by Philip J. Carraher

(Reviewed by Mary B. Stuart.)

You probably haven't heard of this book yet, as it's new. And very good. Like reading Stephen King but with real depth to the story. Better writing too if you ask me. It's about a NY City fireman who loses his family in a fire and then wants to kill himself. He's kept from doing it by the appearance of a vision that tells him he must live in order to save the world from a growing evil (which turns out to be the misuse of genetic science). He agrees to do it, and thus begin his adventures.

He takes a trip to Hell and back, is granted great powers (control of the elements, invisibility, etc.) as he seeks out this evil. Toad of the title is a runaway boy. The book is for grown-ups. Not "Harry Potter" stuff. High-school age and up, I'd say.

The "Third Angel" of the title refers to the angel in the Bible (Revelations) who speaks of the "pollution of the waters of life". It's the author's contention that DNA can be thought of as the true "waters of life" and that the current DNA "tinkering" might very well be the pollution the Bible warns us about.

Apocalypse soon? Anyway, a very provoking thought.