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Spirit of Independence
By Keith Rommell
Reviewed by Annette Gisby, author of Silent Screams
Travis Winter, a young soldier, is murdered during World War II and his fate is about to change. He has been chosen to become a Spirit, a new breed of Celestial Warrior, a new type of Angel in the fight between Heaven and Hell.
He is borught to Hell and is confronted by the Devil, a saddened figure who only begs to be heard. Travis listens, he doesn't have mcuh choice seeing that he's a chained prisoner, but he dismisses the Devil's tale that God is really a power hunger tyrant and that really, the Devil, or Navarro as he calls himself, is just a being who was cast out because he disagreed with God's treatment of the humans.
When a band of angels free Travis, he begins a fifty year journey to discover the true reasons why Heaven and Hell war. What he sees isn't pleasant and he fears that the apocalypse is coming. Who can he trust? Navarro, who seems to have all the answers, or a God he hasn't yet seen?
The plot is involved, with various characters narrating the story throughout different chapters of the book, and this is just it. The events are told, but there doesn't seem to be much feeling as to how the characters react to these events, so it's difficult to feel sympathy for any of them. I wanted to know how all these terrible events made the characters feel. Okay, so they are Spirits, or Angels or Demons, but are they beyond emotion? There was a lot of narration and description going on but not enough emotion.
The Spirit himself comes across as a very selfish character at first, but towards the end of the book, you get to see the reason why and it is totally unexpected. There are lots of twists and turns which keep you guessing. The ending is surprising, but maybe I've been reading too many mystery novels, because I guessed it half way through the book.
But all in all it's an enjoyable and thought provoking tale.