Marvin Delaney is confronted by Perpetua, who announces she is a C.A. (Collecting Angel) who has come to collect him. She is a confused angel, however, being sapped by oxygen and gravity. "Aren't you Marvin Delaney, Jr.?" she asks the 12-year-old boy. "Heck no," he answers. "That's Dad. I'm Marvin Delaney III."
Having Dad die is just as tragic. Perpetua reveals she has to collect him within a week before the poisonous oxygen burns away her powers and she must become human. Marvin, with the help of two friends, Johnny Mack and Muffin, organizes an Angel Army to wreck Pet's mission.
Many stumbles occur on their human efforts to overcome the C.A.'s angelic powers. Marvin must allay the suspicions of his nosy neighbor, Mrs. Duckworth, and battle the roguish Beasley brothers who steal Pet's halo needed for miracles.
The little town of Abingdon is the unlikely site for this strange battle between heaven and earth. Will Dad have to go up? Or Perpetua stay down?
The Mortal Angel
