58 pages • 1 hour read
Janice HallettThe Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels: A Novel
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Alignment
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, graphic violence, and emotional abuse.
The “alignment” is how Gabriel referred to the great conjunction, a rare astronomical phenomenon in which Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn appear to grow closer together in the sky. Gabriel incorporated the alignment into the fabricated narrative he told Holly and Jonah, asserting that it was the optimal time to destroy the antichrist.
The alignment becomes an ongoing motif in the novel, representing the moment when coincidence or fate causes separate forces to collide. For example, the events that occurred at the Alperton warehouse involved “an alignment of cover-ups” (418), as the undercover operation to assassinate the Alperton Angels and retrieve Connor Makepeace coincided with the cover-up of how Christopher Shenk died.
Hallett also demonstrates circumstances colliding with Oliver’s personal life. The novel shows how the death of Oliver’s father, the failing health of his mother, his traumatic experience working with the “mad squaddie,” and silent phone calls all occur simultaneously. While these stress factors are unrelated to one another, their combined impact leaves Oliver at his most psychologically vulnerable. Already at a breaking point, Oliver’s meeting with Gabriel and the effects of Amanda’s revenge plan push him over the edge, prompting him to lose his grip on reality. Thus, the motif develops The Exploitation of Vulnerability.
The alignment motif recurs when Gabriel predicts that the fates of Oliver and the person who is targeting him are destined to “collide.” This prophecy is realized when Oliver and Amanda die as a direct result of their interactions. Hallett leaves the reader to decide whether their “collision” occurs by chance or, like the great conjunction, is already written in the stars.
The Yellow Mini Clubman
Don Makepeace’s anecdote about a yellow Mini Clubman is “[a] story that plays out in ways you can’t explain” (401). His account of discovering skeletal remains in a vehicle that crashed a week earlier becomes a metaphor for the mysterious aspects of the Alperton Angels case. The motif represents The Elusive Nature of the Truth. Like the story of the Mini Clubman, the Alperton Angels case initially seems to defy explanation.
Factors such as disagreement over the number of bodies at the Assembly and Gabriel’s “resurrection” from the dead make the sequence of events appear unintelligible. However, Amanda’s alternative version of Don’s Mini Clubman anecdote sheds light on the Alperton Angels mystery. Her theory that the driver regained control of the vehicle and drove away while Don found the wreckage of another Mini Clubman suggests that there is always a logical explanation for uncanny or supernatural events.
Amanda also suggests that urban mythmaking played a role in Don’s anecdote. Over time, details, such as the claim that both cars had a green sun visor and the same Windsor Safari Park sticker, were added to the story to increase its drama. This process echoes how the fabrications constructed as part of a double cover-up became accepted as fact in the Alperton Angels case—for example, the existence of a fourth angel, Raphael. Ultimately, the yellow Mini Clubman also represents Amanda’s pursuit of the truth at any price. Despite Don’s warning to avoid involvement in such incidents, Amanda’s determination to uncover the facts about the Alperton Angels leads to her death.
Biblical Scripture
Like many real-life cult leaders, Gabriel drew on pseudo-religious concepts when constructing a narrative to deceive Holly and Jonah. He elevated an immoral criminal plan into a seemingly divine undertaking, using biblical scripture, a recurring motif, to execute his goals. His name change from Peter Duffy to Gabriel Angelis alludes to the angel Gabriel, portrayed as God’s messenger in the Bible. The name’s associations reinforce his claim to have direct access to divine knowledge. Gabriel’s assertion that Holly’s divine role was to acquire and protect a baby until the alignment drew on the Bible’s depiction of the Virgin Mary and the nativity story. However, in a perversion of the biblical narrative, Gabriel presented the child as the antichrist rather than the savior of humanity. The novel emphasizes how this narrative seduced Holly and Jonah since their divine mission gave their lives meaning and purpose. After his brief interview with Gabriel, Oliver is similarly gripped by the concept that he has an all-consuming purpose. His references to concepts associated with the Book of Revelation, such as the four horsemen of the apocalypse, emphasize the enduring power of the Bible over the collective imagination.
Gabriel’s distortion of elements of the Bible is portrayed as a cynical means to meet his decidedly unspiritual ends. However, Hallett also includes details beyond Gabriel’s control that embellish this narrative. For example, the Christ-like associations of Gabriel’s birth on Christmas are reiterated in his “resurrection” after being shot. These flourishes intensify the narrative’s mysterious and ambiguous tone, particularly its ending.
