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In this novel, she has been married for about three years to a British agent. Wilde's weapon of choice is his deadly right hand and a certain specific killing blow; Fehrbach is proficient with guns and knives but is also deadly with only her hands. The similarity goes a bit further-- in the last twenty percent or so of this book, Anna Fehrbach finds herself in a situation quite similar to one that Wilde found himself in at the end of The Deviator, but to avoid spoilers I won't describe that description.
As I said, this book begins in the early s with World War II over and Anna living on a private island with her husband. Her parents, some servants, and a pair of very fierce dogs also live on the island paradise with them. She is contemplating retirement from the business, once and for all another similarity with Wilde when she is approached by her American handlers to complete one last assignment, complicated by the fact that it is in Britain. She used to be employed the British part of the history chronicled through all the novels and is now, as part of her parting deal with them, prohibited from being in that country.
At the same time, the Russians, who view her as a war criminal and made an unsuccessful deal with the Mafia to have her killed in the previous novel in the series, have not forgotten about her. We know Anna survives the mission because it begins with her year-old self talking to Christopher Nicole, but just as in Day of the Jackal, the fact that we knew Charles deGaulle survives does not mar the suspense of the novel. The writing is engaging and the plot hums along.
The one marginally annoying feature is the occasionally over the top rhetoric: Anna is the most beautiful woman in the world, the fastest thinker in the world, the best assassin in the world, etc. However that is ameliorated to some extent in this novel by the fact that she actually makes a mistake a pretty dumb one, in my view and gets herself captured but, having read The Deviator more than 40 years ago, I recognized immediately where that was going. The books are stand-alone in the sense that each one can be read independently of the others, but since they track the character's history from the late teens to her early 30s, reading them in order is probably preferable.
All in all, a good read, and I am pleased that Christopher Nicole is, so many decades from when I first discovered him, still writing. Perhaps one day he will even bring Jonas Wilde out of retirement for one last job. One person found this helpful.
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I found myself wanting to see exactly what he would find when he found Johnny Valentine and the more I read, the more sure I became he would find him. Fortunately, I had long since forgotten the plot of the 80s movie Angel Heart or this would have been spoiled for me.
I remembered just enough to have a nagging feeling I knew something was happening, but not enough to put my finger on it. The book is an enjoyable read if you saw the film awhile back. I don't remember the details enough to determine how closely aligned the film and book are. The story grows gradually until a brutal and nearly over the top finale.
Only the soul is immortal. Guard this treasure well. Your decaying husk is but a temporary vessel on an endless voyage. Unobservant me never noticed until it was brought up in someone else's review. Being a fan of the twisted supernatural story-line meets hard boiled detective, I instantly purchased it. Did the book hold up to the movie? Detective Harry Angel is hired by an unusual, wealthy client to hunt down a long-missing man who was admitted to a treatment facility years ago for war injuries and complete memory loss. It's never easy to follow a cold trail, but he does his best, landing in the twisted world of backwater voodoo, close-lipped musicians, carnival acts and I can't think of another novel quite like this one.
Usually the supernatural does not blend with this genre, and if it does, it doesn't usually it do it as daringly. I knew the ending of the book already thanks to its film presence, but up until a certain point the script matched the page. I was starting to think there wasn't going to be any deviations at all, but they eventually came.
The book wins with getting further into the story and the details, longer interviews and other stops that were omitted from the film, and a sense of urgency. I like how the relationship between Harry and a lady love are better explored in written form, with more scenes and better fleshed out.
Hjortsberg's writing style is smooth flowing with a particular talent for stylish dialogue. On the other hand, the movie won on keeping the big secret longer. There were more obvious clues dropped in the book, and the producers probably felt better removing it before the big screen transfer so it didn't come across so obvious and easily guessed. There's brutality and violence, there's psychological mind games and hidden surprises, there's tension and a big twist at the end to cap off a journey that was already deadly. Every reader should check this one out.
