Customer Reviews

The Angels Will Not Care

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This is the kind of book everyone who takes a cruise to Alaska should read! The suspense was killing me. My only regret is that this is the last book of his series for now....I've just read all of his books in print, one right after another, and I had never done that with ANY author! I'm passing the books on to my family members down in Southeast Alaska.

(Having been born and raised in Alaska and knowing the places that Mr. Straley writes about is like being there while he's writing. It seems like I know all his characters in person.)

Last year when I picked up my first John Straley book, "The Curious Eat Themselves" I was flying from Ketchikan through the Sitka airport...which tradition tells me to get off the plane, go stand in line at the airport restaurant and get a piece of pie...(my husband the NYer didn't know WHAT the heck I was talking about), after we stood in line, got back on the jet (with pie container in hand); I opened my book to find that John Straley had even included something trivial like that, (trival point to most folks, but a given to us Alaskan's)! I read that part, wiped the pie crumbs from my face and smiled and KNEW "I'm going to like this guy!"

I can't wait for his next book(s)! The only suggest I

Sitka, Alaska private investigator Cecil Younger has been hired to investigate the incredibly high mortality rate of passengers traveling on the cruise ship S.S. Westward. Believing that this simple case will launch him out of the poor house and give him some luxurious vacation time, Cecil is accompanied on his two week case of cruising by his lover Jane Marie and his roommate Toddy.

As soon as the threesome board the ship, they knew that the crew is strange and the passengers are even weirder. Almost from the time the ship sets sail, Cecil begins his inquiries so he can finish up fast and relax in comfort. He starts his investigation by looking into the activities of the ship's doctor. However, before he can dig too deeply, healthy passengers begin to die. Worse yet for Cecil is that another sleuth accuses him of being the killer. Now besides finding the real culprit, he has to prove his own innocence.

Cecil is a great sleuth, who, along with Jane Marie and Toddy, brings to life an Alaska rarely seen in person, movie, or fiction. As readers come to expect from the Younger mysteries, the story line is offbeat, but extremely entertaining. John Straley is one of the best writers of regional detective stories and his latest book, THE ANGELS WILL NOT CARE, will leave readers caring for the next Cecil Younger tale.

Harriet Klausner

John Straley's characterizations and beautiful descriptions always appear fresh and unselfconscience. I've read all his books to date and I think this is one of his best. I especially enjoyed his descriptions of the frenetic, artifical world of cruising "fun." An interesting and exciting trip down the Alaskan coast with good mystery and a little love story thrown in. I am looking forward with great anticipation to the next book.

The author takes us to his native Alaska and describes it in beautiful, engrossing detail. We learn about the little town of Sitka, and we learn about the people, the fauna and the bears.

We then take a cruise on an old rustpot: two weeks through the islands, entertainment and mystery included. Straley knows how to portrait people so that they come alive in front of your eyes. But he also has a sense of humor, writing about a sex adventure that has to be the funniest you have read in a long time.

What about the mystery? It has to do with too many people dying on this ship's cruises. To say more would give it away. Suffice it to say that it starts out well and then becomes befuddled.

Still, it is a good book to read.

Like Many others I have read all of John Straley novels. Being a former Sitka resident I find the novels very interesting. I do not think that you have to be an Alaskan to enjoy these books. The characters that are written about are written in a way that allows one to really experience them. The stories are believeable and one gets really drawn in with the stories. Straley is a great storyteller and spins a tale or two. I do not suggest you read only this book, but all of Straley's novels. These books will leave you with a since of longing to travel to the Great Land

I loved "The Angels Will Not Care". I previously read the other books in this series, and what keeps me coming back are the wonderful descriptions of Alaska and the lovable-because-fallible but never self-righteous main characters. I have been passing the books on to my brother-in-law, whose taste in books is completely different from mine--more toward the Grisham-adventure-spy-thriller type story, and he likes them as much as I do.

I have spent some time in Sitka and love it but what keeps me waiting for another Cecil Younger book is the way Straley creates his characters. Cecil is a three-dimensional character with wonderful flaws and strengths. How he views himself and his relationships with others--Toddy, Jane Marie, his lawyer, his various clients--gives a much richer voice than one usually finds in detective fiction. Start with the first book and keep reading! Let's hope Mr. Straley keeps Cecil alive for a long time.

I have read them all. Straley has a gift of telling a great tale with vivid descriptions of place inhabited by wonderful characters. I want to go to Alaska.....I can't wait for the next book..

This book was a real disappointment. The characters are one-dimensional, the "mystery" obvious, and the relationships unbelieveable. Our detective and his lover wax hot and cold on each other for no discernible reason, many characters (notably the family with the Down's Syndrome child) appear to have no relationship to the plot, and the immediate adversary relationship between the hero and his employers makes no sense. I was expecting something that would do for Alaska what Tony Hillerman has done for the Southwest, but our 50th state really got a bum rap!