A Hundred Words for Hate (Remy Chandler Book 4)
by Thomas Sniegoski
Roc Trade
March 1, 2011
320 pages
$11.20 (Amazon.com)
Review copy received from publisher.

Plot Summary:

As an Angel, Remy possesses powers and skills only to be used if the situation calls for it. And the sudden reappearance of the Garden of Eden is just such a situation. Two opposing forces of immortals want the Key to the Gates of Eden, so Remy must turn for help to a fallen angel who is sometimes friend, sometimes foe-and always deadly.

Review:
Remy is at odds with his Seraphim nature in this volume in a much more emphatic way. A neat feature that this book includes is a sort of introduction in which Sniegoski re-introduces the main things about Remy that a new reader would need to know if they hadn’t read any of the previous books in the series prior to this one, which is helpful.

The book itself is written in Sniegoski’s trademark style, and tells the alternating stories of Remy and the angel Francis, who is in Hell. Malachi is the Big Bad here, and it turns out that The Sons of Adam need Remy’s help to find the key to unlock the gates to the Garden of Eden. Adam is alive, but they need a Daughter of Eve to be able to break the barriers to get to the garden, and Adam ain’t exactly getting any younger.

There are more angels in this book, including the Thrones, which I found a delight. I like seeing more of angels in those series in which they’re supposed to be central characters, and it was a nice treat this time around. Francis is made to kill certain angels/divine beings or suffer an eternity in Hell. But angels make him suffer anyway and in the meantime, Remy is working a case for a woman named Fernita who is harbouring some interesting secrets. In the first half of the book, I felt once again that Remy is too restrained in trying to hold in the Seraph inside (small technicality: it should be Seraph, which is singular, and not Seraphim, but several authors use the plural to refer to the singular form). Remy, I felt, was a tad too straight-laced, but that’s just his nature, and although I wasn’t expecting anything big from him, he surprised me this time.

Sniegoski also used flashbacks effectively, making the story more interesting, particularly as it concerns Francis. To save his wife Eliza from the Thrones, Francis wipes out most of her memory so she becomes a different person, and he does this in order to protect her from being found. It works too well. She forgets who she is completely, and assumes a new identity, but this was one of the more effective and tragic plot points that I enjoyed.

But the angels definitely carry their weight for most of the book, and have much more of an active role. They’re not all good guys, and Zophiel, a Cherub (not the cutesie Valentine’s Day card kind, thankfully), proves no exception. He wants to finish what he started and prevent the return of the Garden of Eden, which he thinks the Morningstar (Lucifer) will use as his personal playground from coming back to life and into existence. He tried to screw things up once but Remy (as Remiel) stopped him and hopes to do so again. Things take a much more interesting turn when these two clash for the second time.

Not to be outdone, Malachi bred a Shaitan, something made from darkness that came before the light that God used to create angels. He planted the Shaitan in the Garden and gave Lucifer a serious run for his money in the “Let’s see who can piss Dad off more” race. Speaking of Lucifer, he does make an appearance at the end, and stays close to Francis’ storyline, but the Morningstar felt a tad like a prop only because his appearance was so brief; it’s more like a cameo, but should Sniegoski ever venture into Lucifer territory and expand on his views of the character, it would make for an even more interesting book.

At first, I’ll admit that I thought Remy’s humanity was lame and a tad emo, and it is, to a certain extent, but this offering in the series gave me a reason to feel more strongly than I have about him than with the other books in terms of why Remy embraces his humanity so much, and why he bottled up the Seraph inside in the first place–why he made that sacrifice–and it helped make him stronger than the Seraph ever could be. He needs the passion of humanity to draw his strength from.

It’s a fantastic book, another winner, and I never get sick of Remy and his cases, because he has stuff that’s personal to him. He’s not just solving random cases that have nothing to do with him personally but he does them just because he’s the good guy and that’s what good guys are supposed to do. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if you haven’t already picked up one of the Remy Chandler books, you don’t know what you’re missing out on. Sniegoski is an immensely talented writer, Remy is a fantastic character, and we’ll see if he’ll be able to move on from his deceased wife, Madelaine, judging from the new lady he meets in this volume. Whatever happens, I’ll always follow his adventures for as long as they continue.

5 out of 5 stars.