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The Reapers Are the Angels
It's zombies meets the Southern Gothic tradition in Alden Bell's dark yet luminous novel The Reapers Are the Angels. . . . If you loved Justin Cronin's The Passage, this summer's vampire hit, you'll get a charge out of The Reapers Are the Angels. It's a literary/horror mashup that is unsettlingly good. —Carol Memmott, USA Today
Bell has created an exquisitely bleak tale and an unforgettable heroine whose eye for beauty and aching need for redemption somehow bring wonder into a world full of violence and decay. —Publisher's Weekly (starred review)
Alden Bell's gorgeously written and bloody tale, which mutates from a zombie story into something of beauty and meaning. . . . Bell clearly owes great literary debt to Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" and the Southern Gothic school of Faulkner and O'Connor, but The Reapers Are the Angels shows the reader that they need not settle for mere blood 'n' guts when horror tales can, and should, go many extra miles. —Sarah Weinman, Summer Reading Pick, Salon.com
In The Reapers Are the Angels, text flows with a providential force that delivers the story from the temporality of the flesh—and the flesh-eating—into high-stakes biblical territory, where the dramas of the living (and living dead) take their cue from the Word of the Lord, that quirky, time-tested author narrating in the sky—or living and writing in New York. . . . The vision is as towering, awful, and miraculous as they come, written down by a writer whose work is a testament to the lure of language. —Meghan Roe, The Brooklyn Rail
At just over 200 pages, Angels doesn’t give [his heroine] time to wear out her welcome, and whenever the introspection gets too heavy, there’s always another round of satisfying carnage to lure readers down the next dusty road. Grade: A-. —Christian Williams, A.V. Club
The Reapers Are the Angels sparks the imagination and pulls at the gut. The story is evocatively written and eloquent in its ghastly details. Bell's writing is lyrical, intense and disturbingly violent. The Reapers Are the Angels is more than a grisly and satisfying horror yarn—it's a horror story with a soul. —Julie Williamson, Deseret News
● From the Blogs ●
The Reapers Are the Angels . . . is a haunting and beautifully written vision of fractured humanity that may soon be regarded as a classic within its genre. Alden Bell’s characters are vivid and detailed with both major and minor players benefiting from a pleasant and deserved amount of attention. The narrative, as powerful and eloquent as has been seen in this genre for some time, is stark and commanding with never a word wasted. The reader will find themselves completely immersed within the post-apocalyptic world of the author’s creation which is, despite being plagued by the undead, still vibrant and alive with nature and beauty. Reapers breathes new life back into the post-apocalyptic zombie novel. An oddly beautiful tale (considering the subject matter), featuring an hypnotic narrative and near perfect ending. Very highly recommended. 9.2/10: Fantasy Book Review Book of the Month, August 2010.
I am stunned (nearly) speechless by every aspect of this book--the writing, the characters, the plot, every shred of everything. . . . This morning I finished reading, closed the book, let out a big sigh of relief/contentment/sadness and, from the length of my exhalation, realized I must have been holding my breath for half the book. In the past two years or so, I’ve reviewed over 145 books for this blog and I have never read a book like this one. It is gorgeous. It is disgusting. It is just so good. I’m fairly certain it has ruined me for many books to come. 5/5 stars.
One page into The Reapers Are the Angels, it was clear that this was a book that belongs on a shelf with Hawthorne, Dostoevsky, and Calvino. Beautiful images, carefully-crafted phrases, perfectly-balanced nuances--clearly, the work of a skilled writer. . . . Like the best zombie stories (to which it seems somehow wrong to compare this book), the undead here serve to highlight the depravity and soul-deadness of their as-yet-undecayed prey. Unlike its gore-soaked literary forebears, however, The Reapers Are the Angels lives up to the promise of its title and shows how beauty and redemption come, not in the absence of horror and evil, nor even by overcoming or conquering them, but somehow through them and in harmony with them. A paradox, perhaps, but it’s such complexities and their transcendence that sets great books apart from pulp page-turners. 5/5 stars.
