A Thousand Fiendish Angels Paperback

This is a collection of three dark short stories inspired by Dante's Inferno. The tales are connected by a mysterious book bound in human skin, passed down through generations. Each story explores themes of sin and redemption: Sins of the Flesh: A police officer investigates the mutilated corpse of a wealthy author and discovers a curious diary among occult objects. The investigation leads to a ruined chapel and a secret that demands a heavy price. Sins of Treachery: Twin brothers inherit a map covered in alchemical symbols after their grandfather's death. Their quest for wealth and power takes them to the Arctic north, where they encounter unexpected dangers. Sins of Violence: In a brutal post-apocalyptic world, a young girl faces a ritual that will end her innocence. Her sister races against time to access the fortified city of Dis and stop the ritual.

*I was given this free review copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. I didn't know what to expect with J.F. Penn narrating her own stories. I was highly impressed from the beginning! Penn's accent adds to the character of the story. Her knowing the story's intimately and giving us the rise, fall, and pause in her voice that gives the story suspense and intrigue. We don't get as much in different voice tones for the characters, but that's okay for this set of short stories. These stories fit J.F. Penn's style of writing with a touch of suspense and mystical. There is a religious element used to the stories. I really enjoy J.F. Penn's writing from word selection to pacing. J.F. Penn has great talent in selecting words to describe the feeling in that action. She holds my attention in each short story. Each story is not long, but they feel complete in telling. Even if they have a time jump, I feel as though it's not an impact time we are missing. I get what I want from each scene written, and it continues along with completing the story we are getting. After the stories, J.F. Penn explains where the stories came from. She tells of her research and connection in the stories to the story Dante's Inferno. Very neat and cool to hear. Sins of the Flesh: A police officer who's down and out on is called to a death scene. While investigating the mutilated corpses items, a diary is found and intrigues the officer to find a secret hidden. The officer could find more than expected. Sins of Treachery: With the death of their Grandfather, Simon and Gestas go on the adventure their grandfather wanted them to take for wealth and power. The map is from the leather book Grandfather held dear, and now Simon does too. This is a continuation of the item found in Sins of the Flesh, but thirty years in the future. The item is strong in it's hold on people and impact on them. Sins of Violence: A young girl returns to the city of the Minotaur to stop the blessing of her sister. Can she get to her sister in time? This story is said to be in the future from the last story, Sins of Treachery. The world is now in a post-apocalyptic setting. What has happened to the world is mentioned in the story, but it does not divert from the direction of the story. This information adds to the danger of the world on the outside of the city.

Well written, lots of reader cookies for the classical fan. These are three great horror stories with depth and sophistication.

I think the concept was superb. But the plot ended so abruptly and without enough explanation that it just wasn't impactful enough... Some of the other works by Joanna in the similar genre is quite breathtaking, so I can definitely say there's quality in her writing. But I dont think it shone through in this book.

I enjoyed these three short stories. I like the way they dovetail together and the dark themes. I particularly liked the last story. I think that world has a lot of potential to be developed. The stories are a little heavy on explaining themes in places, and occasionally I think the descriptions could have been sparser. I fee this would have propelled the plot along and leave more up to my imagination. Overall, well worth a read.

Joanna wrote these three short stories as part of an online contest for the launch of Dan Brown’s thriller novel, Inferno. At the end she explains about her writing, the language, imagery and symbolism used. Joanna writes really well and this is quality on the page. These three horror stories really pack a punch. A lot of work has gone into these short stories and the writing is rich in content, depth and language. Her writing style is top quality and the best way for me to describe it is to give a brief quote to illustrate her talent… Simon had succumbed to his own tug of desire for influence far beyond his brother’s petty pleasures, but there were days when he still longed to lose himself in an orgy of flesh, and take intimacy to the realm of ritual. ...You don’t get this quality of writing in many short stories and Joanna has really raised the bar with her collection. I got a lot of pleasure from reading her three short stories. They are also great in length to read one within your 45 minute tachograph rest break. These stories are snappy, you can finish them and not have to drive for up to 4 hours 30 minutes before you can find out what happens next! I was really impressed by these short stories and found them to be top class entertainment. I could find nothing wrong with them and they made me one very happy reader, so it’s 5 stars from me.

