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Stone of Gabriel

(Angel Stones #1)

Gary A. Pattillo (Goodreads Author)

4.20 · Rating details · 5 ratings · 1 review

Reaching for a curiously shaped stone in a southern California riverbed, Kurt, a motherless 13-year-old out on a father-son bonding camp trip, feels a pulsing tremor of energy. Confused, he shares this oddly colored rock with his two friends, both who touch it briefly and throw it away in cries of pain. Unsure what to do, the three boys agree to keep this strange phenomeno ...more

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Paperback, 228 pages

Published April 21st 2020 by Gary A. Pattillo

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Aug 08, 2020 Sharon rated it it was ok

Shelves: bechdel-nay, dead-moms-club, fantasy-urban, giveaways, mythology, paranormal

CW: Death of an animal, child abuse
I received this book for free via a Goodreads giveaway, but all opinions are my own.

First and foremost, I would like to say that this is Christian fiction. If you're actually comprehensive at reading, like I apparently am not, then you can probably figure it out from the title. But if you're someone like me and just thought this was going to be a more standard, generic YA urban fantasy with possible angelic elements - this isn't that. So, live and learn, I gue CW: Death of an animal, child abuse
I received this book for free via a Goodreads giveaway, but all opinions are my own.

First and foremost, I would like to say that this is Christian fiction. If you're actually comprehensive at reading, like I apparently am not, then you can probably figure it out from the title. But if you're someone like me and just thought this was going to be a more standard, generic YA urban fantasy with possible angelic elements - this isn't that. So, live and learn, I guess, but if I had actually been paying attention, I probably wouldn't have entered, because I generally try to avoid Christian fiction. That isn't a negative or positive mark on the book, just a statement.

I was pretty confused as to what the target audience for this book was supposed to be. Since the main character, Kurt, is only 13 and there is a significant lack of "real" swearing and gratuitous use of "fake" swearing (ie: dang, shoot) I thought this was intended for younger YA audiences, but then there was a gruesome nightclub murder plot point and I was like "...Okay, cool, who is this book for, then?"
Kurt doesn't really act like a 13-year-old, IMO; I felt like he was both way too mature and way too rational. The very frank, open conversation he has with his father about 3/4 into the book was really interesting to me because, on one hand, wow, what a great and healthy moment between father and son! But on the other - wow, that went a little too smoothly. It can be hard to portray such grounded, good people as your main characters because it really takes much of the tension and drama out of a novel. They're too level-headed to make mistakes!

It was extremely frustrating to read about Kurt belittling cyber bullying and then 20 pages later turn around and complain about a kid bullying him in person. Cyber bullying is just as difficult to avoid as the kind that happens in the physical school building, and with the way technology is becoming ever more present in people's lives, especially children's, the effect is just as - if not, at times more so, when it occurs in that child's "safe" space online - detrimental as in-person bullying.

I found the lore quite interesting. There's definitely room for the magic system to grow and expand, and that part shows a lot of promise. By the ending, there's a lot of it spelled out, but with the clear implication that there's room for the characters to discover more about their stones, leaving a comfortable cushion for a sequel or two. The idea of a sequel felt pretty natural.
I also thought the pacing was generally quite good. Except for a couple of scenes, I think it flowed well. The ending felt a tiny bit rushed and I could have taken even five more pages spent on the pre-conclusion fight scenes.

The editing really could have used some sprucing up. I found numerous mistakes, from paragraph cuts to mistakenly italicized action and thought tags to, my own personal pet peeve, incorrect em dashes. However, although there were some clunky, and a few grammatically questionable sentences, there were no big spelling errors or anything unreadable.
What pulled me out of the story the most was the way the press acted. They didn't present news in very professional manners, throwing lots of personal details in about people who have yet to be charged or convicted of crimes. There was one instance where an officer refuses to comment on a piece of an ongoing investigation and the reporter basically says, "Because he didn't deny it, then it's definitely Satanism!"

I don't often comment on covers in my reviews, but shout out to the artist for this one. They did a really, really good job on it.

Overall, an interesting read, but definitely not what I was expecting when I came into it. I think having such a young child as the main/one of the main characters is definitely liable to throw some readers off. It could use a little more careful proofreading, but the actual bones of the story seemed fine to me. ...more

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About Gary A. Pattillo

Gary A. Pattillo

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Thriller newcomer, Gary Pattillo, graduated from SDSU with a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice Administration. After being a bit of a dilettante in careers ranging from convenience store manager to beer market specialist to insurance sales, Gary found his true talent writing crime fiction. In addition to writing fantasy urban thrillers, Gary's artistic pursuits include charcoal and pencil draw ...more

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