Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE: The Dichotomy of Angels

AUTHOR: N.R. Walker

PUBLISHER: Blue Heart Press

LENGTH: 327 pages

RELEASE DATE: December 25, 2019

BLURB:

Nathaniel and Chasan are no ordinary angels.

Destiny chose them to be twin flames, fated mates. But Nathaniel has avoided Chasan for nearly a thousand years.

When sent to Earth on a mission to live and work together, Nathaniel comes face-to-face with his destiny. Short-tempered, petulant, and grumpy, he hates the idea of being fated to anyone and has chosen an existence of isolation rather than spending time with the calm, kind, and serene Chasan. But now he has no choice.

One is fire, the other is air; a true dichotomy of angels. Together they will be ignited, or they will be extinguished. This assignment will seal their fate either way.

REVIEW:

In The Dichotomy of Angels, N.R. Walker has crafted an amusing feel-good story featuring two angels, Chasan and Nathaniel, their mission on Earth, and their special bond. Well, “special bond” is an understatement. They are fated angels with souls that are intertwined, with twin flames alight in their chests. They can feel each other’s emotions, calm each other with a touch, and they should be a couple. But Nathaniel has been avoiding it for more than a millennium because he thinks he deserves loneliness and isolation after an incident in the year 980. As a result, he’s curmudgeonly, sad, and anxiety ridden.

Overall, it’s the abundant humor that makes this book shine, and most of it is the result of Nathaniel. He hasn’t been on Earth in many centuries and is now bumbling through modern technology and recent(ish) history. (Oh, how he despairs of the human condition during the 1940s.) He’s also struggling to get accustomed to his human body:

“Oh Heaven’s mercy.” Was his skin leaking? He looked at the palm he’d pressed to his forehead. There was definitely moisture. “Why is my skin leaking? No one ever told me human skin leaks. Chasan what is happening to me? Am I dissolving? Can humans actually do that?”

Walker compels us to contemplate the whimsy of angels walking among us. Her ideas of Heaven are comical. For example, the Hell Department, which Nathaniel oversees, is a fun place for the angel employees, with poetry readings, Karaoke nights, and a monthly book club.

Their mission among the humans is posing as a married couple who will be teaching preschool in NYC. They need to ensure the safety of a child in their class, one who is destined for greatness, but they don’t know the identity of the child. On teaching four-year-olds, Nathaniel remarks:

“I can do this! It’s just like Hell … but with snacks and naps.”

If Nathaniel rejects Chasan at the end of the mission, it could have grave consequences, so Saint Peter has every available angel watching and helping the couple. On a positive note, the sex between the two virgin men is great, even if they must resort to watching porn to learn all the ins and outs. So to speak.

The epilogue is a satisfying one which takes place decades – in human years – in the future, which is no time at all in Heaven.

The story was well-paced and flew by when I read it. The secondary characters, mostly angels, were well feathered, er, fleshed out. In keeping with an author of Walker’s caliber, there are no editing errors to stumble over or plot holes to fall into. All in all, this is a clever novel chock full of enjoyment and I would definitely recommend it.

RATING:

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