REVIEWS FOR "SHOOTING ANGELS"
Amazon.com user sonofnecessity, 1/13/12:
Shooting Angels was an unexpectedly enjoyable read, front to back. A seemingly normal world of everyday people strobes with increasing frequency into dangerous terrestrial and celestial landscapes filled with diabolic conspiracies, uneasy friendships and dubious endings. I especially enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek characterization of dieties and the afterlife (caution: includes enjoyable biblical puns.) This book must be the work of a vivacious, curious, perhaps cynical, but imaginative young author.
Amazon.co.uk user I. Barbe-Brown, 4/19/10:
I started reading this not really knowing what to expect. The blurb at the back, while interesting, doesn't really prepare you for the contents. But to be honest, I think it's better that way.
This book is a complete surprise in the best possible sense of the word. I have literally never read anything remotely like it.
It starts out introducing an array of very different, very complex characters all living seperately but ultimately destined to touch eachothers lives in the upcoming days. The event that connects them is the space shuttle that falls from the sky and crashes to Earth in the Texas wilderness.
At first, it all seems simple enough, but as each story unfolds things become more complicated then anyone could have foreseen. Not only are things on Earth messy, but the Heavens are falling apart too. Characters discover thoughts and feelings they never knew they could have, unlikely heroes are made and The Gods are nearer to all of them than they could have ever imagined.
Once I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down. I fell in love with the characters and I was just desperate to know what was going to happen next. What was nice about this book is that I couldn't accurately predict anything that was coming. Usually I'm jumping ahead, and I've already figured out whats going to happen in the chapters to come. But this one, I had no idea.
It was one of those books that makes you eager to get to the end, and at the same time makes you sad that it has to finish. I made myself put it down several times to prolong it.
It is very, very well written, and well thought out. It's touching, emotional, funny, and incredibly original.
This is the writers first book, and I can't wait for his second. Seriously, go buy it.
Amazon.com user S. Lemme, 2/21/10:
"Shooting Angels" is an immensely creative and eminently page-turning first novel from Nicolas Sansone. Sansone's imagination delivers a world in which the outrageous is entirely believable, the everyday and mundane are eerily unnerving, and God (as well as Mrs. God) is a truly relatable being. This fast-paced and quick read allows readers to readily consider the "big" questions of faith and reality with good measures of humor, compassion and irreverence. Sansone's tight depiction of his large cast of characters, who range from the ordinary to the downright bizarre, contributes to his characters' accessibility and believability (in the face of the extraordinary). After this read, I can only look forward to what will come next from Sansone's rich imagination. Though his characters and their predicaments may be out-of-this-world, to quote the novel, "They are born of the imagination, but so is everything real."
Amazon.com user Michael P. Valenti, 2/6/10:
I enjoyed this book on many levels. Sansone's descriptions really painted the scene for me. I like books where the author can describe things in a way that I wouldn't have thought and blend an interesting unpredictable story line with a gambit of emotions. Shooting Angels was at times hilarious and at times scary and macabre, shown in the character "Pimp Daddy" especialy. My favroite characters however were Mr. and Mrs. God. Laid back, they liked a good drink, the occaional blunt and had a relationship I could only hope to find for myself. The plot always kept me guessing and turning pages and presented good points as well as questions that are worth asking yourself every once in a while. Character conversations dropped cool, clever lines that transcend the story like "use ones bouyency of spirit to reduce ones speed of descent."
I would compare his style to Christopher Moore and Tom Robbins.
I would also recommend reading it.
Amazon.com user K. F. Starno, 1/23/10:
The characters in this book alone were mesmerizing. I felt like I was in their shoes going through the same events and emotions. Mr. Sansone has created a world that enables the reader to imagine settings we normally don't read about in books. This page turner was a great escape from everyday life and had me discussing the plot for days afterwards. I'm glad I purchased this book and will be recommending this to other anticipated readers.
Amazon.com user Adam, 1/22/10:
Monstrously creative, charming, and hilarious. I've never read anything quite like Shooting Angels. Sansone is a borderline sorcerer...buy this book!
Amazon.com user A. Choudhury, 11/27/09:
"Shooting Angels" is a first novel that doesn't read like a first novel. While many first-time novelists lack the structural know-how necessary to create compelling, coherent, and well-paced plotting, Nicolas Sansone handles this novel with great assurance. From first to last, I found myself carried forward by a consistently surprising and intelligent plot that provided a perfect vehicle for the author's more abstract speculations on religion, science, and the nature of human creativity. Sansone toes deep philosophical waters, but his humorous and whimsical tone frees the piece from even the slightest whiff of pretension. The result is an exciting beast of a novel: a wildly imaginative piece that boasts the tightly coiled tension of a bestseller, but that is unafraid to be smart, both in its conceptual elements and in its rich, sophisticated (yet crystal-clear) prose. Nicolas Sansone is a new author to watch, and his initial effort, "Shooting Angels," is a great addition to the shelf of any bookworm who is curious about the future of fiction.
Amazon.com user Megan M. Angelini, 11/15/09:
"Shooting Angels" is one of those books that pulls you in and keeps you there. The characters range from the relatable (crew members) to the sublime (Mr & Mrs God, of course) to the extreme (Pimp Daddy), yet each one feels completely real. The plot at first glance might seem like something you'd read from a Crichton or King-type author, but it goes so far above and beyond that. It's a quick read, at a bit under 200 pages, and the prose is beautifully executed. You can't go wrong with this book. Five stars, all the way. I hope to read more from Mr. Sansone in the future.
Amazon.com user Sean V. Coyne, 10/25/09:
While I was reluctant to purchase this book (I typically do not read fiction), it did come highly recommended from a friend. So I took a break to delve into this tale. I found "Shooting Angels" to be engaging, witty and smart and playfully irreverent. A fantastically fun weekend read that also allowed the reader to questions things, just a bit, but not so much as to induce any stress.
Completely worth it.
Amazon.com user Kevin Miller, 10/19/09:
Shooting Angels is both haunting and hilarious. It is a page-turner, which at times created so much apprehension in me as I read on my commute that I would jump when the subway door opened. Nicolas Sansone manages to bring worlds and situations which often sound absurd to life, so that you find yourself believing God really could enjoy living in the suburbs and smoking with his wife, or that NASA could have a grand plan for the universe in which we are all cogs. My favorite character was Mrs. God, who is every bit as powerful as God, and always speaks as though from an old version of the bible: "Telleth Me. I command Thee." His other characters who are working to clear the debris from a NASA Space Shuttle crash are made even more believable with the knowledge that the author actually worked as a rescue worker after the crash of Space Shuttle Columbia, though as the story progresses it becomes clear he must not have experienced all that these characters do. If you're looking for a gripping read from a creative new author, this is the book for you.
Amazon.com user el búfalo, 10/18/09:
Tight prose wrapped around an enjoyable ride. What a wonderfully crisp sense of humor! I can't wait for more books. Mr. Sansone is only beginning. We can all look forward to great things, I assure you.
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