Watchers

Title: The Watchers
Author: Jon Steele
ISBN: 9780399158742
Price: $26.95

Are there really angels among us? Do fallen angels exist? Jon Steele's beautiful new novel is a haunting, mesmerizing, and genre-bending look at angels, the forces of good and evil, and the spirit of humanity.

Marc Rochat is the Watcher of Lausanne Cathedral in Switzerland. He was sent there after the death of his father. His mother always told him that one day an angel would come to him. He would know the angel  by the light in the angel's eyes and must protect the angel at all costs. Complications during his birth have left Marc physically deformed and somewhat simple. Still, he knows the duty his mother has charged him with and believes in it with all his heart. He believes, now, that he has found the angel and must protect her from the dark shadows that encroaching on the cathedral.

Katherine Taylor is a beautiful young American woman, living the high life as an exclusive call-girl, the highest paid escort in all of Switzerland. She has money to spare and all the material goods she could ask for, but Katherine has dreams and an insatiable curiosity. She's fascinated by Marc and his life, but believes she's about as far as one could be from angel status.

Jay Harper is a man so mysterious even he doesn't have the answers. He's a private detective for the Olympics committee and has no idea why, or even what qualifies him. There's a lot Harper doesn't know these days. There's more that he knows and can't explain. A trail of international murders are all pointing to Lausanne. Something dark is closing in, and Marc and Katherine may hold pieces of the puzzle.

Described by its publisher as "Silence of the Lambs meets Hunchback of Notre Dame, as told to Justin Cronin," The Watchers is a perfect blend of murder mystery, paranormal fiction, and character portrait. Steele's novel is one not to be plowed through, but to be savored and read at a leisurely pace. Some critics have called the book too long; literature of today is often break-neck speeds read in a matter of days. The Watchers is one to be treasured and enjoyed. Each page holds a piece of the mystery and what unfolds at the end is amazing.

--Kyla Paterno