Customer Reviews

Angel Fire

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I hope this is the first in a long series about Lydia Strong and Jeffrey Mark. Lisa Miscione has created two characters that you can care about. Their lives and issues are so well developed that you seem to know them, their fears and their motivations.

Her writing is both crisp and haunting. The story takes us to Angel Fire New Mexico, a small town suddenly beset by a high number of missing persons, possibly a serial killer's doing. The problem is that the bodies are not found and the missing persons could have just fled. Lydia, in town to rest after the publication of her most recent true crime book, is certain that something sinister is afoot and she calls upon her friend and partner, ex FBI agent Jeffrey Mark, to help convince the authorities. The reader is fortunate to be along for every carefully plotted step of this fascinating investigation.

I could not put this book down. I can't wait for the sequel, 'The Darkness Gathers', and then for even more new episodes.

Lydia Strong has a gift of acutely accurate intuition. She can find clues that elude others. She helped determine the killer of her mother fifteen years ago and, now, as a thirty year old woman, she is a bestselling author of true crime books and a consultant for law enforcement. Young women are disappearing in the Santa Fe area. Lisa suspects something is very wrong and calls her friend, PI Jeffrey Mark, ex FBI agent, into town for his help. The two investigate the deaths and soon realize a serial killer may be at work. Things heat up when the killer targets Lydia as his next victim.
Lisa Miscione has written a very good first novel worthy of widespread acclaim. She has the ability to write with great beauty in describing the landscape and setting of this character rich debut. There is enough of a feeling of underlying dread to keep the reader's interest at all times and the relatively rapid pacing also contributed to the pages flying. Overall a well recommended debut.

Lisa Miscione's debut novel, Angel Fire, is a real thrill ride. Great character development and compelling relationships between the main characters add depth and intrigue to the already strong story line. I look forward to her next book.

This book is a very well-written debut by the talented Lisa Miscione. It features a character named Lydia Strong, a true-crime writer who assists the police in solving murders. There are currently four books in the Lydia Strong series, and this book is the first.

I have two minor quibbles with this book. First of all, it is impossible to guess the identity of the killer -- he basically comes out of left field. This isn't that problematic, however, since this is more of a thriller than a mystery.

Second, Lydia Strong is a rather cold and angst-ridden character, especially at the beginning. I understand this makes Strong more of a three dimensional heroine, but I still didn't find myself connecting with the character as strongly as I wanted to.

Overall, though, I enjoyed this book thoroughly. If you enjoy this book, I suggest reading "Beautiful Lies" by Lisa Unger.

Step aside, Patricia Cornwell! There's a new kid in town, and her name is Lisa Miscione. She's created an engaging and believable protagonist -- crime writer Lydia Strong -- and she's involved her in an exciting, and unusual, story. Personally, I was carried along the whole way -- even though there were times when the story took some very harrowing turns -- and I'm already looking forward to the next adventure. (The press stuff says the author is working on a second novel now.) I'll be more than willing to go along for the ride again!

This was an exciting story and had good character development. The main character is Lydia (whose mother was killed when she was 15). She is now 30 and an crime author and crime consultant, having become famous on writing about the serial killer that killed her mother. Reviewing articles from the paper and TV, she sees another serial killer at work. The story line gets a little muddled in whether she is good or has some minor paranormal powers. She calls her long time freind Jeffrey (former FBI agent - now a private crime consulant) for help. Again the story is muddled with issues with him and her issues with the 15th annivery of her mothers death. All in all a great first book of a new author and well worth reading. I look forward to another story not so muddled.

As a teenager, Lydia Strong learned how to live up to her surname following the murder of her mother by a serial killer. The homicide shaped her personal and professional lives. She molded herself into a non-caring person so that she would never hurt again. Professionally she became a successful true crime writer who depends on her intuition to learn the truth.

Fifteen years later, Lydia is in Santa Fe where three people with no real ties to anyone recently vanished. She and the cops disagree as her instincts scream sly serial killer while Police Chief Simon Morrow insists just a trio of losers escaping from their mundane lonely lives. Lydia persuades private eye Jeffrey Mark to help her prove she is right. Jeffrey would do anything for Lydia, who he unrequitedly has loved since he met her when he was a FBI agent investigating her mother's murder. Soon corpses appear and Simon reluctantly begins to believe in Lydia's intuition that dangerously takes the trio to the Church of the Holy Name for a final confrontation with evil.

ANGEL FIRE is a police procedural tale with an ESP-like private investigative twist to the plot. The lead trio makes an interesting team as a strange yet engaging relational triangle forms. The story line is gory and all over the place losing at times sight of the prime theme, but those readers who enjoy a bloodstained tale with likable protagonists will find Lisa Miscione's debut novel to be heaven sent.

Harriet Klausner

I would have rated this a solid four stars until the last few pages.

*** SPOILER ALERT *** SPOILER ALERT *** SPOILER ALERT ***

The ending was unbelievably contrived. Obviously the author felt she had to end the book with a climactic physical showdown between the heroine and the bad guy. First we're expected to believe that the innocent, blind priest walks out of the house and down to the church. And the policemen guarding the house never saw him leave?

Then the heroine gets a phone call telling her the priest is missing. So she immediately races to the church too. She can't even wait two minutes for her partner to get dressed? What about the policemen watching *her* house. Nah, she just heads off to handle it herself.

She's now at the church which the bad guy has already set on fire. Inside, the blind priest is unconscious and the bad guy is about to crucify him (literally).

(Of course, this begs the question as to why the bad guy would set fire to the building *before* crucifying the priest. I guess it's so he can hide in the smoke. Whatever.)

The heroine shoots the bad guy in the arm. He spins away into the smoke. Then she DROPS THE GUN to pull the priest away from the fire!!

Hello?? Never deliberately drop your gun when a crazed, pissed-off psycho is in the same room.

(Just for the heck of it, I just tried to pull my 190 lb son across the my living room floor (wood). I had no problems doing it with one hand. So I assume the heroine - which is half my age and in much better shape - should be able to do it too.)

Anyway, I won't go into more detail but the rest of the climactic scene is equally unbelievable. It just totally jumped the shark.

I found it interesting to learn about this character and her history. I was afraid it was going to be depressing at times, but the author did a great job of building the characters and the story in a way that kept me intrigued and anxious at the same time. I am looking forward to more books by this author!

I enjoyed the book. It was selected after reading several reviews on the Author Lisa Unger.
The story was fast paced and kept you interested...but the plot followed the familiar: tough messed up woman meets smart handsome man who wants to protect her in spite of herself, story line.
It is a decent read for the adventure mystery lover.