Oh, I'm sure she's friendly.
- The Control Voice: In a world filled with darkness, Father Anton Jonascu's faith has long been a beacon of light for those in need. But now the good father finds himself at a crossroads, in danger of losing his way.
Aliens who look like demons grant a disillusioned priest the power to heal and ask him to be their representative. Though initially willing given the good he can do, the priest learns the aliens are not so benevolent.
- The Control Voice: From the dawn of time, people have believed that angels walk among us. Some believe that demons are also in our midst. But who's to say exactly what form either will take? They could be your spouse, your boss at work, even the person sitting with you... right now.
Corner of the Tropes:
- Aliens Among Us: It turns out that disguised aliens whose real form resembles demons are living on Earth.
- Aliens Are Bastards: The aliens that look like demons want to steal Earth's atmosphere.
- Ancient Astronauts: The aliens tell Father Anton Jonascu that their people visited Earth millennia ago and their teachings shaped the development of every human religion. However, like everything else they tell him, this turns out to be a lie.
- Artistic License – Religion: Father Royce objects to Father Jonascu's healing ability being a divine gift by saying only Jesus had that power. However, in Catholic belief many Apostles and later saints healed the sick miraculously too.
- Back from the Dead: Father Royce is resurrected by his friend Father Jonascu after he dies.
- Belief Makes You Stupid: The aliens claim among themselves that (most) humans' belief in a benevolent god is their greatest weakness, a fatal flaw they will use to trick humanity into doing what they want by having a seeming real miracle worker provided in the form of Father Jonascu. Father Royce, who overheard, retorts that this belief is their greatest strength, and he seems to be right as it inspires both later standing against them as they're revealed to be evil. Additionally, both are portrayed as perfectly intelligent, rational priests.
- Cast from Hit Points: The female alien gives Father Jonascu an ability to heal by giving up her own life force. Or so her compatriots say. She is later shown to be alive and well, assuming it's not an alien with the same disguise.
- Crisis of Faith: Father Anton Jonascu has been ministering to the sick and homeless in his community for decades but suffers a crisis of faith as he cannot solve all of these people's problems, let alone all of the world's problems.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Father Jonascu and his friend Father Royce successfully foil an alien invasion, then Jonascu dies of his injuries in the other's arms.
- Evil All Along: Aliens who resemble demons befriend Father Anton Jonascu, heal his brain tumor, and grant him a Healing Hands ability. They ask him to be their representative and vouch for them when they eventually reveal themselves to the public since their appearance is frightening to humans. Eventually, Jonascu's friend Father Royce finds out the aliens are just as evil as they look. The gifts they provided Jonascu were just to get him to trust them so that they could use him as a pawn to trick humanity into trusting them so they can eventually wipe humanity out and take over the planet.
- Glamour: The aliens possess a technological version that makes them appear as normal humans.
- Glamour Failure: Some humans, like Father Jonascu and Carlito, can view the aliens' actual forms as a result of abnormalities with their brains.
- Good Shepherd: Catholic priests Anton Jonascu and John Royce both minister regularly to homeless people, giving them food or clothing. However, Jonanscu has grown disillusioned because of how many people in need there are, with so little they can do for them. After he is given a healing ability by some alleged messengers of God though Jonascu regains his faith and travels the world to heal people. Once he learns these messengers are really malicious aliens, he saves Father Royce (along with everyone else) from their designs at the cost of his own life.
- Hallucinations: Discussed. Father Jonascu sees a police officer as having a demonic visage initially, but is unsure what's going on. After his doctor tells him he has a terminal brain tumor causing him to hallucinate, he accepts this. However, when a homeless man is revealed to have seen the same things, he learns it was real.
- Healing Hands: Aliens give Father Anton Jonascu the power to heal any injury or illness and even raise the dead. He becomes a worldwide celebrity in the process. However, it turns out that the aliens are merely using Father Jonascu as part of their plan to occupy Earth and destroy its atmosphere.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Father Jonascu kills Fletcher, one of the aliens, to save his friend Father Royce despite it killing him in the process.
- Hostile Terraforming: The aliens plan to destroy Earth's atmosphere to make the planet habitable for them.
- Invisible to Normals: Both Carlito and Father Anton Jonascu can see the aliens in their true form. Everyone else only sees the human images that they project using their visual fields.
- Police Brutality: The police at the beginning attack a homeless camp without even giving them an opportunity to disperse, striking people with their batons for no reason.
- Saying Too Much: Father Jonascu realizes something is up when one of the aliens claims his friend Father Royce died of an embolism-just like Carlito, a homeless man who'd tried to warn Jonascu about them.
- Shout-Out: A race of demonic looking aliens come bearing good things for earth. Which brings to mind Childhood's End. Though these aliens turn out to be just as evil as they look, unlike the ones from the novel.
