Angel of Light [Hardcover]

Joyce Carol Oates (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Random House Value Publishing (December 12, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517421852
• ISBN-13: 978-0517421857
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,516,430 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joyce Carol Oates is the author of more than 70 books, including novels, short story collections, poetry volumes, plays, essays, and criticism, including the national bestsellers We Were the Mulvaneys and Blonde. Among her many honors are the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction and the National Book Award. Oates is the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Princeton University, and has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1978.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hamlet -- inside out and upside down, July 19, 2002

By 

R. Tiedemann "Sunnye" (Bellevue, NE USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Angel of Light (Hardcover)

This story of the American political scene is one of loyalty and betrayal, revenge and forgiveness. It's the old two-men-in- love-with-one-woman tale but this time with a twist: save a life and share a love.

When Maurice Halleck dies in disgrace his children vow to kill his betrayers -- their mother and her lover. It's a thriller that takes a good, hard look at the alienation of youth.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No quarter for our enemies..., June 14, 2005

By 

Nicole Guerrero "vagueanomaly" (FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Angel of Light (Hardcover)

Politics. A failed marriage. The intricate world of Washington in the years of 1979-1980, without naming names, a gentle gloss over realities. The politics is just a backdrop, however, for the Halleck family. Maurice, the head of the family, leaves a drunken, convoluted confession and his car is found in a brackish swamp in a small Virginia town. His children, Owen and Kirsten, are convinced it is the doing of his wife and his long time friend (and wife's lover) Nick; everyone else is convinced it is a suicide due to his unscrupulous practices in D.C. The story follows the children and their plans to exact justice however they can.

The characters are well written and realistic, and, although it might seem to end on a rather simplified note, it is a satisfying read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Greek Tragedy Murder Mystery, October 29, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Angel of Light (Hardcover)

Maurice Halleck, direct descendent of 1850's anti-slavery martyr John Brown, is accused of wrongdoing and then found dead w/ a suicide note. His kids suspect foul play involving their mother and her lover. This unusually involving book by Oates uses family, politics, and history to weave a tale of justice against those in power.