Immortal City: At least the cover is hot...

Immortal City
By Scott Speer
Hardcover, 336 pages
Razorbill, April 2012

Jackson Godspeed is the hottest young Angel in a city filled with them.

He's days away from becoming a full Guardian, and people around the world are already competing for the chance to be watched over by him. Everyone's obsessed with the Angels and the lucky people they protect - everyone except for Madison Montgomery.

Maddy's the one girl in Angel City who doesn't breathlessly follow the Angels on TV and gossip blogs. When she meets Jackson, she doesn't recognize him. But Jackson is instantly captivated by her, and against all odds the two fall in love.

Maddy is swiftly caught up in Jackson's scene, a world of glamour, paparazzi - and murder. A serial killer is on the loose, leaving dead Angels' wings for the police to find on the Walk of Fame. Even the Guardians are powerless to protect themselves in the face of this threat & and this time it's up to Maddy to save Jackson.


This is the seventh book in the 2012 Debut Author Challenge, hosted by the Story Siren.

...so I confess. I didn't even get half-way. Not even 40%. Yep, I stopped at 34%. Even did the math.

First, it's a little hard for me to take an author seriously who is shirtless on the beach for his "goodreads" photo, but I digress...

After being bombarded page after page with a glamorized angel celebrity guide consisting of too many "Hollywood" spin-offs (Angel News Network or ANN, Angels Weekly, Angel Television or A!) and too many references to Designer Brands, I felt like I needed my own personal bodyguard just to make it to the next chapter.

While the concept of the story seemed interesting at first, the writing appeared amateurish and the dialogue filled with cliched teen talk: "OMG, Perf!, totally". It was too over the top for me to take the writing seriously. Plus, how can I take something serious when every reference was a spin-off of some "Hollywood" term (see above paragraph). Not only that but Maddy and Jackson were annoying and unlikable. In one scene, Jackson returns to apologize to Maddy and instead of hearing him out, she makes accusations which end with Jackson responding "...you're impossible!" (...as if they've known each other longer than 24 hours).

Sadly, one of the most disappointing debuts...and I was so looking forward to an Angel story. But I have to say... I do love that cover!

Rated 1 Bite

Read an excerpt of the book here.

Interested in trying it out for yourself? Purchase Immortal City on Amazon here.