IN THE BEGINNING
In the beginning was an angel, a church and a knife.
I hunted down the angel, Remiel, in Barcelona. He was working as a living statue, one of those street performers whose job it is to separate tourists from their money before someone else does. His office was a wooden pedestal on La Rambla, the pedestrian boulevard by the harbour that every visitor has to hit before they start exploring the real city. He was tucked away among the kiosks that sold everything from postcards and magazines to live birds. A silver robot stood on a box to the left of him, while a clockwork man dressed in gears, wheels and pistons was on his right. Remiel was made up like a demon with golden skin, bat wings and two tails, holding a leather tome bound with three locks. He looked like just another out-of-work circus performer vying for tips. Apparently even angels have to make a living these days.
If you’ve been to Barcelona, or any other city with a tourist district, you know the scene: People with cameras and sunburns wandering around, the statues, jugglers and magicians competing with each other to earn a few of the local coins, while pickpockets go for the money the easy way.
And me.
You wouldn’t notice me. I’d be just another passing face, another man from somewhere else with a hat, sunglasses and backpack. I’m a pretty convincing nobody, thanks to centuries of experience.
But Remiel turned his head and scanned the crowd as soon as I caught sight of him. Angels have a sense for each other. He was looking for me. Trying to find me like I’d found him.
The problem for him was he was looking for the wrong thing. I’m not one of them. I can never be one of them. I’ll let you worry about whether that’s a curse or a gift.
— from The Mona Lisa Sacrifice by Peter Derbyshire. Published by Wolsak & Wynn. © 2024 by Peter Derbyshire. Used with permission of Wolsak & Wynn.
Bring home The Mona Lisa Sacrifice by Peter Derbyshire.
About the Mona Lisa Sacrifice:
This compulsively readable novel is the first in The Cross series and follows the reluctant hero Cross across time as he battles renegade angels trying to start a new holy war on Earth, hunts down a deadly ghost that is haunting Hamlet productions and assembles a crew of Atlanteans, pirates, vampires and the damned to stop Noah from ending the world. It’s a wild romp through history and literary culture, with a cast of characters that includes a band of very mischievous faerie, literary characters such as Alice from the Wonderland tales and a modern-day Frankenstein’s creature, an enigmatic Christopher Marlowe, gorgons, and much more.
The Mona Lisa Sacrifice will enchant readers who love the classics, and supernatural thrillers with a literary bent.
Author Peter Derbyshire.
About Peter Derbyshire:
Often referred to as Canada’s Neil Gaiman, Peter Darbyshire is the author of six books and more stories than he can remember. He lives near Vancouver, British Columbia, where he spends his time writing, raising children and playing D&D with other writers. It’s a good life.