📖 Featured Book of the Month ~ The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett

 

Viper Books
19 January 2023

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book

Open the safe deposit box. Inside you will find research material for a true crime book. You must read the documents, then make a decision. Will you destroy them? Or will you take them to the police?

Everyone knows the story of the Alperton Angels: the cult-like group who were convinced one of their member's babies was the anti-Christ, and they had a divine mission to kill it - until the baby's mother, Holly, came to her senses and called the police. The Angels committed suicide rather than go to prison, and Holly - and the baby - disappeared into the care system.

Nearly two decades later, true-crime author Amanda Bailey is writing a book on the Angels. The Alperton baby has turned eighteen and can finally be interviewed - if Amanda can find them, it will be the true-crime scoop of the year, and will save her flagging career. But rival author Oliver Menzies is just as smart, better connected, and is also on the baby's trail.

As Amanda and Oliver are forced to collaborate, they realise that what everyone thinks they know about the Angels is wrong, and the truth is something much darker and stranger than they'd ever imagined.

This story is far from over - and it won't have a happy ending.

📖 My Review..

As always this clever author draws the reader right into the mystery of the Alperton Angels with this intriguing opening message...

"Open the safe deposit box. Inside you will find research material for a true crime book. You must read the documents, then make a decision. Will you destroy them? Or will you take them to the police?"

Bringing the epistolary novel right up to date, the story of the mysterious Alperton Angels comes to light in a series of clever communications between the main protagonists, as they seek to discover more about a series of killings which took place eighteen years previously and of the baby who mysteriously disappeared at the time and who is now about to come of age. The menacing atmosphere of this cult like group is revealed ever so slowly in a series of emails, text messages, conversation transcripts, and for Amanda Bailey, an author who has been commissioned to write a true exposé of the events, there are far more questions about this sinister group of people than she could ever have imagined.

Absolutely believable from the outset and with all the trademarks we have come to expect from this talented author The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels brings to life the secret and shadowy world of a charismatic and dangerous cult leader who manipulated everyone into believing he was the Archangel Gabriel and of the deadly consequences of vulnerable people who were sucked in by his twisted theology.

Thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish I have no hesitation in making The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels my Featured Book of the Month in February.

About the Author

Janice Hallett studied English at UCL, and spent several years as a magazine editor, winning two awards for journalism. After gaining an MA in Screenwriting at Royal Holloway, she co-wrote the feature film Retreat. The Appeal is inspired by her lifelong interest in amateur dramatics. Her second novel, The Twyford Code, is published by Viper in 2022. When not indulging her passion for global adventure travel, she is based in West London.

Twitter @JaniceHallett #TheAlpertonAngels

@ViperBooks