Locked away in one of Scotland’s specialist hospitals named “Bin Linnie Lodge” X-Ray, Lights-out, Chicken Angel, and Cough Cough lay in their freshly made beds dreaming about “the sky boat”. They are all “deletes” as “Tin Lid” the nurse likes to call them. And pretty much live in a bin, whilst being contained by the lid herself, as well as the neatly dressed looking man “Doctor Dearly”. Confined, metallic, sterilised, and empty are their lives.

If the names are confusing you, then let me explain. All the nicknames of the handicapped children have been assigned to them based on their disability. X-Ray has “onion skin” as he calls it; he is always bleeding. Lights out or “Lolo” has no eyes, but she can see through touch. Chicken Angel has angel wings, small mounds under the skin of her back, and Cough Cough has failing pulmonaries and cannot breath well.

As you read desperately hoping these four companions won’t part due to “takeaway” – otherwise known as death – you are brought into another part of the story.

This is where Nail, hard as, Natalie, Kenno, and Coddy all come into the story. When first reading into these new characters’ lives, the reader may find themselves going back a chapter to check whether or not they missed a page as the story flicks between these two different settings. However it is not long before all the characters lives start to connect. After Nail sees the gorgeous girl Natalie, he desperately tries to get her attention. From here the adventure begins, and the settings, characters, stories, and events start to link in an almost frightful way.

After reading Angel Blood I do not feel this book can be categorized. Angel Blood is emotional, traumatic, and chilling, as well as heart warming. It entices the reader into all the complex characters lives, thoughts, and feelings, and will leave you drained after every chapter, but have you still turning the pages. What the readers must prepare themselves for is an emotional rollercoaster, both heart warming but also very confusing at times, and be ready to work out the mysteries of “jack the cat”, “the skyboat”, and other imaginative creations in the minds of the characters.