not brilliant writing by any means, but i rather enjoyed this because it hit all kinds of buttons for me: bad-ass angels, ancient conspiracies, etc. the on-the-nose names were a bit distracting though (grigori, gabriella, etc).

my favourite part of the book by far is the middle third, which is a back story flashback to wwii. the story of two young women being inducted into the world of the angelologists kept me turning pages more than any part of the book.

i wouldn't recommend this for everyone, but it's a decent thriller if you're a fan of the subject matter. i'll likely read the sequel(s) (and see the movie-- it's been optioned already).