Book Review: Traces (Book 1)

Title: Traces
Author: Franklin J. Knight
Genre: Fantasy; Spiritual
Book Length: 327 Pages
Format Read: ePub
Year Published: December 16, 2024

Date Started: January 10, 2025
Date finished: January 19, 2025

There are three main stories in this book, and all three stories intertwine. We follow an archangel named Damiel, whose job is to guide an apprentice named Adlai toward becoming an archangel. The Creator leads Damiel and Adlai to a woman named Hattie, who has passed and is living between heaven and hell. In this space between worlds, Hattie could see her family in real-time on Earth and watch what they are dealing with during her funeral and afterward. The Creator is also with Hattie to answer questions she has. While Hattie is viewing her family’s life, she learns that her nephew, unknowingly, gave power to the fallen angels to corrupt him. The fallen angels, who’ve been watching Adlai, learn that he might be easily tempted and plan to find a way to make him one of the fallen.

This story had some very interesting and thought-provoking topics about the afterlife. I liked the idea of the middle world, where the dead could see and feel things that they weren’t able to in the real world. It was also a place where the dead could reunite with those they loved who had also passed. The idea of the Creator, the angels, and the fallen living in this middle world intrigued me. I thought this was a well-told story about spirituality and the afterlife.

Who should read this book: Anyone who enjoys a spiritual and supernatural story with literary themes.