Angel Time by Anne Rice

This first in the Songs for the Seraphim series introduces Toby O’Dare. Toby (later called Lucky) is an assassin for the “good guys”, the U.S. government. He was brought up Catholic in New Orleans and once dreamed of becoming a priest. He grew up in a dysfunctional family with an alcoholic mother, an absent father and two younger siblings. It became Toby’s job to hold the family together. His one passion is the lute, a medieval instrument that he excels at playing. He thought he was successful at managing his mother’s alcoholism until he returned from his high school graduation ceremony to find his brother and sister drowned in the bathtub, and his mother dead from slitting her wrists. Overcome by the horror and futility of his efforts, he leaves New Orleans. He remakes himself as a street musician in New York City, which brings him to the notice of Alberto, a restaurant owner who gives him a job as a waiter. When the Russian mob moves in and takes over Alberto’s business, Alberto holes up at Toby’s apartment. To repay Alberto’s kindness, Toby takes it upon himself to clear out the Mob; and he does this with ruthless efficiency; exterminating everyone in sight. After, he tells Alberto what he’s done, Alberto introduces to men who will “… take care of him”. So begins his career as Lucky, a government assassin; where he kills by stealthily applied lethal injections. He is quick, precise, and deadly. Lucky is a man of contradictions, he loves music and beauty but hates blood and violence. But he is a tortured soul who has been contemplating suicide for years. After his latest assassination; he is approached by an angel of the Lord, Malchiah. Malchiah offers him a chance of redemption; if he becomes the earthly agent for the angels, he will attain God’s forgiveness. Lucky accepts and he sent back to 13th century England, where, as Dominican friar Brother Toby, he is to protect a Jewish couple wrongly accused of having murdered their young daughter for her conversion to Christianity. 13th century England was a brutal place, rift with prejudice against the Jews, suspicion and intolerance. 100 years before, a child believed to have been crucified by the Jews was made a Saint, Little St. Hugh, in Lincoln. Now the Dominican Friars want a saint for the town of Norwich, and has contrived a story to achieve this. They assert that Meir and Fluria killed their daughter Lea because she converted to Christianity after visiting a church on Christmas Eve. Lea actually died from a burst appendix; called the Iliac Passion in the 13th century. Because her parents buried her under cover of night, there is no body as evidence. How he accomplishes this task through bravery and faith against severe prejudice and overwhelming odds is a compelling story. This expertly written and vividly imagined tale transports you first into the mind of a contract killer; and then to a unforgiving past where the desires of the venal and powerful cause hardship and heartache for the innocent. You will root for Brother Toby as he skillfully navigates the treacherous path between what is wanted by the avaricious monks, what the superstitious mob believes and what really happened to Lea.