Angel Time - Book Review

The inherent importance of voice has always been specific to Anne Rice' work. Most specifically in "Interview With A Vampire" the voice of Louis was very clear no matter which way one looked. Within her new novel "Angel Time" [Anne Rice/Knopf/288 pgs], the perspective of a 21st Century mind cloistered within a hell not of his own making is quite vivid. Permeating between New Orleans, New York and San Juan Capistrano as a permutation of the lead's character's life and psychosis gives the book undeniable culture and breathe which has always been a harken of Rice's talent. The key figure here is that of Lucky The Fox whom, when we first see him, is a shell of a man confined by his own fears and choices. The inherent presence of religion, as in many of Rice's novels, is as much in the forefront of the mind of this character as it ever was in any of her others. Lucky is a man who loves the elements of the old Cathedrals and the essence of the Dominican monks. This first act of the book lets you into this man's mind as one who is confused by his site in life but is knowingly motivated in what he is good at it. The inclusion of the lute as a musical outlay gives the reader a sense of the character's classicism while keeping the mood focused as ever it is within a sense of gothic architecture.The "Angel Time" that the title refers to is a wonderful turn that allows this assassin who believes he is working for The Right Man to find his redemption as it were. Through this progression, the reader gets to see the life of this man Lucky whose real named is Toby  O'Hare. The lyricism of his early life in New Orleans and the mythic basis of his beginnings in terms of suffering is quite intensive and, if one has been in New Orleans, that world is so very much. When the consequences of related actions force a relocation to NY, the aspect of what made this man this way takes form in an action perspective that is unlike Rice in style in many ways instead indicative of Cimino mixed with an element of Puzo. However this change in context is undeniably necessary. The last act of the novel which continues with a certain suspension of disbelief brings the element of faith into focus with the use of a certain MacGuffin which cannot be revealed. In essence, it uses the execution of a certain plot mechanism while focusing more on the perspective of love versus the looming element of death. It has the possibility of angelic continuation but it all becomes a matter of acceptance. Again one of the most intrinsic aspects of the novel is in its perspectives with its ability to change points of view at very specific points in time. For that, it shows the work of a master. Out of 5, I give it a 3.