Customer Reviews

Blood of Angels (Straw Men)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is supposedly the last in the Straw Man series. I rather hope there are more -- I like the characters and the entire concept was clever. The basic idea is that there is a sort of secret society that is thousands of years old. These people consider themselves evolutionarily different from the rest of us -- they believe we have succumbed to a virus that makes us altruistic. They are not and are responsible for many of the worst events of history. That is an original idea for a mystery thriller. The hero and heroine battle these people through three books. In particular, the protagonist's twin brother is one of the worst. This would make an interesting film -- the star could play both the bad guy and the good guy. The first book in the series was interesting, but I had doubts. The second one was much better (and the writing is probably the best of the three). The third one makes a perfect end. I recommend these books if you like this kind of reading.

Just finished up Michael Marshall's trilogy, and I'm having a difficult time separating Blood of Angels out of the pack for this review. For the uninitiated, go back and start at the beginning, with the Straw Men and The Upright Man novels, and work your way through, or you may be in for some confusion. The series is planted firmly in X-Files territory, and, as with the X-Files, there's lots going on, enough that keeping track is essential: In Marshall's world, surreal, horrific conspiracies and cover-ups abound. In fact, he goes as far as to reference the X-Files early in Blood of Angels, during a drug deal about to go strangely wrong.

Here, our Mulder and Scully are ex-CIA intelligence agent Ward Hopkins and FBI agent Nina Baynam, who, after the bloody events in the previous books, are now hiding out in a small cabin, secluded on the edge of the Washington State forest. Their semi-idyllic life is cut short with the sudden - but not entirely unexpected - arrival of Nina's FBI boss, who's come with news. The story jumps into gear as they learn of a new, possibly female serial killer, and the kicker - the escape of Ward's murderous twin brother, a serial killer called The Upright Man, who is - was? - part of a powerful, world-wide cabal of killers who believe the rest of us are infected with a communal sort of virus that makes us behave more-or-less like sheep. They view themselves as the wolves in this demented scenario, and therefore, well, we're ripe for the picking.

Unlike the X-files, however, which presented its version of space-aliens, governmental cover-ups and general weirdness as a growing mystery waiting to be uncovered, Marshall has structured his premise in a much more straightforward manner: There's a big group of serial killers out there, firmly entrenched in all walks of life, and they're planning something BIG.

Quite an apocalypic scenario, eh? Unfortunately, Marshall wimps out on us. Nothing against his writing per se: the books in and of themselves are entertaining enough, taken as a breezy way to pass the time at the beach; the characters are well-drawn and there's action and intrigue aplenty, and we're treated to Marshalls' sly, cynical humor and cultural observations which helps break up the otherwise oppressive atmosphere. The problem is that (unless, perhaps, there is to be another book, say...) for all the big, ominous setup, nothing much happens. And in the end, we don't uncover much more about the Straw Men than we already knew from the first book. I'd hoped Marshall would explore this group he's created (a group that is not so unlike the terrorist organizations operating in the real world) and to see how deep the evil really goes, but no. Instead, we're basically told again and again that they're devious and untouchable mass-murderers. Great. Whooo. Creepy.

I was left feeling feeling vaguely unsatisfied, like I'd choked down a stale pastry and cup of lukewarm coffee for breakfast, instead of having the artery-clogging plate of butter-smeared waffles and eggs and hot, greasy bacon and hash browns that I really wanted. For all of that, because the premise is so intriguing and holds so much untapped potential, I hope Marshall is inspired to give us another, final chapter in the Straw Men legacy.

