Guardian Angel
By Stephanie Bedwell-Grime 

       It’s a tough job being a guardian angel, especially when your father is a demon and you have just been promoted. Porsche Winter has her work cut out for her trying to get to grips with her new supervisor’s job and jealous office lowlife Wynn Jarrett dogging her footsteps. When she loses a soul to the folk below she has to go in and retrieve it against her superior’s wishes and it isn’t just any old soul either, but gorgeous stockbroker Alex Chalmers who likes to sculpt angels in his spare time. When a stockbroker goes to the bad it is likely to have disastrous consequences and soon it looks as though Lucifer himself is aiming for a takeover bid of Heaven.

       Hit TV shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Touched by an Angel have showed that tales of demons and angels have never been more popular, and the added fact that this one is a clever satire on modern office politics makes it even better. It is easy to do this sort of thing badly and I had my doubts, but there is something infectiously enjoyable about this frothy tale. I guess it is the office humor, where the characters may have horns or wings (or even both) but the familiar situations of deadlines, takeovers, promotions, paperwork and socializing make the whole thing great fun. It is inventive too, and fans of Terry Pratchett and his ilk ought to enjoy reading about The Purgatory Bar, car enthusiast Charon and the Devil in snakeskin cowboy boots. There is going to be a sequel next year, but right now there is this one to enjoy!