Angels Passing (Di Joe Faraday) [Paperback]

Graham Hurley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2005

Why did fourteen-year-old Helen Bassam fall to her death from a tower block? DI Joe Faraday is on the case, but almost immediately, he’s fighting for resources. The body of a drug dealer is found hanging from a tree, and the head of the Major Crimes Squad is pulling in all the manpower he can get. Faraday plunges into Portsmouth’s bleak netherworld of wrecked families and children cast adrift. But as he tracks down a ten-year-old boy who may hold the key to Helen’s death, he’s faced with a crisis much closer to home.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The launch for ANGELS PASSING at Portsmouth Cathedral was a huge success, with over 100 people attending. The publication achieved huge local coverage. Local newspaper THE NEWS ran two 2-page spreads on the book with a promotion, Graham was interviewed on PORTSMOUTH TELEVISION and the launch was filmed by local news programme MERIDIAN NEWS. Displays of Graham's photographs of Portsmouth looked fantastic and were a great focal point at the launch.Graham has been doing several talks and book signings locally. In Ottakar's, Portsmouth he is their number 1 seller this week, selling 80 copies of ANGELS PASSING and 60 copies of THE TAKE at one signing event. PRAISE'The often sordid life ofa large British city is caught with pinpoint accuracy, together with a host of realistic characters on both sides of the law. The picture of a society infreefall, littered with wrecked families, drugs and corruption, feels painfully true to life, and the conflicts facing the investigating policemen betraytrue emotion and pathos...... this could well be the book that drags Graham Hurley into the rarefied atmosphere of crime bestsellerdom in the wake of IanRankin and Val McDermid... A splendid achievementTHE GUARDIAN (Maxim Jakubowski) 'Angels Passing is one of the best British police novels that I have read in the last few years and Faraday looks like being an enduring character...an excellent police procedural...'WATERSTONE'S ENIGMA magazine 'What is so impressive about this crime thriller is the realistic approach and also the thehuman touches, all of which bring the story and the characters vividly alive. This is a first class thriller by a remarkably good writer'PUBLISHING NEWS 'Angels Passing is a strong and realistis crime thriller and a moving story that tackles the serious issues of a society fraying at the seams'OXFORD MAIL NATIONAL PRESSTHE GUARDIAN - reviewLITERARY REVIEW - reviewSUNDAY TELEGRAPH -reviewINDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY - reviewMORNING STAR - review TRADE PRESSPUBLISHING NEWS - author interview MAGAZINESFHM - review in November issueENIGMA - reviewCRIME TIME - interview by Michael Carlson in November issueCRIME TIME - review by Mark Campbell (issue 29)CRIME TIME - review by Michael CarlsonGOOD BOOK GUIDE - reviewREAD ALL ABOUT IT, Brent Library mag - reviewP&O FLAGSHIP magazine - review TELEVISIONPORTSMOUTH TELEVISION - interview 7/10/02MERIDIAN NEWS - filmed launch party for local news programme INTERNETwww.tangledweb.co.uk - review EVENTSHavant Arts Centre - talk and signing to local reading group 10/11/02Southampton Libraries - talk and signing at North Guild Theatre 03/11/02Portsmouth Central Library - talk and signing 11/11/02Gosport Bookshop - signingOttakar's, Portsmouth - signingLunch with key crime reviewers 11/9/02 to include Maim Jakubowski, Michael Carlson and Mark Timlin REGIONAL PRESSTHE NEWS (PORTSMOUTH) - 2 double-page spreads about Graham and the book to run on consecutive days, plus big promotion in conjunction with P&O ferries to run on 5th OctPETERBOROUGH EVENING TELEGRAPH - lead reviewCAMBRIDGE EVENING NEWS - reviewNEWCASTLE EVENING TELEGRAPH - reviewCUMBRIA EVENING CHRONICLE - reviewDURHAM EVENING TELEGRAPH - reviewOXFORD MAILABERDEEN EVENING EXPRESS - reviewSENTINEL SUNDAY - reviewSOUTH WALES EVENING POST - reviewGLOUCESTER CITIZEN - reviewHARTLEPOOL MAIL - reviewEASTERN DAILY PRESS - reviewNORWICH EVENING NEWS - reviewIRISH NEWS (BELFAST) - reviewSHIELDS GAZETTE - reviewWEST CUMBRIA NEWS & STAR - reviewSWINDON EVENING ADVERTISER - reviewDERBYEVENING TELEGRAPH - reviewSCARBOROUGH TRADER - reviewSOUTH LONDON PRESS - reviewHUDDERSFIELD DAILY EXAMINER - reviewEALING INFORMER - reviewBLACKPOOL GAZETTE - reviewPERTHSHIRE ADVERTISER - reviewDERBYSHIRE TODAY - reviewHULL DAILY --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Graham Hurley is an award-winning TV documentary maker who now writes full time. He lived in Portsmouth for 20 years. He is married and has grown up children. He now lives in Exmouth, Devon.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 424 pages
• Publisher: Orion Publishing (April 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0752849530
• ISBN-13: 978-0752849539
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,419,906 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Graham Hurley is one of the best writers of police procedurals going, December 30, 2010

