Have you ever read one of those books that you wanted to like so much, that starts out great, but then becomes a major disappointment later on, and leaves you feeling hollow and unsatisfied, worse than it had started out bad?

I'm really sorry to say that Probability Angels by Joseph Devon was one of those books for me.

The first half of the book is really quite interesting. In Probability Angels people are sometimes given a choice when they die, a choice that will change destiny (or probability). If they make this choice they become a newbie. Matthew is one such newbie, having made the choice to die in place of his wife during a mugging. He has become a being made of energy, yet bound to this world, and can't be seen unless he wants to be seen. Newbies cause most of the problems in the world, from people who start random brawls to inspiring people to cheat on their significant others, and they get money in return for their work. Well, it's not really money. They receive energy which is represented by money. However, these newbies later get a second choice, when their first choice dies, If they choose to detach from their second choice, they become testers. Testers are responsible for all great achievements in history, as they “push” their targets to inspire them. Pushing is rough and can destroy a tester if done wrong or too hard, but the rewards are enormous amounts of energy. Epp is one such tester, who has been doing this for thousands of years, and is Matthew's mentor.

Most of the book's first half is spent setting up the world of the testers and how it works. The above is only a quick summary. We see the history of some of these characters, such as when Epp pushed Isaac Newton, which was, in my opinion, one of the most interesting parts of the book. It almost feels like it could have been an insightful story on the nature of death, inspiration, and the universe itself. In fact, the first half reminded me a lot of Dan Millman's Way of the Peaceful Warrior.

Unfortunately, at about the halfway point, the book takes a hard turn, and not for the better. You see, some tester can't make that second choice, and instead follow their choice to the grave, becoming too attached and lying on those graves, unable to remove themselves. They loose energy and essentially become zombies, needing to feed off the energy of other testers. And it's at this halfway point that the book becomes little more than an afterlife-based zombie apocalypse novel, and not a terribly good one either.

That felt weird to write. It's about the undead dead. Hmmm...

Here's the problem: If the book had started out making it clear that it was going to be this way, I might have been able to handle it much better, or I'd at least have been more accepting. Instead, the author caused me to develop inflated expectations only to watch it crash and burn.

Another issue is that Matthew is clearly set up as the protagonist early on and we watch him as he learns about this world and the history of it. But upon the drastic switch in tone, we almost completely lose sight of Matthew and he's rarely that significant during the second half, if he appears at all. It feels like the author forgot what and about who he was writing and just went for an all out brain dump. Or he got bored with Matthew and his exploration of the testers and started going off in a different, not to mention random, direction.

The ending was, frankly, terrible. It ends far too quickly and with little in the way of satisfaction or answers. I understand that Joseph Devon has written a sequel which many reviewers seem to like much more. I may give it a shot, but I have to judge this book on its own merits. It gets an extra star just because the first half of the book is interesting, but in the end, I can't give this one a high score.

Probability Angels by Joseph Devon earns 2 pushes out of 5.

Note: A free copy of this book was sent to this reviewer through a Goodreads First Read giveaway. This did not affect this review in any way. ( )

Matthew is a spirit that tries to negatively influence people. The bigger the negative influence, the more money he gets. But his current existence is going to change. Matthew gave his life so his wife could live. Now she is going to die so he has to make a decision about if he wants to become a probability angel or just keep going at his current job.

Epp is going to train Matthew to be a probability angel. The idea is that at a given time, a person is presented with several different options and how they react is going to lead them on different paths. The idea is to present the path that has the most probability for happening. But there is a lot more to it than that. There is the strife that Epp continually brings to the group. Then there is the training that Matthew seems to have trouble getting down.

I understand most of the concept of the probability angels and how Matthew has to learn his new role. But I admit that I had a hard time staying with this story. I put the book down a couple times and came back several weeks later and still couldn’t get into the story. I feel for Matthew, he made a tough decision to save his wife. But I just couldn’t get into the probability angle.

