William Demaree, writing on amazon.com
Character Driven Mystery Novel
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2024
It's dangerous for me to start a mystery novel. My curiosity kicks in ( whodunnit?!?), and I know that I will get nothing done for a couple days except read! "An Angry God" had that effect because all the traditional elements of mysteries are there: crimes you WANT to be solved, many suspects, red herrings, interesting plot twists. This novel has the added draw of complex characters who develop in ways that mystery characters typically do not. First time in a while that I was drawn into a mystery novel, not only to see the crime resolved but to see how the personal issues of the three central young men are resolved as well. The three central characters, all high school seniors/college freshman, confront issues that young men should not have to address. One of them, for instance, loses a lover in one of several gruesome murders perpetrated by an apparently homophobic murderer. This is also another example of a YA novel in which the characters are gay but their gayness is not central. In other words, "coming out" is never an issue here because the young men and their parents and friends accept who they are. Being gay is a given, not a problem. Of course, homophobia exists in the world at large, and "An Angry God" gives us a hateful character in the form of a Fred Phelps-like minister whose central message to his followers is that queer folks need to be eradicated. Scenes with the minister are hard because they are so familiarly hateful, but the heart- warming scenes between the young men as friendships are formed and family tensions are healed more than compensate. Technically, the novel is a wonder: each chapter is told from the point of view of only one of the three young men. This gives us insight into the characters and also raises intriguing possibilities in the resolution of the plot. This novel works on multiple levels, even though it is a little darker than most YA novels. I'm glad I read it and also glad that Rattling Good Yarns continues to publish such quality books!