By 

Cathy G. Cole (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Angels Passing (Di Joe Faraday) (Paperback)

First Line: For months afterwards, awake and asleep, Faraday dwelt on that final second and a half.

D.I. Joe Faraday is investigating the death of Helen Bassam, a fourteen-year-old girl who fell to her death from a Portsmouth tower block. When the body of a drug dealer is found hanging from a tree, the head of the Major Crimes Squad pulls in all the manpower he can get his hands on, and Faraday is scrambling to hang onto what little he's got.

The case sends Faraday directly into Portsmouth's bleak underworld of wrecked families and children cast adrift. On the trail of a ten-year-old boy who may hold the key piece of evidence in Helen's death, Faraday finds himself in the middle of a crisis much closer to home.

Graham Hurley is one of the best writers of police procedurals in the world today. He brings "Pompey" (Portsmouth, England) to life from the industrial sector to the enclaves of the rich, from the slums to a wide variety of non-human wildlife.

Joe Faraday is a single father whose deaf son has been a challenge to raise. To de-stress from fatherhood and crime, he goes for long walks to watch birds. (Every good copper has to have at least one thing to help him cope, eh?) But Faraday and the reader is never far away from the crime, and in this case-- which deals so closely with broken homes and children living on the streets-- the crime is often heartbreaking.

Hurley's series is one of my favorites, not just for the strong plots, but for the strong sense of place and a cast of multi-faceted, evolving characters. More interesting if read as a series, it's not necessary. Each book stands strongly on its own. One of these days I'm going to get my ex-Royal Navy husband (who was stationed in Portsmouth) to read one of these Joe Faraday novels. Something tells me he's going to enjoy them as much as I do.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good British Police Procedural, March 22, 2008

By 

Dianne (Tallahassee Fl, ex Chicagoan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Angels Passing (Di Joe Faraday) (Paperback)

Graham Hurley is a new find. His series (6 books to date) features DI Joe Farraday. The stories are complex, the characters are well-drawn, and the location, Portsmouth, is a bit different than the bucholic Yorkshire or gritty London, the scenes of many procedurals. Hurley's books can be favorably compared with those of Stuart Pawson, John Harvey, Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, Mark Billingham, and Peter Robinson. I read the series in order of publication, but I believe that they each stand well on their own.

5.0 out of 5 stars Better and better, January 6, 2012

By 

Srdjan Pesic (Minneapolis, Mn United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Angels Passing (DI Joe Faraday) (Paperback)

I am slowly and with great pleasure going through this marvelous series. Graham Hurley is one of the best practitioners of the police procedurals today. This gritty, fabulous series is perfect, so far. The city of Portsmouth, is as troubled as most of the British cities are these days. Broken families, drug use, overworked and dispirited police force. It all seems almost hopeless, but people still live, love and hate, kiss and kill,or all of the above. Such an amazing pleasure. Hard, but ultimately immensely rewarding read.