chris gerboth

Book One in the Path of Angels Series.

Angels of Chaos follows the mission of Dr. Frederick Hoffman to confront and vanquish a mysterious being who appears at key points history to foment chaos and suffering. The first half of the novel is set during the labor wars in Colorado in 1913 and the second half, in Europe during World War II. Hoffman's life is bookended by catastrophic events of cruelty that leave him and the reader contemplating whether evil is a force in its own right, or simply an extension of human ambition.

Dr. Hoffman begins his pursuit of Bahram when he is hired as a negotiator by the Rockefeller family in 1913. After being kidnapped from his hotel by Bahram's men, he is taken to a tent colony housing striking workers, all followers of Bahram. While being detained, he attempts not only to secure his own release, but to diffuse what he believes will soon be a violent showdown between the striking workers and the National Guard. While he manages to escape, he is too late to bring about a peaceful end to the standoff. He blames himself for the resulting bloodshed that includes innocent women and children burned to death in a tent.

After a brief interlude, the story jumps to 1945 and World War II. Bahram has embedded himself within the SS and the Allies send an aged Hoffman with a squad of soldiers on a secret mission to neutralize him. By the time the allies enter Germany, Hoffman is hot on Bahram's trail, his collaborators have a competing side mission to capture German V2 scientists, and he is in a race against time to settle his score with Bahram as atonement for his past mistakes.

The events, characters, and setting of Angels of Chaos are based on meticulous research and first-hand accounts. More importantly, the novel gives voice to ordinary people who find themselves, through no fault of their own, caught up in extraordinary events.