Aug 14, Peggy rated it really liked it Shelves: William Hjortsberg's Falling Angel was the basis for the movie Angel Heart , and, Mickey Rourke notwithstanding, it's a mighty fine adaptation. Even if you've seen the movie, the book is well worth a read, but those of you who haven't seen the movie are in for a special treat. Falling Angel tells the story of Harry Angel: What seems fairly straightforward at first glance becomes more and more compl William Hjortsberg's Falling Angel was the basis for the movie Angel Heart , and, Mickey Rourke notwithstanding, it's a mighty fine adaptation.
What seems fairly straightforward at first glance becomes more and more complicated as the investigation continues. Soon bodies start appearing and it looks like our man Angel is being set up to take the fall. Every new piece of the puzzle he finds reveals just how much of the story he hasn't been told. The investigation takes many unexpected turns and eventually Harry ends up involved with blues musicians, fake swamis, voodoo priestesses and a satanic cult. It's a nice juxtaposition of style and content. The noir detective tends toward the cynical anyway, so Angel's disbelief in the occult occurrences rings true.
The crime novels from that era deal with all kinds of conspiracies and chicanery, but everything is fully grounded in reality. There's always a reason, a human reason, for all the trouble that occurs. It's a treat to take that same style and those same assumptions and look at them all from a different angle.
Hjortsberg does an excellent job in keeping the reader guessing as the plot unfolds. Just when you think you know what's going to happen or what just happened , the story slips away from your grasp. Hjortsberg plays us just as subtly and just as thoroughly as his characters play one another. Up until the final revelations, you're never quite sure just how it's all going to turn out. And now for the bad news: Knowing how it all turns out before you get there is a real bitch. While this doesn't invalidate the story, it does mean that you get thwacked in the forehead with foreshadowing every other paragraph or so.
This was incredibly disappointing to me the first time I read Falling Angel. I was actually angry at the movie for being too good of an adaptation and therefore spoiling a mighty fine read. But you know what? If the worst thing you can say about a book is that someone made a pretty good movie out of it, then that's probably a pretty safe recommendation.
Oct 02, Ben Loory rated it it was amazing. May 17, Bill rated it really liked it Shelves: I can see why this one is considered a classic Se limitaba a cumplir con su deber. A nadie le importa una mierda. I picked this one up thanks to recommendations from Goodreads as I normally do not veer into the straight up mystery genre.
To my surprise I had a tough time putting down this noir thriller. Hjortsberg does a fabulous job of giving this story a 's feel. He stays true to the noir genre. First person narrations, plenty of dark and gloomy environments, and a hero that is also flawed and more real. The plot can be some what compl 4 Stars What a thoroughly enjoyable hard boiled detective thriller. The plot can be some what complex, with several good twists and turns. The action though minimal is dispersed enough to keep you interested and excited.
I had a blast reading this book and it leads me to wonder if I should venture into the classic hard boiled detective genre. The ending was satisfying and makes me want to read more from Hjortsberg. Aug 22, Sandy rated it it was amazing.
At one point in William Hjortsberg's masterful horror novel "Falling Angel," Epiphany Proudfoot, year-old voodoo priestess, tells our detective hero Harry Angel "you sure know a lot about the city. While much has been said of this book's scary elements--its voodoo ceremonies and Black Mass meeting and horrible murders At one point in William Hjortsberg's masterful horror novel "Falling Angel," Epiphany Proudfoot, year-old voodoo priestess, tells our detective hero Harry Angel "you sure know a lot about the city.
While much has been said of this book's scary elements--its voodoo ceremonies and Black Mass meeting and horrible murders--what impressed me most about this tale is the incredible attention to realistic detail that the author invests it with. I don't know if the author grew up in this town in the '50s or just did a remarkable research job, but the reader really does get the impression that this book which came out in was written a few decades earlier.
Roosevelt Island is called Welfare Island, quite correctly; street names are given the names they had 45 years ago; subway ads are described that I can dimly recall from my youth at the time; one-cent peanut-vending machines are in the subways boy, does that bring me back! This is the type of book in which if something is described, you can bet your bottom buck that it really existed. For example, at one point our hero walks into a 42nd St.
I checked it out; it was really there in the late '50s! You can really learn a lot about the city as it was by reading this fast-moving tale; it's almost like a history lesson wrapped up in a hardboiled voodoo thriller. And what a thriller this is! Even without the incredible attention to detail, this book would be a winner. In it, Harry Angel is hired by Lou Cyphre get it?
