Review
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Title: Destroying Angel
Author: Charles M Larson
Publisher: Zyrus Press
Genre: Fiction
Year Published: 2008
Number of Pages: 473
Binding: Quality paperback
ISBN: 978-1-933990-18-7
Price: $16.95
Reviewed by Jeffrey Needle
This review will be a bit odd from two viewpoints: first, I'm not the assigned reviewer for this book. As always, I was sent an editor's copy. The reviewer will submit her views in short order. With her permission, I'm sharing my thoughts on this volume. Second, I am generally wont to write a review within a day or so of finishing the book. I've been done with this book for a few days, and am only now sorting through my thoughts about it, ready to share my impressions.
At its heart, "Destroying Angel" is a tale of a series of brutal murders taking place in and around Salt Lake City, Utah. Orrin Christensen works for the Utah Attorney General as a special investigator working on dismantling the polygamous settlements and bringing the polygs to justice. When it appears that the murders are linked to a fundamentalist, he is assigned to the case, bringing his expertise and determination to the task. He is joined by an agent from the Department of Homeland Security, Bill Woodard, who is called in to help in the investigation.
There are several parallel stories that the reader must track. One involves a newspaper reporter who has ingratiated herself into the murder stories. She finds herself becoming more immersed in the polygamous lifestyle as she tries to discover the perpetrator of the killings. She develops an uneasy relationship with Woodard and Christansen.
In another vein, three nephews of a famous polygamist are planning some sort of action -- an action involving firearms, death, and ultimate redemption for what they consider a wrongful act by their relative. We are given brief glimpses into the lives of these three young men. Their entire view on life is so unsettling, so unpredictable, and utterly frightening.
It soon becomes apparent that the fundamentalists are, after all, not responsible for the killings. After meeting with some Mormon historians, the link is finally discovered -- each of the victims was in some way related to the perpetrators of the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Neither Christensen nor Woodard had any expertise in the Massacre. To help sort it all out, they consult some real-life historians, including our own Will Bagley.
Interspersed within the chapters describing the murders, Larson offers up a brutal, hard-to-imagine account of Mountain Meadows. These were the hardest chapters to read: one can hardly imagine human beings acting in such a callous and vicious way. He collates many of the accounts currently available -- and some may be factual! -- and produces a bloody, terrifying glimpse of what it must have been like for the Fancher party to have been gunned down in cold blood. And we even see the event through the eyes of the surviving children.
It is in the accounts of the Massacre that Larson is best at presenting a nuanced, multi-layered view of the victims and the perpetrators. Pure good and pure evil don't exist in this world; we enter into the lives of real people, and cry out for justice as the account proceeds.
Larson likes to tease us, giving us glimpses of who the murderer might be. But I was taken completely by surprise when I reached the end of the book. I'm willing to guess that readers generally will be very surprised by how the book ends. The identity of the murderer, and his actual motivation, are alarming and unsettling.
Larson's book is a long read. Coming in at just under 500 pages, the reader must be committed to the task. Fortunately, for me, I was hooked after the first ten pages. I do like a good mystery, and this one had the potential of being a real lulu.
Readers may, in the end, find Larson's views a bit odd. In most books of this nature, fundamentalists come across as unbalanced and fanatical. Instead, Larson's polygamous families come across as perfectly natural, happy, and well balanced. I was pleased to see this change of view. Tired of the seemingly-eternal rantings against those who practice "the Principle," it was refreshing to have the opportunity to enter into the private lives of polygamous families where there is order and harmony. One could almost read Larson's book as a pro-polygamy tract. I'm sure this will make some unhappy, but it really delighted me.
He also paints a picture of Utah's governments (state and local) as wily, dishonest, and so politically motivated as to make the reader wonder what experience the author has had with government. This is not a flattering picture of Utah's political structure.
Larson is prone to long, and sometimes tiresome, dialogs with his characters. Some of the discussions go on and on, for several pages, covering material not really necessary to keep the book moving. I kept reading, but I suppose some will simply skip the dialogs and move on to the next story arc. It seems that he wanted to reproduce conversations as completely, and in as much detail, as possible. I'm not of the opinion that this is necessary.
Some readers will be disturbed by the language -- lots of words good Mormons won't use, but are used anyway wherever you go. I found myself wincing from time to time. But in the end, reflecting on Larson's use of profanity, I realized that it was not used gratuitously, for effect, but rather to reflect how real people talk to each other.
And there are some typos in the book that really shouldn't be there. "Affect" for "effect," the "tenants" of their faith, blah, blah, blah. Perhaps an editor can go through the book and correct these minor nits.
But put aside the editing problems and the over-long dialogs. "Destroying Angel" is one heck of a read. Larson has captured the spirit of Salt Lake City, the mindset of its more extreme characters, and the dubious concerns of law enforcement, in a powerful parable of influence, revenge, and ultimate redemption. There's not a soppy word in this hard-hitting novel. The characters are fully fleshed out, as real as can be. The crises eat at your guts and make you wonder how evil can have such a wide influence in our society.
In short, I just loved this book. I'm so glad I read it -- and I read every word, from beginning to end. I cared for the characters, and hoped things would turn out in a way that is both believable and ultimately redeemable.
I am very glad to heartily recommend this read. Not everyone will be satisfied with Larson's resolution of the murders, but I think most will find themselves completely immersed in the story, somehow wishing it wouldn't end.
Jeff Needle
Association for Mormon Letters
jeff.needle@gmail.com<www.aml-online.org>
<www.LDSBookLovers.com/Needle.html>
