Out of Lascaux

Archangel Protocol

Archangel Protocol
by Lyda Morehouse
ROC, 2001

It's 2076, and the Medusa bomb turned parts of major cities to glass. Everyone is connected to the web by the LINK, everyone that is, except outlaws and poor people. And in this reality, anyone who has no declared faith or who is excommunicate is outside the law.

Deirdre McManus is one such person. Thrown off the police force, excommunicated from the Catholic Church and cut off from the LINK for her non-involvement in the assassination of the Pope, she lives on the edge of society, scraping by as a private investigator. She has hit rock bottom when a man by the name of Michael Angelucci comes to her with an offer she cannot refuse - access to the LINK.

We are told that many people have changed their name to some form of Angel due to the presence of the LINK Angels. The Archangels appeared on the LINK, showing themselves to people in a reality that seemed more than virtual, and they were unanimously proclaimed miraculous. But not everyone believes they have come from God, and Deirdre has been asked to find out the truth behind them.

This is Lyda Morehouse's first book. It's very good, even though there are some spots that feel rather amateurish. Archangel Protocol was hard to put down, and since my attention span has fizzled over the years, that's saying a lot. I highly recommend this book, especially to Unitarians. In this reality, Unitarians run the underground railroad for scientists, excommunicates, and secular humanists. Oh, yeah, there are a few UU in-jokes in this one, since Ms. Morehouse was "raised in the traditions of a Unitarian Universalist fellowship." But it also has a rather spiritual quality which gives it a rich texture as well. Ms.Morehouse is quite prolific, too - she has already published three more books since this one came out. I look forward to reading them as well.

Posted by Alexandra at March 9, 2005 08:10 AM