Black Ops in “The Last Angel To Fall”

When we first meet Jubal Stone we learn that he works for an obscure unit under the auspices of the State Department of the United States. This unit, the “Office of Asset Recovery,” is part of a black operations project working to keep the peace between America and Hell. Through OAR, the State Department has concluded a peace treaty with Hell.

As Jubal says near the beginning of the novel, “When it comes to government entities, you'll find that the more vague the name, the more likely the agency is doing black budget work.”  

What exactly is a “black” operation or project?

From the Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency: “A black operation or black op is a covert or clandestine operation by a government agency, a military unit or a paramilitary organization; it can include activities by private companies or groups. Key features of a black operation are that it is secret and it is not attributable to the organization carrying it out.”

There's nothing like secrecy to help get around culpability.  There are times when such secrecy is necessary if not vital, but it also provides a security blanket for criminal actions perpetrated by rogues.  And politicians would rather not know the messy details of the missions carried out by the 'black operators' of the intelligence community so they maintain "plausible deniability."

The unit Jubal works for is involved in the most dangerous secret project in human history. Maintaining the peace with Lucifer to avoid a threatened invasion from Hell.  This is something the few people in the know must keep secret.  Their dealings with Lucifer would be met with outrage and violence that would sweep across not just the nation, but the entire world.

Jubal's boss in the OAR is Archie Lewis, a man with no qualms about ordering him to assassinate federal agents. His partner and former mentor is Thaddeus Coleman. Neither of these men were assigned to OAR's “black ops” project regarding Hell until a 12-man unit was assassinated by a rogue CIA agent.  It's not long before both Jubal and Thad wish they never heard of this project.

The CIA is running its own “black op” against the State Department's Hell project. Goodell and his boss do not want America involved in any “pact with Satan,” so they are determined to destroy the peace by whatever means necessary – including kidnapping, bribery and murder.  They are contemptuous of threats of war because they have been planning for a war with Hell ever since the vortex was opened.

Jubal and Thad have worked missions they didn't like before, but the revelation of the State Department's Hell project has unraveled their personal belief systems and left them on shaky ground.  Lewis only provides them with enough information to complete their mission, resulting in information gaps that cause increasing frustration for Jubal and jeopardize the mission. 

Before this assignment, Jubal had only a vague conception of God and the Devil, but he never really believed there were such things as angels. After the fallen angel he was ordered to apprehend goes on a murder spree, Jubal decides that this angel must be killed. This goes against his mandate, but during a “black op” the rules are more malleable.

Archie Lewis is under enormous pressure to keep this project secret. The general public would not be able to understand the necessity of making a peace treaty with Hell. The main reason is to prevent Lucifer from sending demons and fallen angels to Earth to attack humans and instigate chaos, but there is also a more sinister reason that Jubal and Coleman have to learn on their own.

Jubal and Coleman have free rein to do whatever they have to in order to capture the fallen angel. Such is the nature of 'black ops.'  Archie Lewis provides them with a helicopter and a Special Forces team entirely under their command. They have the power to arrest or kill anyone who gets in their way. Ryan Goodell of the CIA has had the same power conferred upon him by his superiors, and he is quick to use it.

In “The Last Angel To Fall,” the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency are both running “black operations” at cross purposes. Jubal just wants to capture the fallen angel and send him into Hell in order to fulfill America's treaty obligations to Lucifer.  Then he can get back to his real life and leave this madness behind.  Goodell wants the angel for an entirely different reason. He wants his genetics experts to study the fallen angel, to literally take him apart to see 'what makes him tick.'

Their teams come into repeated conflict at the cost of several lives because when you're running a “black operation,” you are above the law and as the rogue CIA agent proves, can literally get away with murder.

Jubal has been told that the Apocalypse is coming and the treaty with Lucifer can buy them time to figure out a way for the human race to survive.  This is the main reason behind this project and the treaty with Lucifer.  The State Department and CIA are playing a dangerous game that risks the lives of everyone in America, if not the world, but few even know about it.  Oversight is lacking, and Jubal doubts that Archie Lewis is the right person to be making decisions of this magnitude.

This is the 'black ops' project that Jubal Stone has become a part of.  His life will never be the same.  No matter how long it lasts.

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