The novel bits of this novel feel like they’re just starting to present themselves – in a series that’s not necessarily a bad thing, although read as a one-off, it left me feeling a little at a loss. The pacing was a little uneven for me – I’d be entirely into the story, then suddenly hit a lull for a chapter – but the writing is easy enough to stay with through those times. I think the Apocalypse is playing itself out in novels (or at least, it is for me), and it’s getting tough to come up with truly original constructs in the genre as a result. Still, there’s some clever stuff here, and if you’re interested in another take on the end of the world, this one may be for you…