Sweet Evil

Gr 8–10—Anna, a studious adoptee, learns her true origin as the forbidden daughter of a fallen and a guardian angel when she meets Kaidan, drummer for the band Lascivious and son of the Duke of Lust. Her ability to read the emotional states of other humans by their colorful auras sets her apart from other teens; it is by her own aura that Kaidan recognizes her. Higgins's world-building includes Nephilim (children of fallen angels), angels of light, and enough convenient plotting to strain the credibility of even devoted genre readers. Kaidan drives the virginal Anna from Atlanta to California to meet her father and Sister Ruth, the dying nun who arranged Anna's adoption. The road trip is fraught with sexual tension as well as revelations about the demon world as Kaidan attempts to both seduce and educate the 16-year-old. Anna's father, Belial, the Duke of Substance Abuse (the Dukes of Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, etc., are fallen angels and the devil's chief minions on Earth), has been in jail since her birth. When she finally visits him, he reveals himself as loving father and regretful angelic rebel. He is determined to train her so that she can survive-and perhaps topple-the hierarchy of demons that influences human behavior. There are moments of action and sexual intensity here but most of this lengthy novel is a setup that introduces the logistics of demon/angel/human interaction, the key players in the heavily foreshadowed drama, and the religious philosophy that underpins the plot. Still, genre readers may take to the earnest Anna and her bad boy, Kaidan.—Janice M. Del Negro, GSLIS Dominican University, River Forest, IL