The Reapers Are the Angels is a real triumph, a literary fantasy where the zombies are mostly window-dressing. This is a novel more concerned with people and their relationships, with the human spirit and all its flaws and frailties. It's a story driven by the characters' needs to establish some sort of order in their lives, some sort of goal to cling to, and all the pitfalls that arise because of this need. It speaks of resilience and belief, of hope and sorrow, and the need to look for the beauty in life, no matter how hard that might be. An instant post-apocalyptic classic. —James Long, Speculative Horizons
Zombies, much like vampires in recent years, have seen a resurgence in TV, film, novels and comics. Therefore finding something new and interesting can seem like an impossible task, but Alden Bell has accomplished it with style. . . . The Reapers Are the Angels is a haunting, beautiful and engaging story full of moments of horror, where very few of these come at the hands of zombies. It is also a very powerful story about humanity and one that I can see myself reading again. Like I Am Legend I think it will become a classic of the genre and one against which others will be measured.
The Reapers will terrify you, give you nightmares, and make you flinch when someone approaches from behind. The horror and gore is vivid and near nauseating. The revelations and philosophies will make you question your priorities; re-evaluate your motivations; and invoke an insatiable desire to stare at the stars, feel the grass beneath your bare feet and the shocking cold of rain on your face, to sing out loud, and to wander in wonderment. Temple’s world may be sick, but through her thoughts and eyes it is unquestionably precious and awe inspiring. With a poetic depth, brilliant description, and horrifying exploits, Bell presents a distinctive story. I will keep this book, I will buy the final publication, and I will read this book again and again. 5/5 stars.
The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell starts off like a lyrical melody that both fills your head and packs a wallop all in the same breath-a spicy Southern feast wrapped up in soft vowels and a wayward twang. For such a small tale (a mere two hundred and twenty or so compact pages) Reapers has more punch than The Passage, simply because of its soul and its enigmatic lead, and for its finality. . . . Unforgettable in its finality and riveting in its soulfulness. 5 stars (Fiendishly Bookish's Top 10 of 2010).
Every so often a book will just come out of nowhere, grab you right by the brain and whisk you away into its world for a journey that you’ll never forget. . . . When I realised that The Reapers was a zombie book then I knew I was going to have a good time with it. What I didn’t realise though was just how good a time it was going to be. The Reapers Are the Angels is something really special. —Graeme Flory, Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
Do not go looking for pulp entertainment: that isn’t to be found here, and Bell neatly bypasses all the zombie uprising froth. Instead he presents us with a connection of haunting images years after the shit has hit the fan, each scene revealing a little more about the world, but never too much to explain it all away. . . . Oh, the zombies. Yeah, they’re there – but as I said, they’re not the stars. Because this is a novel of humanity stripped of any humanity, of the raw limits of existence; it’s a flux of dreamy and bleak images, a blurring of the lines between being a human and an animal. And I loved every word of it.
I'm not sure I can express the enormity of
this book. When I first saw the cover I knew it was no ordinary
zombie post-apocalypse novel, but I had no way of knowing the depth
at which it would touch me. The Reapers Are the Angels
I never thought a zombie novel would make me cry. But, The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell did just that. The Earth is just a shell filled with cutthroats, hunters, and people who are afraid to look out their windows, and Bell's prose captures this flawlessly. I can't quite explain the texture of his writing. Haunting. Lyrical. Macabre. Southern poetry, perhaps? . . . I wish I could conjure the language I need to properly discuss this book, but every time I try, the words escape me. Fans of World War Z, Edgar Allan Poe—fans of horror, sci-fi, guts and gore—literary muses and geeky teenagers alike: this book is for you. —J.P. Wickwire, The Daily Monocle
I really enjoyed this story! If you like post-apocalyptic, give this one a tumble. It's a quick and easy read, very well-written, with some fun, rip-roaring moments. And it also increased my vocabulary! Rating: 9/10. —Heather, Cerebral Girl in a Redneck World
Overall, I was flabbergasted when I closed this book. Part of me looked down at the cover, and couldn't believe, I actually read a book filled with zombies. The other part was amazed that I loved it. . . . It was powerfully written, the world was rich, edgy, crude, and credible. The characters were memorable, engaging, and sometimes fricken creepy. . . . But most of all, it was the protagonist, that captured my heart. 5 stars. —Lori, Escape Between the Pages
Alden Bell has offered a moving and fast-paced story. . . . I haven't been in such suspense while reading in a long time. The Reapers Are the Angels has all the emptiness of The Road, set in the grotesque South of Flannery O'Connor and Carson McCullers; bleak, but rich. A fun, but thought-provoking book with delicate prose, I really enjoyed my first zombie novel. —Bethany Anderson, Words, Words, Words
Awesome Read! I think the author totally rocked out the zombie angle in this one! I have to say that I was really impressed with the overall storyline. I read this one in a day because I just could NOT put it down.
