I read Batista's book, The Avenger of Blood

It was not what I expected.

If you've been keeping an eye on Mariners news, you know that Miguel Batista has written a novel about a teenage serial killer and what happens to him in the justice system. He says that he wrote the novel to pose these questions "what exactly is an `insane' person? And, how can we quantify a criminal mind?"

Interesting stuff, right? A psychological thriller. An exploration of the justice system. Sounds like it has the potential to be an interesting little book, wouldn’t you say?

But the articles are misleading. This book is not about criminal insanity. You see, the premise isn’t really that the teenage serial killer might be insane. The premise is, the teenage serial killer is possessed by an angel who makes him kill bad people. Yes, literally possessed by an angel.

Thomas was floating in the air, just above his bed, with his arms spread open in a cross, his hands covered in blood. A strong wind came in through the open windows, making it hard to see. His eyes were a ghostly white, like salt, and a very intense light glowed around his head, lighting up the room. A huge pair of white wings sprouted from his back.

So, not so much a psychological thriller.

It appears that Batista tries to make a point about faith—mostly that prayer will save you from scary angels, I guess. I felt that the most interesting aspect of the plot (how does the justice system react to the supernatural) was not explored fully or realistically. Morals were not explored. The nature of the creature possessing Thomas was never questioned.

The priest (who quotes so many secret facts from the Bible you’d think he came straight out of The DaVinci Code) shows up, says “hey, it’s an angel killing wicked people, it’s cool” and everyone accepts it. The defense attorney for Thomas never doubts that the boy is innocent at heart. People in this book believe what they believe. They don’t question their feelings and they certainly don’t change over the course of the novel. Again, I guess Batista is trying to say something about faith here, but I think it makes for a very poor story.

In the end, it’s a quick, vaguely interesting read, but I didn’t like it. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn’t been expecting a straight crime story coming into it.

Oh, and Batista uses too many ellipses. Every other bit of dialogue… Can’t these people finish their sentences without trailing off!

There was one bright spot in the novel:

TJ bent down to pick up his cap, brushing it off against his leg. Standing up straight, he said proudly, “You don’t know anything about basketball, Los Angeles has the best player in the whole NBA, and that’s Shaquille O’Neal.”

Marcos put his arm around the boy’s shoulder, replying, “Only a team like the Lakers would dare to pay so much money to someone who can’t even sink a free throw.”

What can I say? I can’t completely dislike a book that takes the time to diss the Lakers. I give it two stars out of five.