Alex Archer Rogue Angel: Destiny

Rogue Angel: Destiny

Alex Archer

Gold Key, Jul 2006, $6.50

ISBN: 0373621191

Archeologist Annja Creed performs field investigations for the TV cable show Chasing History's Monsters. Her work takes the intrepid scientist around the world. Her current assignment is to assess the Beast of Gevaudan, known locally in Lozere, France as La Bete.

Her preliminary research reports that La Bete apparently killed approximately one hundred people from 1764 to 1767. Annja has professional doubts as she anticipates the number is exaggerated and that the deaths probably were from culprits using the myth of La Bete to conceal murder. To her amazement the case takes a bizarre twist when Annja uncovers an ancient artifact, a charm that she found when she met deadly fifteenth century monks still alive and willing to kill anyone who uncovers their secrets. However that is only the beginning as someone else wants the charm and the secrets; that person is much more dangerous to the world than the monks are with his first step capturing Annja who flees from this occultist adversary and his minion and the Brotherhood, unable to trust anyone.

This first action-packed Creed tale takes a page or 345 from the Indiana Jones thrillers and combines them with the Historical Channel's Solving History's Mysteries and compares favorably to both. The storyline is fast-paced from the moment that the heroine leaves Brooklyn for France and never slows down as everyone seems to want a piece of Annja. Fans will appreciate this stand alone thriller, but also want more archeological investigations into historical monsters.

Harriet Klausner