A spellbinding novel of murder, mystery, and the occult, Falling Angel pits a tough The Definitive Horror Book List .. Was all this for real, or just some kind of hell ? . William Hjortsberg's Falling Angel was the basis for the movie Angel Heart. I had never even heard of Angel Heart before until I came across a copy of it on VHS. I was immediately intrigued by the blend of 50's detective noir with horror that The mystery aspect of the plot alone is excellent, but as the film reveals itself, . Rourke is perfectly sleazy as a gumshoe descending into hell, and DeNiro is.
Many scenes impress, most notably the late-night Central Park voodoo ceremony, the Black Mass in the abandoned subway station, and an off-season walk through the Coney Island midway. The book is justifiably included in Jones' and Newman's excellent overview volume, "Horror: The Hundred Best Books.
I haven't seen the "Angel Heart" movie that was made from this wonderful book, but can't imagine it being any better. This book deserves all the praise that's been heaped on it. Fortunately, it's still in print, as it well should be. I highly recommend it. Jun 20, Harold rated it it was amazing Shelves: I was on the phone the other day with a musician friend. He recommended this to me. I read it in two days. I downloaded it and began reading. I read it in two days also. That's a five star formul I was on the phone the other day with a musician friend. That's a five star formula for me.
Hjortsburg works the hard boiled genre well. Even the characters names seem well chosen and appropriate: Epiphany Proudfoot, etc, etc. The real life character is a guy that used to stand in front of Broadway in NYC and swear at people walking by. Hjortsburg puts him in for verisimilitude and atmosphere. For my review of this book, please click here still on Goodreads but different edition of the book!
Apr 16, Timothy Mayer rated it it was amazing Shelves: I first read Falling Angel in Naturally, I went to the public library in search of the books on the list. The exception was Falling Angel, which I took home and read over a matter of days. In preparation for this review, I read the book again. But I felt the passage of 30 years w I first read Falling Angel in But I felt the passage of 30 years would dull my memory to the point of writing a bad review.
I gritted my teeth and went back to the book. Astonishingly, I enjoyed the book more this time than on the first read. Hjortsberg, on his website, talks about why he sat the novel in Coney Island, Harlem all these places were written through the eyes of someone was there. It makes for a very vivid background. Harry Angel, private investigator, is working the gumshoe trade in Manhattan, Cyphre has discovered Fortune is missing from the place and wants him located. In true hardboiled PI fiction, Harry Angel strolls down the mean streets of Manhattan looking for the missing Fortune.
He runs into many people who knew Fortune, but few who remember anything about him. This was before the Net and massive data information on every particular subject. Angel is forced to visit reporters, libraries and consult things known as phone books. It was a different time. And each have an upside down star or inverted pentagram on their person. Soon, Angel begins seeing Mr. Cyphre in his dreams.
The book is full of bizarre occult references to New York City. One of the witnesses he consults is a socialite astrologer. And there is the required black mass. My guess is a warning to stay away from things far more powerful and sinister than you can imagine. Of course I saw the movie adaptation, Angel Heart, when it hit the screen. Having read the book before and after the movie was released, I can say that it is a good adaptation. I should mention the entire book takes place in Manhattan, unlike the movie which has a side trip to New Orleans.
Harry Angel is a private detective, hired by a mysterious client to find singer, Johnny Favourite. His investigations soon point to a man who was heavily involved in black magic, finding him will be difficult enough without all of Harry's leads turning up dead as one by one they are taken out. I've seen the movie of this book and although there are some similarities they are vastly different. I liked the character of Angel even though he played fast and loose with the law, he was well written and Harry Angel is a private detective, hired by a mysterious client to find singer, Johnny Favourite.
I liked the character of Angel even though he played fast and loose with the law, he was well written and even though some of his actions were morally dubious you were still rooting for him to get to the bottom of the mystery. The first half of the book started really strong but did lose it's way a bit two thirds in, the pacing seemed to slack off and it wasn't quite as engaging making it easy to put down.
