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BOOK TOUR x Random Things Tours - Angel Town by Fiona Cane

 



Lola has never know anything but The Guardians of God. She has lived in peace in the Commune with her family, waiting for the day their leader Michael has called Ascension Day. The day the world will end, and they will all ascend into the heavens and be reunited with God to spend their afterlives as angels. She's never been into the 'otherworld', never had a reason to think anything different. 

So she's honoured but unsettled when she's summoned to live with their leader, to the confusion of everyone else - and even makes a new friend there, Jos, who has joined them from the outside.

Miles away, Donna continues her search for her wayward son - until that search brings her to a commune deep in the desert - but finds as peaceful and harmonious as they claim to be, something terrible is happening. She can't get in, nobody inside can get out - and she's sure her son is in there. But why? 

And with Ascension day just a few months away, time is running out whether the world is ending or not. 

Angel Town is a gripping tale of real-life horror - taking a look into the world of religious cults and fanaticism. The intense dynamics of the cult were remarkably written, giving the reader that strange feeling knowing these characters are missing so much of the truth that is clear to us and waiting to see if they will break free. It was claustrophobic, isolating and simmering with tension. 

There are some uncomfortably familiar parallels with real-life historical instances of cults, reminding us that even though this is a work of fiction, it is a very real and terrible danger. 

The juxtaposition between Lola and Donna as narrators was brilliant - giving us an inside and outside perspective, creating an entire picture of the events happening inside the commune that we know the characters don't have. 

Inside the cult, the members dialogue was written phonetically and colloquially, which was a bit difficult to read at times and can be off-putting to some readers, but isn't too prominent that it was a big issue for me personally. 

A dark story of manipulation, misdirection and misplaced faith that reminds us that the only devils are the ones who walk among us. 


About the Author:

Born and educated in Sussex, Fiona Cane graduated from Exeter University with a degree in philosophy. She worked in London in film, TV and entertainment PR, before moving back to Sussex with her husband and young family. When she wasn’t coaching tennis or looking after her two children, she’d be scratching away at her latest novel. She has written five other books: the mystery, A Song Unsung (2021); the literary thriller, The Other Side of the Mountain; the cosy mystery, A Push Too Far, the psychological thriller, When the Dove Cried; and the mystery Killing Fame.”






Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours and Fiona Cane for inviting me to take part in this tour. I was gifted a reviewers copy of this title in return for my honest review. 

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