Sojourning With Angels: Olson's debut novel explores angelology, teachings of the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church and ancient speculative histories. It has a brave new voice on the fringe of spiritual fantasy, in the spirit of Dante's Divine Comedy, where a personal apocalypse plunges a wife's love for her husband to fight for his soul if love is going to win in the end. In the peaceful city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, unseen warfare rages for the final resting place of a man's soul. Zazriel, a forgotten watcher angel, is sent as an apprentice to Milo Christopoulos's family. Milo, a...

I've heard stories about people making wagers with the devil for their lives. Growing up in the world of Protestant fundamentalist, Bible banging, 'hell fire and brimstone preachin' Christianity, I was taught God hated gambling. But I decided to make wagers with God for my life anyway. What could I possibly lose? After several 'spiritual head injuries' my wagers lead me to the brink of spiritual insanity. I wanted to give up on God and church and everything. None of it made sense-growing up as a preacher boy, at seminary or in the seeker friendly mega-churches. To my total surprise I...