I have so many problems with this story that I don't know how to begin. Why did Avi cast the Angel Gabriel in the role of a loathsome, threatening exterminator? I'm no fan of the soppy, wimpy angels in many recent books for children and adults, but Gabriel surely shouldn't be evil! Why doesn't the boy tell his parents about the stranger who is threatening his life? Why has this boy--an inoffensive, average child--been singled out by an angel for such a brutal lesson? Would any angel reward the saving of a life with a crossbow bolt in the leg?For a far, far better story featuring an angel character, read Madeline L'Engle's A Wind in the Door.