REVIEW: IMMORTAL COVET
AUTHOR: J. L. BERKOWITZ 

J.L. BERKOWITZ MAKES HEAVEN AND EARTH COME TOGETHER
– THE TWAIN SHALL MEET

'The Lovers of the Archangels' set heaven and the Earth on a dynamic exchange. There is no delimitation whatsoever. J.L. Berkowitz makes fantasy so real and plausible to believe it indeed chanced upon verily. At the same time, some fundamental questions of creation arise to baffle our prevailing notions of the Earth and heaven. Archangels being in the throes of love are earthly or heavenly or are they denomination less?

How can the creation confront its Creator? The author has set the very paradigm of heaven and the Earth on a slippery ground. The interplay of heavenly and earthly enactment is most enigmatic. Does some supreme power choose the archangels to pass through the motions to prove some cycle of evolution?

An earthling too can be aggrandised to become an archangel. There is absolutely no factor balking between the Earth and heaven. It is the evil that makes the demarcation. Heaven should not remain sacrosanct with supercilious notions. It is all but a part of evolution and thereby the passage of Earth to heaven and such transmigration too is possible. The earthlings can very well transform into heavenly traits.  

Immortal Covet starts on a high note and then a déjà vu sets in. The passage between heaven and the Earth crumbles. J.L. Berkowitz moves through beautiful descriptions of nature for readers to appreciate this subtle realm of the Earth. There’s wonder happening in the Death Valley Desert and even the Vatican is going gaga over it. 

Celestrian is the city of Angels entrusted with the welfare of creation including the Earth. There arises an urgent mission to send the Archangels Michael and Gabriel to Earth to retrieve the esoteric Forest Crystal that has the power to alter the fate of terrestrial dimensions. ‘The mystical Forest Crystal’ has emerald spires with veins running across them. All this is not a seemingly ‘straight mission’.

As Michael and Gabriel confront remnants of darkness and revisit the ruins of Michael's mortal love's life, the brothers uncover mysteries that enwrap angelic duty along with human desire. Michael's terrestrial mission isn't merely for the crystal but transcends to a quest for love, redemption, and sacrifice. All this while, Gabriel is drifting towards Annie Hudson a mysterious country girl who ensnared him, and may hold secret ties to their divine mission and to a past connection to Sassy that she cannot fully comprehend.

The figment of fantasy moves in and out of our religious history. ‘The dual morning sun rose..’ The breathtaking views of ‘The snow-capped ruby mountains and diamond-sand beaches glistened in the distance.’  make for the portrayal of Celestrian. The exuberant Archangel Castle holds its sway along with the elixir of Ambrosia flowing to regale the archangels. There’s the swig of Elixir to regale readers with those halcyon days.

Dark fantasy and yet it all appears a true episode – that’s the effect of J.L.Berkowitz. The juxtaposition of fantasy and realism is exhilarating for readers such as ‘Gabriel stood up and brushing diamond sand off his hands onto his white linen pants.’ Again the mention of the archangels walking on a railway track has a similar effect.

All the ruby hues and the angelic pax Celestrian turn macabre with the demon lord Saratel and his minions getting freed from their incarceration. The author has devised an ingenious mode of incarceration and the episode of their freaky escape is a thrilling account. The battle with Saratel has taken its toll. ‘The ravages of war’ is a turning point in the perception of Sassy. There is a powerful connection with nature to help a win in the war.

In the initial pages, the author goes on a low note with seeming expected events appearing to be all well and the simplistic mission of the archangels to be over. But the reader gets jolted to find the jinxed future of the archangels and the marauding evil in the terrestrial arena making it perilous for the archangels. The story does not talk of trapping anyone and yet the reader discovers a booby trap had changed the course of events.

There is a ‘Flash of banshees flying in and out of an underground cave.’ A sinister pogrom is hatched. Where angels fear to tread but Sassy proves her mettle. Her wings and sword when added become valiant appurtenance. The way a banshee ferrets out an archangel is amusing and allegorical too. Annie is quite a Faermorreya martyr and her desperado acts need to be lauded. Even the demon lord ‘Saratel felt sympathy for her.’  

The narrative moves on different time frames. Even if someone has not read Book One - Twin Flames, reading its sequel Immortal Covet will be seamless to glide through. 

Love is high in the air. Carnal desires and amorous ways are nothing demeaning to get prudish. Why can’t the heaven partake in such enjoyments while the earthlings are playing the field? The archangels are shot with cupid arrows.

Is the amorous cycle profane? Then why do the archangels relegate their sacred stature? Love knows no boundaries, be it sacred, heavenly or a terrestrial fling and the author emphatically narrates her story to make her point.

The book sees bouts of canoodling among winged archangels and humans. The fling of souls between heaven and the Earth needs deliberation. Earthly traits transcending to heaven and the heaven stooping down to the Earth appear like an exchange program to bring mutual succour and cease its ivory tower suzerainty. It’s the welfare of the residents and the realms that matters. 

Michael and Gabriel figure in Milton’s Paradise Lost as well as Dante’s Divine Comedy. The Book of Enocks lists all the archangels as watchers and divine guides or judges. However, in recent years, humanism has pipped this straitlaced portrayal. The movie Constantine, a 2005 release portrays Archangel Gabriel with a morally ambiguous twist. J.L. Berkowitz in her series of Lovers of Archangels has gone a step further in not being judgmental about indulging in mortal carnal acts without a tad of prudishness.

The Book of Enock has a group of angels called the Watchers who descend to Earth and mate with human women creating giants called Nephilim. These beings corrupt the Earth with violence and forbidden knowledge of sorcery, weapons, etc. However, God sends four archangels to fix this aberration. 

The book cover shows a gothic design forming the boundary. Inside it, there is a dashing damsel in a skirt with a horse Barney, a perfectly earthly depiction while they are flanked by an Archangel with a huge pair of wings. The back cover shows a huge white-winged horse, Pegasus or Griffin. There’s an admixture of fantasy and realism. Again cosy moments during perilous situations have a clawing effect on readers.

The author describes the suspense, ‘As realms collide and the power of new love is tested against lies, an ancient evil fueled by revenge, the archangels must make impossible choices that will shape the future of heaven and earth.’

One character is cascading in multiple manifestations looking like a Japanese doll – one encasing another. The who’s who in the guise of whom throw red herrings to mug readers into their snares. 

This second instalment of The Lovers of the Archangels poses some seminal questions to affront the essence of creation where passion, duty, and destiny enmesh in an epic tale of immortal bonds and earthly desires.

Print Length: 218 pages