The Angel of Eden

Starred review from April 25, 2016
McIntosh gives readers the spellbinding conclusion to her Mesopotamian trilogy. Her debut novel, The Witch of Babylon, which won a Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis Award, introduced readers to John Madison, a debonair New York art dealer. This book takes him back to the Middle East in search of a priceless 16th-century book on cryptography disguised as a book of angel magic. The quest comes to John in a strange way when Lucas Strauss, a famed illusionist, asks him to find a book that was stolen from him by his assistant 35 years before. John suspects Lucas of being a charlatan but agrees to take on the task after Lucas promises to give him some 5,000-year-old artifacts in exchange for the bookâand, surprisingly, to help him learn the truth about his mysterious parentage. The search takes John to Turkey and Iran and into the legends around the Garden of Eden, Faust, and ancient Mesopotamia. McIntosh's meticulous research and inclusion of notes, bibliography, and images of ancient deities and angels enrich this thrill ride. Readers who enjoy McIntosh's blending of history, mythology, clever puzzles, and action will be left hoping for more. Agents: Victoria Skurnick and Elizabeth Fisher, Levine Greenberg Rostan.