Marshall's "The Straw Men" begins a trilogy of what I call "The Conspiracy Freak's Compendium of Worst Case Scenarios". I liked the surprises and twists, all amid a collection of conspiracies even Agent Mulder would raise an eyebrow in hearing.
The second book "The Upright Man" went a little far-afield - I think the piece got overblown and the collection should have been two books instead of three.
"Blood of Angels" was mostly very satisfying, although leaving Zandt 'offpage' for the finale feels a little like a cheat. Annie Wilkes might not approve. It seemed Marshall really got his groove back on in the unlikely chemistry between Zandt and Ward and had some very good dialogue.
As a series 'wrap', it felt satisfying. In the context of 'The Straw Men' trilogy, it rates a 4. Or a 3.75. Good end of summer read.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
This is a review of all three novels
THE STRAW MEN, THE UPRIGHT MAN, and BLOOD OF ANGELS comprise more than 1,000 pages and have to be read as one big book for them to make sense. Basically, the plot follows three heroes as they try, unsuccessfully, to thwart a super-conspiracy of neo-primitives (the "Straw Men" of the first title) who want a world of chaos and violence because that is a "manly" world. Even the women in this neo-primitive subculture are wired like that: they murder people and/or sell their own children to psychopaths without missing a beat. In the end our heroes' quest is futile: the Straw Men are just too many and too powerful, and ex-Detective John Zandt, the only character who seemed to have a clear idea about what to do with them, namely tracking them down and killing them, slowly if possible, has apparently perished (3rd book) in the same explosion that has, again apparently, killed that uber-uber psychopath, Paul. The annoyingly whiny ex-CIA narrator of half the story, Ward Hopkins, is hiding in a cabin with his girlfriend at the end of novel 2, and we find him hiding, plus pregnant gf, in the same cabin by the end of novel 3.

This was a good idea that went to pot soon. The 1st person-3rd person narrative doesn't work (I have never read a novel where it does work) because it kills the suspension of disbelief: we have an omniscient narrator who sees and knows everything, and at the same time a 1st person account from a very limited individual, one that is annoyingly stupid at times, and criminally irresponsible at others. The characters insist on tracking down who is presumably on of the worst mass murderers in history, only to let him live at the end, always. Paul has murdered and helped murder thousands of men, women, and children. When the Keystone cops chasing him finally corner him, instead of bullet-in-the-brain, the man is patched up and taken to a hospital, because the good guys are civilized, decent people. The only rays of light in this dismal panorama of stupid federal agents, moronic spooks, dumb cops, and uber-uber-uber efficient psychos, is John Zandt's relentless killing spree paying the psychos in kind, but it's not enough to save the books from the nothingness Marshall turned them into. There are at least five separate stories that take up hundreds of pages and that are just minimally connected to the main plot and they end up in nothing. The writer has control over his universe and he chooses to bore us with dead-end details (for that kind of literature we have Proust, really), to top it all off with one of the lamest endings available to any writer of thrillers: the couple will have a baby, so I guess everything will be all right, right? And our heroes are still hiding, cowering, and it's still a big, bad world out there, but they have each other (yeah, it's that corny). Marshall didn't need 1000 pages for this. I have read many, many thrillers lately, which means that I've read mostly terrible turkeys masquerading as entertainment. But Marshall showed promise. His style, throwing in six or seven unconnected characters and their life stories (for depth, I suppose) to connect them in the last third of the books gets tired very soon, but he is not a bad writer. His idea was good. I hope he improves, but I doubt it.

Michael Marshall is a new author to me but apparently has been quite prolific in his writing of Sci-Fi books under the name of Michael Marshall Smith, which I assume is his real name. He was born in the USA and raised both there and in the UK.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book, not least because it is the type that I would not normally read and secondly it was an airport purchase, not usually the best way to choose reading material but needs must. Let me hasten to add that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the subject matter of the book, it is simply that I normally go for historical books, both fact and fiction.

The book is a tense thriller, well written, with enough action in it to keep even the most ardent thriller reader happy. The plot is well thought out and the action kept to a high level throughout the book. I occasionally wondered if it would have been better if I had read the first two books in the series before this one, but the book stands alone and is well worth a read, particularly if you are stuck in an airport like I was and are not of a nervous disposition.

In this third entry involving The Straw Men and the three people who know about them (ex-CIA Ward Hopkins, FBI Agent Nina Baynum, ex-cop John Zandt), there are three plot strands: Nina investigating a pair of murders, young rich guy Lee John moving up in the drug business, and James/Jim heading off to destinations unknown for a particular job. Of course, all these strands join together for a heart-pounding climax.

I really enjoyed this book. After being severely disappointed by the previous book in the series, I was blown away by this one. Lots of twists and unexpected occurences, plenty of action and thrills, and a climax so entertaining I almost couldn't turn the pages fast enough. The book only has minor flaws, primarily Marshall's habit of slapping three metaphors into a paragraph when one will suffice. And a bit too much time is spent with James/Jim when, at the end of the day, he doesn't figure in the action all that much once his purpose is made clear. Last of all, the conspiracy behind The Straw Men (how they've evolved over time) is a little too far-fetched and silly, but at least Ward Hopkins himself is sceptical.