A Thousand Fiendish Angels: Stories Inspired by Dante's Inferno by J.F. Penn has three stories. There was a continuing theme throughout of a flesh-covered book that held infernal secrets. I gave it four stars. Sins of the Flesh starts off with a brutal description of wealthy Christopher Faerwald's death. He was an author whose novels had been adapted for the movies. He had become a recluse obsessed with protection from evil spirits. It was intriguing but far too brief a tale. Rich use of language & a fast story to read. Sins of Treachery is a story of identical twin brothers, but one was a pale shadow of the other. In youth Gest had tormented his brother Simon. There was residual jealousy between them from childhood. At last Simon understood why his grandfather left the map to his 'headstrong, reckless twin.' The story & conclusion is diabolical. Sins of Violence had Ari & Sibyl rolling underneath a destroyed truck to escape an explosion. "International disputes had erupted in the panic, with blame being heaped on whichever nation was considered a sworn enemy, for humanity has only ever been a splinter away from chaos." Ari went to meet the monstrous Minotaur in an attempt to save her sister. She faced the Furies which were chosen from the death pits. They had the dilated pupils of junkies. They were hellish creatures. She was outnumbered & they dragged her to a platform above the city. She then did what she had come to do. I received a complimentary copy from Amazon. This did not change my opinion for this review. Link to purchase: A Thousand Fiendish Angels: Stories Inspired By Dante's Inferno

J.F.Penn wrote this collection of short stories that flows in a continued stream. I enjoyed reading her work and look forward to her other books.

Sins of the Flesh, Sins of Treachery, and Sins of Violence are three stories in this compilation based on Dante Alighieri's famed "Inferno". Penn captures the disturbing allegories that Dante illustrated with well-written shorts that delve into darkness. Penn has a knack for the supernatural and my only complaint was that three stories were not enough.

To me, the mark of a good story is that it sticks in your mind long after you've read it. Only a few days have passed since I read this book, but I don't really remember much about the three stories contained therein. That said, they're written well enough, and I enjoyed the author's notes at the end. It's adequately entertaining, and I like the concept, but I never really connected with the stories. I just didn't find them to be that interesting. Overall: not bad, especially considering it's free.

A Thousand Fiendish Angels was suggested to me by my boyfriend. It is a trio of short stories which are linked together. I found them really easy reading. They’re not too long but they have everything you need. The imagery is fantastic, you can really imagine the surroundings when you’re reading the book. It’s a perfect read for those who don’t read too often, people who like to read on the bus, or just a bit of wind down time before bed. The stories are inspired by Dante’s Inferno and in fact first came about due to Dan Brown’s book “Inferno” being released. I was unaware of this, but apparently there was a competition around the time of the release and these stories were sent in for that. At the end of the book the Author comments on this and also goes through his reasoning for writing the stories, what inspired each story and also the symbolism behind them. So, they are well written, to the point whilst still having the imagery involved and I really enjoyed them. I would definitely recommend these to anybody whether you like to read a lot or not. The stories are quite short and it’s not a massive commitment like some books can be. At the end of the book there is also an excerpt from J.F. Penn’s book “Desecration” which does look pretty good!

All three tales were well-written, haunting, and could easily be followed up with sequels making for chillingly good reading! I tagged three passages from each of the works including these lines "I usually felt a calm peace within churches, a sense of something holy, but this place was malignant and hungry" and "Simon felt a stab of anger at how Gest had stolen this final sacred moment from him, and a deep resentment for his years of desertion"and last but not least "Here, there was nothing of beauty, except the children for a brief moment, before they were ruined even as they bloomed." I'm going to need to read more of this author's works. Excellent!

The short stories in this collection don't quite rate as fiendish. Two are mildly entertaining, but as a whole, didn't reach my expectations.