Archangel Protocol

by Lyda Morehouse

Book Overview

It is Presidential election time in the USA, and once again the debate is dominated by religion. But this is the near future, and the candidates have good reason to trumpet their belief in God.The... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451458273
• ISBN13: 9780451458278
• Release Date: May 2001
• Publisher: Roc
• Length: 342 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

I Lost Sleep to Finish This Book

It's been a long time since a book has kept me up half the night, but Archangel Protocol succeeded. It is an intriguing mix of religion and technology. In this post-apocalyptic world, the end of the old order came with the Medusa bomb. The effects of this bomb were so horrific that the nations turned against secular humanism, preceived as the philosophy that allowed this science to flourish. The new governments required that each person have a declared established religion in order to be a citizen and to be connected to the commerce and information web of the LINK. One of the harshest punishments is to be deprived of this connection, which is implanted at birth (if the individual is born under comfortable circumstances). The have-nots in this case are a combination of dissenters, criminals and the desperately poor.Deirdre, the viewpoint character, was a police officer. Now she is an excommunicate private detective eking out a bare existence doing work for barter. The story is told in first person so the reader begins as cut off from information about the current state of the culture as Deirdre is. As the story unfolds, Deirdre meets a cop named Michael who asks her to become involved in a risky investigation. Deirdre already has her own risky connections though with the leader of a Jewish terrorist cell and Mouse, the owner of mouse.net, an illicit version of LINK that is available to the disenfrancised. Mouse is also the programmer of Page, an Artificial Intelligence that is one of the two recognized as closest to humanity. Page operates as Mouse's presense online hence the name-- as in Home Page. Sly humor, fast paced action and the ability to convey suspence make this book one of the best reads I've had in Science Fiction this year.

Worth the price of admission

Archangel Protocol is a fast fun read. CyberPunk with a sense of humor, the book starts when detective Deidre McMannus is asked to take a new case. Her prospective client has the name of an angel, looks to die for, and a profession that makes Deidre very nervous. He's a cop. A former officer herself, Deidre hasn't had the best relations with her fellows since a scandal involving her partner cost her her badge, her faith, and her access to the LINK -- the computer system that runs the world. Since a person can't even buy a cup of coffee legally without the LINK, she's been living on the fringes of the law ever since. Now, maybe, just maybe she has a chance to get some of her own back. A world divided into theocracies, a murdered Pope, and a senator who seems to be God's own choice for the next U.S. president add spice to the mix. Pick up a copy, put up your feet, and settle in for a good story.

Bet you can't put it down

Archangel Protocol is a fast-paced, science fiction fantasy hybrid with a noir cyberpunk flavor. Because it touches on so many genres and sub genres, as well as the subject of the fate of humanity, there really is something for everyone in this book. Lyda Morehouse has developed a cast of wonderfully believable and fascinating characters, complete with goals, dreams, and, most importantly, flaws. Unlike some books with many key characters, the protagonist is well developed and likable, rather than simply relying on those in supporting roles to inspire interest and sympathy. The world has a complex history and political system, all of which have been built without an excess of techno garbage usually associated with cyberpunk. The new and unfamiliar is explained smoothly and succinctly, keeping the story from getting bogged down in definitions and description. The pace of the story complements the rapidly unfolding plot, making it an extremely tough book to put down.There are moments of beautiful imagery, giving the reader a vision of this future world and the people who live within it. It is a world which I hope to be able to visit again, and I strongly look forward to reading this author's next book.

You will not want this book to end.

If for some unfathomable reason William Gibson and Andrew Greeley co-wrote a book and took a few plot suggestions from Nora Roberts, that book might have turned out like Archangel Protocol. There is a dark dis-utopian future. Government is a Theocracy. Citizenship is controlled by access to a cyber world called the Link. The Link may be haunted by Angels. The hero is an excommunicated Irish Catholic Cop with good soul and lost faith. There are a whole flock of ethnically diverse Angels who use multiple and revolving pronouns when they talk about God. To top everything off there is a nice romantic subplot.None of this should work together, but it does. Wonderfully. Morehouse has woven all these elements with a deft hand. This is a novel where the action never stops, but at the same time she has characters who are more than cardboard and even tosses in some ideas for you to think about. As I neared the end of the book I found my self in the reader's dilemma of wanting to read slowly so it would last longer and at the same time unable to slow down because I wanted to see how it was going to end. I definitely am putting Morehouse on my list of authors to watch for.

Like "Left Behind" for Unitarians...

Okay, comparing it to "Left Behind" is a little unfair, as "Archangel Protocol" is way, WAY better written. But for those who enjoy unusual takes on religious ideas, this book rocks. The angels in this novel would not make good models for dewey-eyed Precious Moments figurines...to put it mildly. The story is told with a biting sense of humor; the heroine is tough, funny, and engaging. Read it; this book is well worth your time.