When he took the boy to his catholic church and tried to make him use the holy water, it became quite clear why Michael, the new boy, wasn’t allowed in church. On the way, church attendance came up and Don found it odd that the boy was not allowed to attend. Back then, a new boy in school was all alone and Don decided to befriend him-walk him home after his first day. Review: Don is now a parole officer, and when his newest client walks into his office, Don finds himself thrust some twenty years into the past. But can Michael be saved at all? Or is the strangely compelling demon with a taste for risky sex as damned as he believes himself to be? Meeting him as an adult re-ignites the obsession Don had with the boy he couldn’t save. His strong faith is shaken when his latest assignment turns out to be Michael, a young man Don hasn’t seen since he took Michael to church as a child - and saw his parish priest cast Michael out of the church as a demon. Now a grown man mostly at ease with being gay, he’s left the Catholic Church and has chosen instead to help people through his work as a parole officer. At a Glance: I have loved this author’s work in the past, and am sure I will in the future, but this one was not up to the normal excellence I am used to in reading a JL Merrow story.īlurb: How do you know if you’re one of the damned?Īs a child, Don wanted to become a priest.

Angel by J.L. Merrow