The Reapers Are the Angeles is an exciting fast-paced thriller that grips readers from start to finish. —Harriet Klausner, Alternative Worlds
Each book has its own power and uses it to inform, educate and entertain. This book is powerful in a way that I’ve never encountered before.
I loved this book. This is a zombie novel with vision and heart, that can even be considered high literature. It is haunting and beautiful and thought-provoking while at the same time being brutally realistic. I could not put it down and ended up reading it in a day. . . .The story has equal parts action, adventure, and philosophy. 5/5 stars.
When I first opened the pages of The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell I wasn't quite sure what to expect. . . . There have been so many zombie mash-ups lately that I wasn't quite sure where this novel was going to fit in. I couldn't help thinking the story was Cormac McCarthy's The Road with a sprinkling of zombies. But as I started reading I found out that this wasn't your average zombie novel. The Reapers Are The Angels is true Southern Gothic that delivers a haunting story of survival and the longing for forgiveness. —Suzanne Levin, Chick with Books
The Reapers Are the Angels is a beautifully written book, its prose fat and rich in the Southern Gothic style. . . . All in all, this is a curious and promising debut that will likely attract readers from both the speculative fiction and the more mainstream or literary audiences.
Overall, The Reapers Are the Angels is well executed and lyrical in its violence and desolation, and with a great character at the core. I enjoyed the book and liked that it didn’t stick to conventions and found the characters fun to mull over. This is a book that will stalk the dark corners of my mind for a while. 8/10.
The story is engaging and very different from what I expected. The Reapers Are the Angels is both well written and engaging. Strong prose mixed with unforgettable characters and an underlying sense of hope for humanity make this book a triumph. . . . I would recommend this book as both an individual read and as part of a book club.
The writing in the novel is spot on. It’s descriptive enough to give great detail to the world contained in the novel, but not so much that it bogs down the pacing. . . . I read this book so fast and couldn’t put it down. I was so engaged in the story and the characters that I found myself reading in every moment possible throughout my day. . . . The Reapers Are the Angels is now one of my favorite zombie novels. 5/5 stars.
This type of book is not one I would normally consider my cup of tea. That happens from time to time when you do reviews. But, this one really changed my mind about Zombie books. I didn't think I would like them, but I got caught up in this one from the beginning.
Between Temple’s voice and the lean prose I could visualize the scenes in The Reapers Are the Angels better than any book I’ve read recently. This is a double thumbs up with no reservations. —Rebecca and TJ, Deuling Review, Dirty Sexy Books
This is a fine debut novel with a distinctive voice reminiscent of the western. It is a call to savour the natural beauty around us even though we may be hard pressed with worry and asks that old question, are we bound to our fate or can we make our own future? . . . A post apocalyptic zombie novel worth reading. —Carole, Midleton & Fermoy Books
In light of the wealth of post-apocalyptic stories like The Book of Eli, The Road, and The Passage, now filling book shelves and movie theatres all across America The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell turned out to be both a pleasant surprise and a real treat to read and in some ways is better than the others I’ve mentioned above. . . . [I] was quite pleased to find what I believe might one of the year’s best sub-genre releases. 4/5 stars.
This is a good summary of my experience reading Alden Bell’s The Reapers Are the Angels: my boyfriend and I were driving to New Jersey to meet some members of his family at the Cherry Hill Mall. Usually I don’t read in the car when it’s just the two of us, but I’d been reading the book while I was waiting and I was halfway through and I couldn’t put it down. By the time we got there I had about ten pages left, he parked the car and got out but I was still frantically trying to get to the end. “Honey,” he said, “Come on!” “I JUST NEED TO FINISH THIS BOOK OKAY LEAVE ME ALONE!!!” I snapped at him. Then I proceeded to sit in the car until I was done. If this is a new trend–that is, the Southern Gothic style writing and post apocalyptic setting–then I for one am all for it. Bell does it quite well. —Amanda, A Study of Reading Habits
The Reapers Are the Angels is a deeply moving character study of a young girl surviving on her own in a relentlessly bleak post-apocalyptic landscape as she grapples with her own darker nature. Bell weaves a haunting tale that packs an astonishingly powerful emotional punch for just over two hundred pages. This is easily the most literary zombie novel you’ll ever read, and it’s certain that it will come to be regarded as a classic of young adult literature. Go buy it. Rating: A (100/100).