I do think this was a good story. It was just tough for me to follow. I honestly can’t way one was or another if anyone would like it. Give the book a try and you may fall in love with it. If so, check out the second book in the series Persistent Illusions.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. ( )

The premise of Probability Angels sort of reminded me of City of Angels where there are angels walking around everywhere. You know, the scene where all the angels are in black trench coats at the beach at sunrise? That’s how I imagine these characters, except more mischievous and not in a good way really. I can’t say I warmed up to them immediately because they were tough to like. They definitely didn’t become probability angels because of their sainthood. However they did make an important selfless decision to become what they are. Matthew Huntington is still considered a noob in the angel world doing minor mischief like making foreigners fight over directions and encouraging a heart-broken man to go after his just married love. You know, that sort of thing.

We soon find that Matthew has to make an important decision to either shadow the life of a loved one and eventually fade, or move on to the next step and become a tester. A tester being someone who pushes a person to their moral breaking point. Which isn't fun at all, but challenges reveal the man and eventually sharpen them. However if he chooses this route he is told what will happen once the tether snaps,

“You will know for certain that you are entirely alone on this earth, and that you are loved by no one. You will be cast adrift with no compass and no oar. Your brain will expand in ways you never thought possible, but your heart will remain frozen in the same place forever containing nothing but the memories of your two choices.”

Pretty harsh, right? Well he becomes a tester and meets some others like him Kyo, Mary, and Bartleby along with their trainer and strongest of them all Epp (Epictetus). Of course it's at this point where they meet with some trouble. Hey even probability angels need some opposition as well. Another type of undead trouble is waiting for them.

My review really doesn't go into the complexities of the book, but I will say things get pretty interesting. Most importantly for those of you who like zombies you might like this book. There's an army of zombies. If you like to read about a group of paranormal misfits sort of like Dead Like Me, then you might like this. It took me a while to get into this book, but it was an interesting premise and pretty creative. ( )

Enter a plane between heaven and earth with Devon's non-angelic beings in this unique tale.

Probability of Angels is not what I expected however I did enjoy the book. Although at times I found it somewhat confusing, it was mostly due to not knowing where Matthew really was or what was going on. I did find the characters interesting and they all have a little gift like the Fantastic 4 comic series. Epp reminds me of Samuel L. Jackson he is calm and cool even while things are crazy around him. Devon did good placing as much emphasis as he did on Epp and Matthew. You tend to look forward to their characters throughout the book and when Epp is in danger you really feel badly for him. Are their really angels in this adventure? Just as the title suggests it is a probability since the location seems to be some sort of level or plane and not heaven itself. I believe Devon could go far with this series if he adds a little more paranormal or afterlife juice to the mix. Since the 2nd book of the series is due to be released soon I am curious to see if he has picked it up a notch. The narrative of Probability of Angels itself is unique and I like the writing style of Devon. If you like your fiction with a mix of the unknown then you can truly enjoy this book and this series. ( )

Probability Angels by Joseph Devon brings to light the probability of certain situations like life and death. The reader is introduced to interesting 'angels' who are responsible for inspiring and choosing the fate of their charges. What gives us inspiration when we question ourselves? Who determines the outcome of a struggle in the park? The answer of course are people like Matthew Huntington, who has been dead for over two decades.

Mr. Devon has created a complex world that consists mainly of what-ifs. Within this world there are intriguing characters such as Epp the two-thousand year old Roman Slave and Kyo the Japanese Ronin. Backs must be watched because just as in the real world, there are power struggles and enemies pretending to be allies. Gregor, another Probability Angel who pushed Bram Stoker to write Dracula, is leading a cause to overthrow Epp and his followers who strongly believes that Epp has been in power too long.

Each chapter is broken down into smaller sections, each following certain characters and what they are up to at the time. There were some times that I would be into the story and then it would jump to another part and I would have to wait to get back into the story in which I was pulled. Either way, Mr. Devon does a fantastic job and has created a world that is unique and unforgettable. ( )