Angel of Death [Mass Market Paperback]

Jay Brandon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1999

To the African-American community in San Antonio, Malachi Reese is a saint, a community leader, a man who feeds the hungry and houses the homeless. To San Antonio District Attorney Chris Sinclair, Reese is the Angel of Death: a vicious killer possessed by the need for power and willing to do whatever it takes to gain it. Determined to see justice done, Sinclair overcomes incredible odds to see Reese convicted of murder and sentenced to Death Row.

But Malachi Reese has not been defeated. From Death Row, he threatens to destroy Sinclair, to take him to the very top and cast him back down. As a series of seemingly unrelated crimes begins, Sinclair feels the power of Reese descending upon him, and finds that enemies are allies and allies are enemies, and that truth and justice are much more shades of gray than an issue of Black and White.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The excellent legal thrillers by former Texas prosecutor Jay Brandon (such as his Edgar-nominated Fade the Heat) are the real McCoy--brainy and visceral assaults on the justice system by someone who has seen all of its aspects.

Brandon's latest is a powerful story about two men determined to destroy each other, using whatever it takes. San Antonio District Attorney Chris Sinclair, who is white, is so sure that a charismatic African American community leader, Malachi Reese, is a bad guy, in spite of all the good work he does to feed and house the needy, that he uses a legal loophole to have Reese convicted of a double murder that he may not have committed. From his jail cell, Reese then orchestrates a monumental attack on Sinclair, arranging murders and ruining reputations. Using his stripped-down prose like a scalpel, Brandon cuts away most (but not quite all) of the fat that often pads legal thrillers, leaving a strong story and several vivid characters. You might not like either Sinclair or Reese very much at the end, but you'll come away understanding why the law can only go so far in bringing people together. Other Brandon books include Defiance County, Local Rules, and Rules of Evidence. --Dick Adler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Edgar nominee Brandon's (Fade the Heat) taut legal thriller pits an infinitely evil criminal against a preeminently good district attorney. When recently elected San Antonio DA Chris Sinclair convicts African American community activist Malachi Reese for a double murder, sending him to Death Row, he experiences a year of hell. Promising vengeance, Reese wreaks havoc on Sinclair's professional and personal life. During a second trial stemming from Reese's conviction, Sinclair's young assistant DA is murdered, his romantic encounter with psychiatrist Anne Greenawald is violently interrupted and his job is jeopardized through insinuations of misconduct. Brandon provides vibrant local color and (sometimes too much) legal detail for both trial sequences. In the penultimate scene, Reese orchestrates courtroom chaos to manufacture a heroic scenario for himself. He plans to save a humiliated Sinclair, punishing him by sacrificing Greenawald, but his plan doesn't quite come off. Revelations about Reese's offspring lead the grim tale to an appropriately suspenseful conclusion.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books; 1st edition (December 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812540433
• ISBN-13: 978-0812540437
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,247,041 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jay Brandon (1953- ) grew up and his lived primarily in San Antonio, Texas. A graudate of the University of Texas, he also has a Master's degree from The Writing Seminars of Johns Hopkins University, and a J.D. from the University of Houston.
Brandon is the author of 15 novels and one book of non-fiction, as well as a number of short stories published in anthologies.
Brandon has also been a lawyer since 1985. His first job out of law school was at the Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest criminal court in Texas. He then served as an assistant district attorney of Bexar County (San Antonio), Texas, and a staff attorney on the Fourth Court of Appeals of Texas, before going into private practice in 1990.
Brandon's 1990 novel FADE THE HEAT, his first legal thriller, was shortlisted for the Edgar Award and optioned by Amblin Entertainment. That and later novels have been published by more than a dozen foreign published, with worldwide distribution.
Brandon is married and the father of three children. He is a member of the Texas Institute of Letters and the American Crime Writers League (although he generally dislikes belonging to any group; just a natural prejudice).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A deeply penetrating yet exciting legal thriller, November 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Angel of Death (Hardcover)

Who is the real Malachi Reese? The African-American community of San Antonio feel he is a genuine hero, a pillar of the city, who helps the poor, down-trodden, and hungry. However, to District Attorney Chris Sinclair, Malachi is the ANGEL OF DEATH, whose need for power is that of an addict.

ANGEL OF DEATH is an exciting legal thriller that is a fabulous one-sitting read that asks penetrating questions about how equal is the so-called blind justice system? Without preaching, the story line is fast-paced and moving and filled with action that occasionally overwhelms the poignancy of the tale. The characters are fully developed, especially the enigmatic Malachi and the obsessed Chris, who will leave readers wondering about each of them. Clearly, this novel is one of the sub-genre's best books of the year.

Harriet Klausner

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional Book !, January 11, 2000

By 

Isabel Diaz Jr. (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Angel of Death (Mass Market Paperback)

Jay Brandon mixed in his thorough understanding of how the criminal justice system works, a very original and intelligent villian, and a uncanny depiction and right on the mark description of the relationships and dynamics within the African-American community and how that community precieves the Legal Justice System to create a thrilling,page turning book that you can't put down.His protagonists Sinclair and Greenwald are a great match romantically and in helping to take down the killer Reese. Unlike other books that basically are written as screenplays/scripts or their antagonist are more interesting and way smarter than the hero i.e. James Patterson-"Pop goes the Weasel". Malachi Reese and Chris Sinclair are both very smart and cunning in their own ways, making for some great suspense and good reading.Look forward to the sequel to this book if for nothing else to read about the on going relationship of Sinclair/Greenwald and the other strong characters in the book, Asst DA Lynn Ransom and Councilman Winston Phillips. Get the book because you won't see it on the Hollywood screen because the villian is too Politicallly Incorrect for Hollywood to allow the book to be made into a movie.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hoping Malachi is fictional!, December 29, 1999

By 

Frank's Daughter (San Antonio, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Angel of Death (Hardcover)

As a resident of San Antonio, I found myself hoping that the villain in Jay Brandon's latest effort, Angel of Death, is entirely fictional! The author's depiction of District Attorney Chris Sinclair and his obviously strong attraction/repulsion with the locally revered Malachi Reese is very well done. Although I bought the premise of the saintly appearing bad guy, I did think that the evidence leading up the trial needed a bit more set up. The case as presented did not seem to be as open and shut as Chris Sinclair seemed to feel. Was a scene left on the cutting room floor? In fact, the book seems very close to being a screen play screaming for production. I liked the bare bones presentation of the legal matters--not too much detail, just enough for the reader to follow it without getting caught up in too much jargon. And the ending caught me by surprise--perhaps it's because I was reading this on a three-leg flight from Providence to San Antonio and had to be interrupted! At any rate, this is a fast read but not a light read. Compare it, possibly, with Diehl's Primal Fear. I also would like to see more of the Chris Sinclair/Anne Greenwald relationship.