Synopsis
Four-year-old Anna should have died from a deadly virus along with her parents. Alone and desperate, she wants to die and join them in heaven. So, when the little red-headed angel appears she begs, cajoles, and demands he take her to heaven. He could have but didn't.The little red head she mistook for an angel didn't have wings, or a halo, or legs or arms. The little red head belonged to a poisonous krait—it should have been hibernating since it was winter and snowing, its bite should have killed her but didn't, and it had no reason to stay with her but it did.She survives. The medical community is excited because there is currently no known cure for the virus, but the krait is not the answer. Anna and her krait have a symbiotic relationship that provides remission but not a cure. If she is ever separated from her Red Angel, the virus will become active, and she will die within days.Because of the krait's presence, Anna struggles through multiple foster homes during her early years, ostracized by children and adults alike and plagued by thieves willing to kill her to snatch the unique and extremely valuable krait. Over the years, Anna comes to believe that the krait she calls Red not only keeps her alive but may contribute to her outstanding performance in school, her ability to solve puzzles, and to sense people's strong emotions.Recognizing her talent, the Naval Intelligence Agency, NIA, hires her and assigns her to an elite team tasked with tracking down interstellar smugglers. The smuggling cartel is quick to retaliate. Now in addition to murderous thieves, Anna, along with the NIA team, has assassins and the smuggler's war cruisers stalking them. It may take the mysterious Red Angel to save her—again.
Review
"Exciting and unique" - 5 Stars - Readers' Favorite
Red Angel by C.R. Daems follows the story of Anna, a young prodigy rising through the ranks of a naval space fleet. Anna has a secret. A survivor of the deadly Coaca virus that killed her family when she was only four years old, Anna needs her snake, Red, to survive. Red's venom is the only thing that prevents Anna from succumbing to the virus, and her blood keeps him alive. Anna struggles through the foster system, and as kraits like Red become known throughout the three star empires, she has to use her wits to fight off those who would harm her to get to Red. Eventually recruited by the Naval Intelligence Agency for her ability to break codes, Anna begins to wonder if she and Red are a help or a liability to her elite team as they work to track down interstellar smugglers.
Wow! This book is a fast-paced page turner, and kept my interest from the very first page. C.R. Daems' story-telling ability is evident in his extremely readable and enjoyable work. I think this book would most appeal to the young adult reader, but any lover of science fiction would enjoy it as well. The symbiotic relationship between Anna and her snake was a creative and unique element that added a whole new level of complication to this space adventure. Red Angel was a fun read, and I am happy to highly recommend it to anyone looking for an exciting and unique story.
reviewed by Michael Radon, US Review of Books
"'You've certainly had a difficult life, not only having to live with a krait but the threat of others stealing it.'"The Coaca virus is a plague that claims the lives of people throughout the Three Empires. Four-year-old Anna has contracted the virus with her parents, and while it enters its final stages in Anna's body, her parents have already succumbed to the disease. Anna is in her final moments when a rare red-headed krait snake finds her in the snow. Injecting Anna with its poisonous venom seems to counteract the effects of the virus, but Anna must keep being bitten by the krait in order to survive. Growing up without friends or family, Anna is adopted by a Magistrate and becomes an officer with the Naval Intelligence Agency (NIA), but she still requires her krait to survive. She and her team must shut down a ring of smugglers who are looking to transport contraband--including the rare red kraits to the highest bidder.
With dangerous action, a smattering of profanity, and the presence of guns and blood, the presence of a young narrator in this book does not mean that this story is intended for young readers. Those prepared for what this story has to offer will discover fascinating science fiction, thrilling spy work, and a story about isolation and family. Anna's character is cold and distant to most people at first as a defense mechanism, but as she matures and makes dear friends out of her adoptive mother and her co-workers, she learns to trust. While there is space travel and mysterious smugglers at work, this book shines brightest as it follows the code-breaking process as well as the NIA lifestyle and chain of command. Expertly paced and serving as an introduction for adventures to come, this story will entertain and excite readers from start to finish.
"thrilling, captivating and addictive" by Red Headed Book LoverRed Angel is a novel that has floored me thanks to the novel's fast-paced and thrilling narrative and phenomenal literature courtesy of the author C.R. Daems. Red Angel has captured my heart and ran off with it because I am so hopelessly in love with this science fiction tale. It is a gripping read that will keep you engrossed, enthralled and enchanted until the very last page; I found this book to be so phenomenal and addictive that I struggled to put it down... I was impatient as I moved from one page to the next because I so desperately wanted to know what was going to happen to the story as well as the characters I had grown to love. The fact that I was so engrossed is a testament to the author's talent, and for that I admire him.
The story of Red Angel is more than your typical science fiction novel; it is more than this because it has a wide array of themes that all perfectly blend with each other to make one brilliant book. Red Angel encompasses danger, action and poignancy and so many more exceptional themes that I love in a story. I adored how the author of this brilliant novel, C.R. Daems combined different ideas into this novel; I admire reading a book that takes me on a roller coaster of emotions through the themes and Red Angel indeed done this. I loved every moment of this book; it captured my attention from the very first page thanks to its striking literature as well as its characters dialogue which leap off the page.
Red Angel for me was thrilling, captivating and addictive right from the start and I felt this from beginning to end. Red Angel was captivating to me from the start thanks to the unique premise of the story and the bewitching literature courtesy of the author C.R. Daems who hooked me with his unique story that was unlike anything I have read before. It is rare to find a science fiction novel that is refreshing, and it is even more challenging to discover a science fiction story that does not rely on gimmicks and ridiculous action sequences! Red Angel does have some action-packed moments however they are tasteful and in no way gimmicky which is always fantastic in a book!
To conclude my thoughts on this extraordinary tale, I would say if you are looking for a thrilling, exciting, unique science fiction novel that will captivate and hold your attention from beginning to end then this brilliant story is for you. This exceptional book gets five stars from me!
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