Wednesday, August 28, 2013

The Angelfire Trilogy by Courtney Allison Moulton

Book One - Angelfire


Ellie Monroe is a senior at a high school in the suburbs of Detroit. The days leading up to her seventeen birthday are chaotic at best. She suffers from terrifying, reoccurring nightmares that drugs and therapy do not help. Her parents are constantly fighting when her father is at home. Only her best friend Kate understands and lends a sympathetic ear. After school one day, she spots a boy that she hasn’t seen before standing under a tree. He is cute but looks too old for high school. Ellie gets the feeling as if she knows him from somewhere but shakes it off. Then she notices him staring back at her. Ellie blushes and heads to her mother’s car. The next morning, she gets a call from Kate to turn on the morning news. Mr. Meyer, her economics teacher has been found dead that morning behind a bar. His body has been severely mutilated and a long hunting knife with a gut hook was left behind.

School is cancelled for the day and Kate comes over to Ellie’s house. After a nap that ends in another nightmare for Ellie and a movie marathon, the girls decide to meet up with some friends mat the ice cream shop. Not wanting to talk about Mr. Meyer’s murder, Ellie tunes out her friends and scans the people in the shop. She sees the boy from outside the school from the day before. Noticing his appearance, Ellie once again gets the feeling that she that she knows him from somewhere. He notices her staring and he looks back at her. She turns her attention back to her friends. Ellie goes to throw away her trash. When she turns around, the boy is right behind her. He asks her if she remembers him. Disappointment is on his face when she answers only from the day before. He introduces himself as Will. Her friend Landon comes over and tells Will to stop talking to Ellie. She tells Will goodbye and Landon to chill out as they walk away.

At dinner that night, Ellie’s father is home for once. Tuning out the conversation, it isn’t long before Ellie realizes that her parents are arguing over her nightmares and bring up Mr. Meyer’s death. Ellie gets up to head to her room. She spends the evening watching movies. Her parents continue to argue. At midnight, the happy birthday texts begin. She decides to spend her first moments as a seventeen year old by sneaking out of the house and sitting on the front porch. Soon, she decides to go for a walk around the block. She hasn’t gone too far when she hears a low rumble in front of her. There isn’t a sign of a car and thoughts of Mr. Meyer cause her to think that maybe she should have stayed home. Suddenly, Will appears in front of her and she becomes nervous. Only four houses from home, she turns to go but Will stops her. Ellie sees nothing but comments on the smell. Will tells her that she isn’t able to see into the Grim yet. He is talking to someone but Ellie still doesn’t see anything.

Realizing that she knows nothing about him, Ellie heads home. Will tells her to wait. She turns to see Will afraid. He asks her to come to him but Ellie shouts “no!” “Don’t scream. You’ll make him attack.” Panicking, Will grabs Ellie before she can leave/ will is too strong and Ellie can’t escape. He comments that he is ready to quit playing games. He presses his palm to her forehead. There is a blinding white light and her heads feels as if it will explode. A cruel wind batters her but she is supported by Will. The light and wind disappear and Ellie thinks she sees wings. Blinking, there is nothing there. Tired but energized, the haze around her disappears. With clear eyes, she sees Will marvels that she can see through the darkness of the night. Then she sees a large, dog-like monster. Not afraid but calm, Ellie is flooded by strange memories and thoughts that she knows are her own. Will is suddenly familiar and Ellie realizes that she needs to fight but has no weapons. Will kicks the beast back and Ellie holds out her arms to will two khopesh swords out of thin air into her hands. The weapons feel familiar. Beginning to spar with the beast, it grabs the hood of her sweatshirt and yanks her to the ground. Ellie smashes her elbow into its face and it drops her. Will has it by the throat and tells Ellie “now!” before she can think; she has shoved a sword through the beast’s throat, turning it to ash. Ellie passes out.

The next morning, Ellie wakes up exhausted. She is annoyed to have dreamed of Will and her nightmare seemed all too real. She is still in her clothes from the day before except now her sweatshirt is missing. Her mom makes her pancakes for her birthday and promises to take her to buy a car that afternoon. Her father has already left for the day. Ellie asks her mom if she heard anything last night. She apologizes for all of the arguing but Ellie says that she means like a growling dog. Her mother gives Ellie an odd look and asks if she had another nightmare. No, I wasn’t sleeping and her mom tells her to shut her windows. Ellie thinks that she must have been dreaming and that she is now officially crazy.

Later at school, Ellie washes her hands in the bathroom and looks in the mirror. She sees thin black lines spreading from her hair, across her cheek and around her eye. Frantic, she can’t wipe them off. Backing away from the mirror, Ellie closes her eyes. When she opens them, the lines are gone. She composes herself and leaves. In the hallway, she runs into Will. Scaring her, Ellie asks him why he is at school if he doesn’t go there. Then she notices the tattoo covering his arm. It reminds her of the lines on her face just a moment ago. His are beautiful and she can’t stop staring. Will asks her if she is alright. I’m fine, she answers. Will tells her that he needs to talk with her about that night before. She tries to leave but he is adamant that her life depends on it.

Who is Will? Why has he been watching Ellie? Are Ellie’s dreams just nightmares or is she remembering something? What really happened the night of her seventeenth birthday? Does Mr. Meyer’s murder have something to do with Ellie? And just what is happening to Ellie?

Wings of the Wicked – book two

Now that Ellie has discovered the truth about her existence, her world has been turned upside down. More human than in her previous lives, Ellie struggles to maintain a normal teenage life with her duties as the Preliator. Even though both will and Ellie have admitted their feelings for one another, will is keeping his distance and tries to keep their relationship on a business like level. A relationship between the two of them could be seen as improper and even considered dangerous. And Ellie's heart is breaking.

Caden comes to Ellie's school one day to warn her that Bastian has recovered the sarcophagus of Enshi. Caden likes things status quo and doesn't wish for the end of the world. Ellie realizes that Bastian just doesn't want her soul destroyed but for the Second War or the Apocalypse. He is also there to warn her that Bastian is hunting her. He is sending his worse and their order s are to capture Ellie alive. Bastian is looking for the key that will break the Enochian or angelic spell keeping whatever is inside imprisoned.

In a preemptive move, two more angelic reapers, Marcus and Ava, join up with them. Ellie knows Marcus from the past but Ava is a completely new face to her and neither girl gets along with the other. Ellie is a little jealous of Ava because she suspects that there may have been something between her and Will in the past. When  Ava demands that Ellie fight her weapon less to prove her abilities, Ellie lays her hands on Ava's wrists and calls all of her power, Angelfire, forth. Burning her, Ava says that is enough. Why after all of this time is Ellie in possession of a new power? Could it have something to do with the fact it took her forty years to reincarnate? Can Ellie balance both parts of her life; human and Preliator?  Is Ava really demonic instead of angelic as Ellie would like? Has something gone on between her and Will in the past? Why is she still having problems recalling her past? Is Ellie the key to unlock the angelic spell on the sarcophagus? Can she evade Bastion's minions? Why is Caden passing Information along to her and can he be trusted? Can Will get past the restrictions placed on him in regards to his relationship with Ellie or are they doomed to be apart?

Shadows in the Silence– book three

After the cliffhanger in Wings of the Wicked, it all comes down to the final battle. Ellie must find the relics needed to destroy the Enshi and save herself. Who will survive and who will die in the thrilling conclusion of the Angelfire trilogy.

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