The Reapers Are the Angels Audiobook By Alden Bell cover art

The Reapers Are the Angels

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For 25 years, civilization has survived in meager enclaves, guarded against a plague of the dead. Temple wanders this blighted landscape, keeping to herself and keeping her demons inside her heart. She can’t remember a time before the zombies, but she does remember an old man who took her in and the younger brother she cared for until the tragedy that set her off on her personal journey toward redemption. Moving back and forth between the insulted remnants of society and the brutal frontier beyond, Temple must decide where ultimately to make a home and find the salvation she seeks.

©2010 Alden Bell (P)2010 Blackstone Audio Science Fiction Scary Post-Apocalyptic Emotionally Gripping Horror Fiction Heartfelt Supernatural Genre Fiction Thriller & Suspense Paranormal Literary Fiction

Critic reviews

“Bell (a pseudonym for Joshua Gaylord, author of Hummingbirds) has created an exquisitely bleak tale and an unforgettable heroine whose eye for beauty and aching need for redemption somehow bring wonder into a world full of violence and decay.” ( Publishers Weekly)
Philosophical Depth • Beautiful Writing • Fantastic Narration • Unique Perspective • Emotional Journey • Perfect Casting

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This book would make an amazing film. May be my favorite zombie book. The story moves quickly but doesn’t seem to rush each scenario. Don’t want to give anything away in my review so I’ll just say this isn’t an ordinary zombie tale and that’s why I like it so much. It’s like zombies and fallout and “no country for old men” mixed together. Some reviews don’t like the amount of resources still available in the world after 25 of the apocalypse but that doesn’t bother me. Perhaps things we’re built to last in this reality. So many died so quickly much was left for survivors. Anyway. Good story.

Very Cool

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Probably one of my all-time favorite books. I wouldn't call it a zombie novel, really. It's definitely post apocalyptic--maybe even post post apocalyptic. But to be honest it's much more than that. It's a story of humanity. Of vengeance and death and sorrow. But also of life, beauty, and compassion. The writing is beautifully haunting and poetic and the narrator has done a fantastic job conveying the emotions and lyrical quality of the writing.

If you're looking for a typical zombie novel with blood and guts and violence and adventure, I'd look elsewhere (though this book does have all of that, too). If you're looking for something different, any kind of different, I'd give this book a try.

Haunting

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There are few things scarier than a post-apocalyptic world where the dead rise from their graves and humanity struggles to survive. Alden Bell’s The Reapers Are The Angels takes readers on a journey through such a hellscape. It’s a story of survival and redemption told through the eyes of a young girl named Temple.

Bell set the novel in an undetermined future where a mysterious virus has decimated much of the world’s population and turned them into the undead. Temple, born after the apocalypse, knows nothing but this bleak existence. She’s a survivor, tough and resourceful, who has evaded the dangers of the world while traveling alone.

On her journey through the ruins of America, Temple encounters various characters, some friendly and some hostile. Her interactions with these characters shape her journey and help her understand the world around her. One of the notable characters she meets is Maury, a disabled man who becomes close to her. Their relationship is heartwarming and adds a layer of humanity to the story.

The Reapers Are The Angels explores the human condition and the meaning of life in a world where death is all around. Bell’s writing style is poetic, and his descriptions of the landscape are vivid and haunting. He captures the atmosphere of a dying world with precision and beauty.

The novel isn’t without its flaws, however. Some parts of the story feel rushed, and there are loose ends that are not tied up. These minor shortcomings, however, don’t detract from the overall experience of the novel.

The Reapers Are The Angels is a must-read for anyone who loves post-apocalyptic fiction. It’s a haunting and beautiful novel that will stay with you long after you finish reading it. Temple’s journey is one of survival and redemption. And the ending kicks you right in the gut.

Excellent

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I really enjoyed all the characters. My only minor quibble was that Moses felt a bit incongruous to me.

A fascinating look at post apocalyptic life.

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Turns out zombie stories can be more than gory 2D character, plot-driven action or parody add-ons to classic tales. Bell has written a story where the living dead are both real and metaphor. If you???re looking for action or parody, you can miss the richness of the metaphors and the mirrors: life and death, male and female, civilized and uncivilized, rule-bound and chaotic, care-giver and cared-for, father and daughter, god and godless.

Temple is a 15 year old girl who cannot remember her parents. She remembers living in an orphanage for awhile, but then it was overrun by zombies. For a long time she lived in the wild with a younger boy who may have been her brother. They lived with a kindly man for a few years until he was bitten by a zombie. Now the younger boy is gone and Temple wanders post-apocalyptic North America with a dignity and morality so often missing in stories of survival and the decay of civilization.

Sadly, for all the good Temple is and does, she thinks herself evil and seeks redemption. Temple is able to take care of herself against the best of enemies with all the skills heroes possess. She still has a vulnerability, a child-like quality, an innocence that caused her to be vulnerable to self-retribution that pained me and invited me to worry for, care for her and feel protective of the zombie slayer.

The richness of this story is not just in contrast to the usual thinness of these stories. It is a stand alone masterpiece that will mostly go unappreciated only because of the genre to which it???s been relegated. Too bad. It???s a rich emotional adventure described by Publishers Weekly as ???an exquisitely bleak tale and an unforgettable heroine whose eye for beauty and aching need for redemption somehow bring wonder into a world full of violence and decay.???

More Than Just Another Zombie Tale

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