The final chapters soon picked it up again and whilst the ending was no surprise to me, having seen the movie, it was still a great twist. Well worth picking up if you like crime noir mixed with horror. I wish I had read this book before seeing the movie "Angel Heart". But, as it has been over 20 years since I have seen the movie, I had forgotten most of the details except a pretty steamy sex scene with Lisa Bonet We're not in "Cosby" anymore, Theo!
And of course, I remembered the ending. That being said, it did not much detract from how damn good this book is! I thought one of the fundamental aspects of storytelling involved the inclusion of at least a few boring parts.
This didn't seem to have any so I'm guessing it wasn't written correctly. Constant pacing and a more than satisfying ending. I was completely engrossed with this story, read it in two days, and could not put it down. View all 3 comments. I'm a huge fan of noir crime fiction, and someone recommended this book as one I'd like in that genre. And sure enough, it held up as a fine noir novel. There's the private detective, Harold Angel, working out of a crappy little office, dressed sloppily, with stains on his tie; places that people wouldn't go to after dark; a private hospital in the country, characters involved in the dark world of voodoo and black magic etc.
And Angel's been hired by someone to find a missing singer who's b I'm a huge fan of noir crime fiction, and someone recommended this book as one I'd like in that genre. And Angel's been hired by someone to find a missing singer who's been in said hospital but has disappeared. With only a few leads, he's off. But the closer I came towards the end, the more I realized that there's something just a wee bit off kilter here and then I got the surprise of my life.
Talk about plot twist! So I won't spoil the book for others by going into any further detail here, but I will say that if you like a touch of the supernatural in your fiction, then you've got to add this to your reading stack. Twenty-five years ago I saw the movie "Angel Heart". I remember it being a very atmospheric film.
Twenty-five years later, I read the novel that would become that movie. This is one of the best, noir, hard-boiled gumshoe novel's I've read. Hjortsberg also does a wonderful job on the atmosphere of New York City in the '50's. Throw in the case Harry Angel is working that involves, black magic, voodoo, and some gruesome murders, you have a very different hard-boiled novel. Getting in to this story, Twenty-five years ago I saw the movie "Angel Heart". Might have to check out the movie again Mar 22, Kimberly rated it really liked it Shelves: Nov 21, Tony Gleeson rated it it was amazing.
Hjortsberg is a difficult author to find on the shelves. IMO he's well worth searching out. After probably twenty years or so, I decided to pick this up and read it again. It stood the test of time quite well-- possibly since I have in the interim read a lot of other authors, his literary allusions might stand out better to my mind now. The tale begins as a first-person narrative by a private detective, told in the now-familiar manner of Chandler and Ross MacDonald.
The action takes place over Hjortsberg is a difficult author to find on the shelves. The action takes place over ten days in A mysterious and very patrician figure hires him to find a once-famous swing-band singer who disappeared during the second World War. And then things get dark, murky, frightful, and diabolically weird. Hjortsberg describes the city of Manhattan circa in great detail-- as he reveals in his own afterword, based entirely on his own youthful memories, and even going to great pains to research exactly what the weather was like in that period of time.
His characters are fully created and colorful in an odd mix of bright and sludgy tones. By the end of the book he's gone beyond noir. It's hardly a feel-good work but at least for me, it's indelibly etched into my brain. Unfortunately this book's fame has rested largely on the film that was based upon it, "Angel Heart. Jul 20, Jenny Twist rated it it was amazing. What a joy to discover it is now available for Kindle.
Like many of the previous reviewers I thought it might be spoilt for me because I already knew what happened at the end. The language is stunningly beautiful. Nero must have had such hands. And Jack the Ripper. It was the hand of emperors and assassins. Languid, yet lethal the cruel, tapered fingers perfect instruments of evil. And I actually found myself unable to put the book down as I approached the end.
I believe this book to be a classic, one of the very best I have ever read. If you like your horror laced with more than a little private dick noir then Falling Angel is the novel for you. Sucker private eye Harry Angel should have brushed up on his basic satanist symbolism as his "client" Louis Cypher get it? See Johnny "owes" something to the not so enigmatic Mr.
The symbolism was a little heavy handed in this one and the fact that Angel doesn't know what If you like your horror laced with more than a little private dick noir then Falling Angel is the novel for you.