Review: All Those Broken Angels

By Peter Adam Salomon
Available now from Flux (Llewelyn)
Review copy

Richard Harrison's best friend went missing when they were six.  He knows Melanie is dead, because she's been haunting him ever since.  When a girl shows up claiming to be Melanie, he knows that he has to discredit her.  But the truth may be even stranger than a boy who believes himself haunted can dream.

I really enjoyed the way my perception of ALL THOSE BROKEN ANGELS shifted throughout the story.  It is not long, but it is unpredictable.  Often, people are both right and wrong at the same time, mostly because no one would guess what is actually happening.

ALL THOSE BROKEN ANGELS does have strong horror elements, which I didn't guess from the blurb and cover.  (I was expecting a contemporary with a light paranormal edge.)  The shadow that Richard perceives seems to mostly help him, but it has hurt him unconsciously, alienated him, and proves to be a danger to some other people.  The new Melanie has her own terrible secrets that are grounded in a more terrible reality than sinister shadows.

Everything comes together very neatly at the end of ALL THOSE BROKEN ANGELS.  I didn't mind too much, because the question of who done it wasn't the point.  The relationship between Richard and Melanie (and Richard and Melanie) is what drives the novel, along with the terrifying atmosphere.  I really flew through this novel, because author Peter Adam Salomon keeps the pages turning.