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The Harlequin & The Drangùe (The Elioud Legacy, #1)

Liane Zane

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Jul 05, 2020 Werner rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-i-own, action-heroines, supernatural-fiction

Goodreads author Liane Zane is a published novelist under her real name, but has adopted this pen name for her new venture into paranormal romance, beginning with this opener for a projected series. She and I are Goodreads friends, so I accepted her offer of a free review copy, with no guarantee of a favorable one. PNR as such isn't typically my thing (nor is "romance" in general, in the book trade sense); but both supernatural fiction and action adventure are, and I could easily approach this b Goodreads author Liane Zane is a published novelist under her real name, but has adopted this pen name for her new venture into paranormal romance, beginning with this opener for a projected series. She and I are Goodreads friends, so I accepted her offer of a free review copy, with no guarantee of a favorable one. PNR as such isn't typically my thing (nor is "romance" in general, in the book trade sense); but both supernatural fiction and action adventure are, and I could easily approach this book in those terms. (I'm also a sucker for a well-drawn action heroine who kicks butt and takes names --and here we have not just one but three such ladies.)

Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament, referring to the time before Noah's flood, states, "The Nephilim were on the earth in those days --and also afterward-- when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown" (6:4). Biblical scholars are not agreed on exactly what the writer meant by this; but one ancient interpretation, articulated for instance in the inter-testamental The Book of Enoch {which is not actually by Enoch], held that it refers to matings of rebellious angels and humans, with resulting offspring. Personally, I'm skeptical of that interpretation, but I can accept it as a fictional conceit in a novel; and it's used as such in a number of modern novels, usually (as here) with the idea that these mixed bloodlines survived to the present day. Zane terms the descendants of these pairings the "Elioud;" her premise is that they may or may not know of their heritage and may have different amounts of angelic genes, but they inherit certain physical/mental powers, to the degree of angelic ancestry they have. Like angels and other humans, they also have free will; those who know their ancestry may ally themselves with God's cause --or with the Adversary.

This information is the backdrop context for this novel; it's disclosed more gradually in the book, but IMO it's not a spoiler, and is actually helpful for the reader to know from the get-go. That understood, our setting is present-day central and eastern Europe, initially Vienna. Protagonist Olivia Markham is a young (I think her age is said to be 24) but very capable CIA agent stationed there, under the cover of graduate study and internship in international business development. But unknown to the Company, she has a side hobby: by night, she sometimes dons a Harlequin mask to take on sexual predators/rapists who use the Internet to line up victims; and she has a couple of female friends (also with backgrounds in covert intelligence) who help her. Her latest target is a slime-ball who calls himself Asmodeus, the name of a demon in the Book of Tobit from the Apocrypha. What she doesn't know, however, is that Asmodeus just might be his real name, and that he's heading up a murderous cult who call themselves bogomili after a medieval Gnostic sect. (The Bogomils were an actual sect which originated in the Balkans, and which I'd read of before in various places, but the medieval Bogomils weren't into murdering people to "liberate" their souls.) She also doesn't know that he has another adversary watching him, a wealthy Albanian named Mihail Kastrioti, who has some friends of his own, friends who call him a drangue, which is usually translated as "dragon" in English. (A drangue is a being known in actual Albanian folklore, but the concept is really pre-Christian and Zane has reinterpreted it somewhat; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drangue .) The plot takes off from there; and it'll be quite a ride!

At 517 pages, this is a thick, substantial novel, but it doesn't feel padded in the least; it flows quickly, with steady development of events, no dull moments, and a lot of action. In between, our heroines and heroes may stop to regroup and compare notes, and Zane may use the interludes to develop characters and impart information; but they're interesting characters and information which are well worth developing and imparting, and which enhance the story. Characterization here is very adept and three-dimensional, and definitely a strong point. It's obvious that the author also has done a lot of background research into history, Balkan culture and language (foreign-language phrases are translated for the reader where they need to be) etc.; it shows, but in a good way that masterfully evokes the setting as a seamless part of the narrative, not in the form of info-dumps or displays of erudition. She clearly has a particularly good grasp of the physical geography of Vienna and other cities where events take place. Action scenes are handled realistically and well. (There's a high body count, but no wallowing in gore for its own sake.) As a whole, the story is a page-turner with a high tension and suspense factor, especially near the end.

While this is not "Christian fiction" in the commercial sense (it has a small amount of occasional profanity and obscenity, within the bounds of reasonable realism for the characters speaking) it is fiction written by a Christian. We get a picture of angels and demons, and their interaction, here which is morally and theologically consistent with what we're told in the Bible, not a drastic reinterpretation of it in the manner of some modern writers. We're solidly in the realm of a serious, high-stakes conflict between clearly defined good and evil, which grounds the novel and gives it substance. There's no illicit or explicit sexual activity as such (though readers should be warned that there is one scene that could be described as "steamy"). Another plus is that there's a clear closure to the immediate story arc with no cliffhanger, while the stage is clearly set for the projected sequel. (Which I want to read!)

If Goodreads allowed half stars, this would have gotten four and a half from me. IMO, Olivia's vigilante activities are unrealistic for a CIA operative. They'd be far too risky in terms of possible exposure and unwanted publicity (the Harlequin mask would hide her face, but still draw attention), and the consequences of her bosses' wrath if they found out about it too drastic to risk. (It's also likely that the CIA's recruiting process would have included psychological profiling which would have red-flagged vigilante tendencies; and there's also the problem of what to do with offenders if she did catch them --just beat them up? Lethal force isn't her default option --though she's not squeamish about using it when she needs to-- and she can't make a citizen's arrest and turn them in at the police station.) The entire plot here unfolds in less than a fortnight, so there's an insta-love situation with the attendant credibility challenge. If the angels mating with humans before the Flood were said to be disobedient, it renders it dubious to have similar unions going on in post-medieval times, between humans and angels in good standing. And one key aspect of the way a demon-acolyte bond magically works was a bit murky, at least to me. That kept my rating from a full five stars this time; but this is nonetheless a very good novel, and highly recommended! ...more

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