The Dichotomy of Angels by N.R. Walker

Narrated by Nick J. Russo

I read N.R. Walker’s The Dichotomy of Angels when it came out at the end of 2019 and loved it. It’s a clever, funny and poignant story about two angels who are sent to Earth on a mission, with a sexy and angsty romance at its centre, and I was delighted when I learned it was getting an audio release, too.

Nathaniel and Chasan are angels from the same order of the same hierarchy, but they’re polar opposites. Nathaniel is dark to Chasan’s light, fire to Chasan’s air and grumpy to Chasan’s tranquillity. But though they’re opposites, they share a unique bond, a twinning of souls that is incredibly rare, but the bond is not complete until they have both accepted it – and Nathaniel refuses to do so. Saint Peter doesn’t know how much longer the burn of the twin flames can be ignored before it will die out or consume both angels, and it’s time to do something about it.

It’s been over a thousand years since Nathaniel and Chasan were last sent on a mission together, and in fact, it’s been about that long since Nathaniel has been tasked with ANY mission, which is exactly the way he wants it. He’s quite happy working and smiting in the Hell Department and even happier sitting out in the fields of Doggie Heaven, greeting all the dog-souls as they enter… and he’s not happy when he’s summoned to Saint Peter’s office and told he’s being sent to Earth on an assignment. With Chasan, whom he’s done his best to avoid for the last thousand years. But refusal isn’t an option, and the two angels are escorted by the Archangel Michael to their temporary home, an apartment in New York City, where the bad news just keeps coming. Nathaniel is little short of horrified to discover that he and Chasan are to be teachers of “infant humans” and worse, their human personas are a married couple. (And – *gasp!* – there is Only One Bed!) He starts to wonder what the consequences of disobeying could be; what punishment Saint Peter could throw at him that would be worse than being a pre-school teacher?

It’s not lost upon them that neither Saint Peter nor Michael has told them exactly who they’re on Earth to save or protect, although Chasan secretly suspects that the soul they’ve been sent to save is Nathaniel’s, and that Saint Peter has engineered their proximity to afford Chasan the opportunity to convince Nathaniel to complete their bond. Nathaniel is stubborn and cranky, with much of the humour in the first part of the story a result of his frustration and unfamiliarity with the human world and especially his irritation with the fact that he can no longer swear and smite while other angels can.

Fortunately for Nathaniel, Chasan has the patience of… well, an angel, and has known him long enough to know that his ill-temper and sharp tongue are mostly a defence mechanism, and that behind it, Nathaniel can be kind, funny and protective. Chasan bears Nathaniel’s many complaints with equanimity, and as he’s undertaken many missions in the human world over the centuries, he’s much more familiar with it, introducing Nathaniel to modern technology and, best of all, the concept of “summoning” take-out and shopping!

Chasan embraces his cover as a teacher and so does Nathaniel (to his surprise), finding he not only enjoys teaching – in spite of his belief that “It’s just like hell… but with snacks and naps” – he’s good at it, and the goodness in him – a goodness he refuses to believe exists – draws the children to him. As the weeks pass, Nathaniel and Chasan find themselves settling into a comfortable routine and getting on better than either of them had expected, but every time it seems as though Nathaniel might be moving towards admitting the truth of his feelings for Chasan, something happens to hold him back, and although there are hints throughout that some sort of past tragedy is weighing on him, we don’t find out the truth until well into the second half of the book. It’s clear to the listener that Nathaniel cares deeply for Chasan, and just as clear that he doesn’t want to. But as the weeks pass and Nathaniel is no nearer to agreeing to complete their bond, Chasan’s despondency grows, and he realises he has a difficult decision ahead.

There’s a good mix of humour and pathos in the story, and I liked the author’s tongue-in-cheek depiction of Heaven as a kind of large corporation that’s become too complacent and needs a bit of a shake-up. “You need to spend some more time down there getting your hands dirty. Playing deities from a distance is a terrible management plan”.

My only real criticism of the story is with one specific event in the final chapters which I won’t spoil, but which felt like an artificial way of wringing a few more drops of angst out of the story. As it turns out, it ends up being pretty much hand-waved away a few pages later, which felt like a bit of a cheat, but that’s the only thing about the book that didn’t really work for me.

Nick J. Russo is a narrator whose work I’ve enjoyed listening to on a number of occasions, so I was delighted to see his name associated with this audiobook. His characterisation of the two leads is excellent; Nathaniel’s deeper, gruff tones suit his overall grouchiness, while Chasan’s voice is higher pitched and has a lighter feel, frequently containing a sense of the exasperated affection that Chasan so obviously feels for his intransigent partner. Mr. Russo’s character differentiation is effective when it comes to the secondary cast, and he does a good job with the few child voices he’s called on to perform, so they’re not squeaky or silly-sounding. He’s a narrator who ‘acts’ without going over the top, and he does a great job in the more emotional moments in the story, whether it’s with the anger so close to the surface that Nathaniel tries to hide or Chasan’s quiet despair. When in their angel forms, Nathaniel and Chasan speak with English accents, as does everyone in Heaven it seems ;) and there is direct mention in the text of Nathaniel’s horror when he hears they have American accents in their human forms – *snigger*. Mr. Russo does a decent job with the English accents; there are a few ‘ouch!’ pronunciations, but not very many and it’s certainly far from the worst English-accent-by-an-American-narrator I’ve ever heard. It didn’t impact my enjoyment of the story in any way, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention it.

For me, audio is a great way of revisiting stories I’ve enjoyed in print. If I’m lucky, the book will have been assigned to a narrator who really knows what they’re doing and is able to bring something extra to the table with their interpretations of the characters and emotions, and that’s exactly what Nick J. Russo has done here. The Dichotomy of Angels is an enjoyable, quirky story with just the right amount of light and dark, and I’m more than happy to recommend it.

Caz

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