Set in the slums of New Orleans, among clusters of crack houses and abandoned buildings, Dirty Little Angels is the story of 16-year-old Hailey Trosclair. When the Trosclair family suffers a string of financial hardships and a miscarriage, Hailey finds herself looking to God to save her family. When her prayers go unanswered, Hailey puts her faith in Moses Watkins, a failed preacher and ex-con. Fascinated by Moses’ lopsided view of religion, Hailey, and her brother Cyrus, begin spending time down at an abandoned bank that Moses plans to convert into a drive-through church. Gradually, though, Moses’ twisted religious beliefs become increasingly more violent, and Hailey and Cyrus soon find themselves trapped in a world of danger and fear from which there may be no escape.

My first thought about this book is that I am stunned into silence. My second thought is to tell my friends to head out and pick this one up. Chris Tusa drags you down into the world of muck and mire with the story of Dirty little Angels.

You are utterly drawn into the characters and you feel like your right along side them with everything that goes on. You can feel every emotion that comes through Hailey and you wish you could reach into the pages and help her. At least I know I did.

The way the prose is strung together, while not the usual writing I prefer is perfect for the story. You truly do feel like your reading this through a 16 year old girl’s point of view. The book is deep, gritty and violent. If you are easily turned away by violence this book wouldn’t be for you. But if you can handle it in doses that propel the story into a deeper understanding. You should not miss Dirty Little Angels. You will feel raw and maybe a little bit exposed when you finish this book. But it is a feeling well earned and may open your eyes to a few things.