Reapers was such a great read on so many levels. The uncertainty of what Bell would come up with next in this world and what Temple would encounter had me holding my breath and frantically turning pages. . . . An excellent read for me--definitely 5 stars. This novel would appeal to those who enjoyed Cormac McCarthy's The Road or Richard Matheson's I Am Legend. I can see this being made into a movie as well.
The Reapers Are the Angels is an exceptionally well-crafted novel. It has depth and beauty which is no easy task to convey in a zombie novel. Alden Bell has much to be proud of with this book.
I was going to give you one of those great comparisons of ‘If you like X then you’ll like this book--but I can’t really compare it to anyone else--it’s wholly original in a genre that sometimes lacks for new ideas . . . but not this time! I would give this 4 Bloody Eyeball Martinis out of 5.
The Reapers Are the Angels is a book that defies expectations in a good way. . . . It's a story that offers finely-tuned suspense balanced with a terrific philosophical sensibility. It is, without a doubt, the best book I've read this year so far. . . . [It] is a such a well written book that if you don't find yourself reading it and wondering whether you appreciate your own life enough, then you just don't have a soul. I'd give this book a rare (for me) but well deserved 5/5 stars. —Fantasy & SciFi Lovin' News & Reviews
Hummingbirds
IndieBound Indie Next Notable, November 2009 Daily Beast Hot Read
In Gaylord’s winning debut, teenage girls and their male teachers vie for power at a Manhattan prep school. The author, himself a teacher at a Manhattan prep school, is a keen observer of this privileged world. He captures [the adult] point of view in such lush language that readers might overlook his shrewd, subtle presentation of the students. A very grown-up novel about adolescence and the folly of adults, by an impressive new voice in American fiction. —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Provocative and well-written. —People
The Carmine-Casey prep school girls flutter through Gaylord's debut, but they're not alone; their teachers are insecure flirts and cheats amid divorces and trysts. . . . [T]he complicated web of loyalties, attraction, competition and camaraderie provides much tension as things play out—but not in an expected way. . . . Gaylord's tale of overeducated men and the teenage students who exhibit the finesse and understanding their teachers lack hits all the right notes. —Publisher's Weekly
Especially good at characterization, Gaylord has delivered a story that's ripe with acute and wry observations on men and women, competition, sexuality, and secrets. He's created a slippery slope, but readers will find the terrain surprisingly navigable as the novel ends. Highly recommended. —Library Journal
The book is a languishing and lovely read about the people who spend their days in the hallowed halls of Carmine-Casey, and sometimes their evenings as well. It is also about what they do when they leave these hallowed halls. It is about friendship, gender, age, love, sex and wanting—wanting to be something different, something that is colorful and special, that all will notice and admire. —Bonnie Brodie, MostlyFiction Book Review
If you're the kind of smart reader who likes complex . . . grown-up books where people have complicated relationships and are confronted by morally ambiguous choices, this book is a must read. —Heeb Magazine
A Nabokovian Gossip Girl that is refreshingly smart in how it is less about the labels and more about the lust exhibited by students and teachers. . . . There are male authors who write such believable female characters and conversations that you know they must have some female friend informing the editing process. . . . What’s even more impressive about Gaylord’s female insights is that they are mostly about teenaged females, an even more elusive breed. . . . Hummingbirds entertains with an intellectual edge that will surely satisfy the educated reader wanting some fun. —Corrine White, The Dartmouth
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can easily stand beside novels like The Road
,
Earth Abides
,
and A Canticle for Leibowitz
,
as a modern day classic. Yes, there are zombies and yes, there are
scenes with blood and mayhem, but those take back seat to the human
condition. [It] is a character driven story that reads more like
literary fiction than genre fiction. . . . I'm putting The
Reapers Rre the Angels on my "keepers for life" stack of books,
and yes there were a few tears shed during the reading of this book.
5/5 stars.