Seven Archangels: Annihiliation
by Jane Lebak

Reviewed by Melissa J. Carswell

"Jane Lebak employs a fascinating use of imagination in this spiritual thriller about the war between the host of heaven and the demons of hell."

Can angels be annihilated? More specifically, can they be annihilated by Satan and his demons? This is the question that shakes the angels of heaven to the core of their celestial beings as the fallen one does everything he can to make it happen--to Gabriel, no less!

Jane Lebak employs a fascinating use of imagination in this spiritual thriller about the war between the host of heaven and the demons of hell. A story that takes the perception of heaven and hell, demons and angels, as a matter of factual truth. Jane spins a story with intriguing concepts and a memorable story line.

Annihilation fluctuates between playful moods and horrifying images. As the story opens we see the mischievous nature of angels as they play a game of cosmic hide and seek.

“. . . a group of angels were playing a creation-wide game of hide-and-seek, and Raphael was going too. Would Gabriel like to come? . . . by now the game had picked up a large number of players. . . . A ‘who’s who’ of the angelic world would have been filled with their identities. They hid as flowers in a field, raindrops in a thunderstorm, a painting in a museum, a new Jovian moon, an electron, and a word in a book”

It is during this game of angelic hide and seek that Gabriel is kidnapped by Lucifer and his henchmen and they begin the process of annihilation. The remainder of the book is dedicated to the angels’ response to this attack and their confusion over the fact that God even allowed it to happen.

Jane raises questions in her writing, as she employs her artistic license by giving angels the ability to act in anger, work at deciding their own course of action instead of moving in response to God’s promptings, and even causing an angel to become insane after camouflaging as a demon in hell.
Writing of the angles visiting the demons in hell and demons coming to heaven paints vivid pictures of the interchange between the two spiritual armies of heaven and hell.
Reading of a demon contemplating suicide is as mind boggling as an angel being annihilated.

Jane writes of a bond that angels and demons have with each other that may cause some to feel uncomfortable, as it is a bond with an intimacy that usually comes from a marriage relationship. However, remembering that angels are asexual creatures helps make this bond more palatable when reading of its manifestations throughout the novel.

The questions and musings Annihilation will bring to the readers mind is what makes it such an intriguing read.
Especially enjoyable in the course of the story are the poignant moments that bring a sense of personality to the spiritual realm. Mary plays a part and she has the role of mothering the entire angelic host. Jesus also appears, friend to angels and yet Savior that they worship and bow down to.

Jane creatively writes of the heavenly relationship Jesus and Mary have with each other, reminiscent of the mother – son relationship on earth and Joseph even appears at one point showing Jesus his latest craftsmanship in carpentry.

Seven Archangels: Annihilation is not to be read with logic. Instead, one needs to open to the first page, turn their logic off and let their imagination completely take over. To use logic while reading Annihilation may result in frustration and confusion as Jane’s story line is followed. But to let imagination have her way and let the reader be led into the story as Jane unfolds it, is to be taken on a journey that goes beyond earth and reverberates throughout all eternity.

Melissa J. Carswell: Melissa is a Board Certified Christian Counselor. However, due to the appearance of a little bundle of Miracle in the past year, the counseling practice is now on indefinite hold. Instead, Melissa has entered the world of freelance writing from home. She is currently one of the content writers for TotallyHer.com (to be launched in September of 2008). Melissa has a passion for mentoring teen girls and young women and does so whenever possible. Her heart longing, along with her husband, is to use her education and credentials someday to have a home full of abandoned, abused, and terminally ill childen. They are still waiting for God's hand to unfold that particular chapter of their lives. When Melissa isn't changing diapers, doing laundry, cooking meals, mentoring the afore-mentioned young women, tending to her garden, being her husband's biggest fan, and soaking in every cuddly moment with her daughter, she reads and she writes. It is not unusual to see 2-3 books laying around the house at any given time and the hard drive to her computer houses several partially-written manuscripts to the secret dreamed-of-published books Melissa hopes for in the future. You can check out A Weak Rose here.