CONFLICT & THEME IN “THE LAST ANGEL TO FALL”

CONFLICT::

a serious disagreement or argument, typically a protracted one.

THEME:

an idea that recurs in or pervades a work of art or literature.

CONFLICTS:

DUTY OR FAITH

The major conflict in The Last Angel To Fall is Jubal Stone's dilemma over whether he should obey orders and capture the last fallen angel so he can be delivered to Lucifer. Jubal has never disobeyed orders, but when he learns the reason Lucifer covets this angel, he realizes that doing this could really help the Devil defeat God.

FRIEND OR FOE?

There are other conflicts in this novel as well. Jubal is also at odds with his former mentor and tormentor, Thaddeus Coleman, a senior African-American agent who taught Jubal 'the ropes' when Jubal was new to the State Department. Thaddeus' father became a priest after his wife died young, and he imbued his son with a powerful belief and fear of God. Thaddeus is enduring his own internal battle regarding this unholy alliance between the State Department and Hell.

HUMANS ALIVE IN HELL!

Jubal struggles with the knowledge that there are humans living in Hell that the State Department can't help due to the treaty with Lucifer. Indigenous humans living in Hell, praying for refuge on the mythical paradise where humans rule: Earth.

LOVE OR LUST

Jubal is also fighting a strong physical attraction to Asheba Rain, an 'angel expert' helping them track down the rebel. Asheba was born in Hell and has very disturbing views regarding God, Satan and their war. Jubal's wife died about a year ago, and her death crushed him to the point where he no longer cared about anything anymore. Meeting Asheba has changed that, but Thaddeus warns that she can't be trusted and Jubal senses that she is trying to seduce him for reasons of her own.

THEMES:

IN WAR, THE WINNER WRITES THE HISTORY

There are many themes at play in this controversial novel. The idea that there is another side to the story of the war between God and the Devil is the most powerful theme motivating this novel. We have been told the story of Good versus Evil from God's side, but Satan's side of the story is largely unknown.

JUST WHO & WHAT ARE GOD & THE DEVIL REALLY?

Just who and what God and the Devil really are is another theme explored, along with questioning what they might want from us or to do with us.

There are themes of betrayal, forbidden love, genocide and the right of self-determination of the human race.

The Last Angel To Fall is a big ideas novel that asks many uncomfortable questions. Whether or not God and the Devil actually exist and have plans for human beings is the most important thing in our existence, but most people are content to simply have others spoon-feed a version of the truth that has been cherry-picked for public consumption. This novel challenges the entrenched beliefs we are taught in childhood, a form of brainwashing, intentional or not, that renders us almost incapable of rational analysis regarding God.

Read this novel and think hard about the conflicts and themes presented.

To read the novel Kirkus Reviews calls “A powerhouse first novel in a supernatural thriller series” point your browser to:

https://www.amazon.com/Last-Angel-Fall-Jubal-Stone-ebook/dp/B07TYZXLV2

Brian G. Walsh is the author of The Last Angel To Fall, volume one of the Jubal Stone Series of urban fantasy novels.

Walsh is also the author of No Place For Mercy: An Eclectic Anthology, a collection of short stories readers have compared to the writing of Stephen King, Edgar Allan Poe, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Rod Serling and others.

https://www.amazon.com/No-Place-Mercy-Eclectic-Anthology-ebook/dp/B00MT4CEZY/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8