Angel City

April 29, 2013
Steele’s sequel to 2012’s The Watchers does everything the middle of a trilogy should do, building on its predecessor and setting up the final volume with a brutal cliffhanger, while also remaining accessible to readers who missed the first book. After a brief prologue set in 13th-century Occitania depicting the Cathars’ last stand against the Crusaders, the action shifts to present-day Paris, where terrorists have seized a tourist boat on the Seine. The authorities, fearing the terrorists will explode a dirty bomb that could destroy the city center, send Jay Harper, who played a major role in The Watchers, to the rescue. Though Harper, as the reader soon learns, is no longer the man he once was, he gets on the trail of a Cathar treasure that resembles a sextant and that may herald the salvation of all humanity. Small doses of humor help ease this metaphysical thriller along. Agent: Georgina Capel, Capel & Land Ltd.