But these are minor quibbles. Blood Of Angels caps off this franchise to great effect, and leaves enough plot strands dangling to possibly (hopefully) weave another sequel.

Former CIA Agent Ward Hopkins and his lover FBI Agent Nina Bayman hide in the remotest part of the Cascade Mountains so that the conspiracy of killers THE STRAW MEN cannot come after them. They fear reprisal ever since they along with former cop John Zandt captured Paul "THE UPRIGHT MAN" Hendrickson, a serial killer who happens to be Ward's twin brother; a sibling he was unaware existed until he got involved in the homicides.

FBI Los Angeles Special Agent in Charge Charles Monroe and LAPD Robbery Homicide Lieutenant Doug Olbrich arrives to inform Nina that that they need her in Virginia where an apparent female serial killer is on the rampage and that Paul escaped. Everyone knows Paul is coming for his brother, but no one knows what happened to Zandt who wanted to kill the Straw Man when they had the chance for murdering his daughter. Refusing to wait for the inevitable, Nina and Ward search for Paul, but not only uncover a tail of small town killings, they learn of the "Day of the Angels" is coming and fear the mass murders by a string of puppet serial killers.

The third Hopkins tale is an exhilarating thriller that grips the readers with suspense from the moment that the heroes know their sanctuary has been breached. The story line is action-packed as the siblings hunt for one another. Though better to have read the previous chilling stories, the audience still gains a taste of how widespread and insidious the Straw Men murder for hire conspiracy is. Michael Marshall shows his horror roots with this frightening chiller that will leave a spellbound audience leaving the lights on at night.

Harriet Klausner

Perhaps I shouldn't even be writing this review as I've come in as a reader on the third book, and a lot of what's going on is fairly incomprehensible to someone who doesn't know the characters. It begins with an ex CIA agent and his lover, who is still an active CIA operative, coming out of hiding after some previous, bloody events. The group known as The Straw Men, has once again begun a campaign of murder, calling in favours and recruiting young members. I can't work out just what these Straw Men are trying to achieve...perhaps it was clearer in the earlier books. The actual writing of Michael Marshall can't be faulted and the whole book rushes forward at the pace of a train, but, for most of the time, I didn't know what on earth was going on. The answer obviously is to read the preceding books first before tackling this one.

Once upon a time, Michael Marshall Smith was a fresh, exciting voice in the genres of the fantastic. He announced his arrival with "Only Forward," an electrifying debut that spiked its science fiction thrills with a dash of Barkerish horror and Pythonesque humor. His follow-up, "Spares," wasn't too shabby either, and he racked up a handful of award-winning short stories.

Then he shaved off the end of his name and took a dive into the lucrative mediocrity of the serial killer novel. His first foray, "The Straw Men," isn't bad actually -- a step up from the standard Dean Koontz drivel. That was followed by "The Upright Man," a sequel of diminishing returns. And "Blood of Angels" makes a trilogy, a conclusion (at least as far as I'm concerned) so haphazardly constructed that I'm surprised the book didn't crumble apart in my hands as I turned the pages.

Marshall's loose coalition of current and former law enforcement officials and conspiracy nuts continues to battle an underground cabal of serial killers that has orchestrated all of human history (coz if there's one thing we all know about the psycho killer it's that he's a team player). At this point, the trilogy's central idea, never that strong to begin with, feels played out, whatever creative juice it had long since dried up. "Blood of Angels" doesn't even qualify as a good junk food read. It feels exhausted and listless, an empty exercise, a thriller sans thrills. A subplot concerning teenage whiteboy suburban drug dealers serves only to further gum up an already logy narrative.

In addition to the lackluster storytelling, there are numerous flubs probably attributable to the author being British and the editor not paying attention: Doritos and Fritos are referred to as "potato" chips. El Lay kids sling London slang. All weapons are labeled generic "guns." Ostensibly professional federal agents carry said "guns" in their pockets instead of securely fastened in a holster where any joker couldn't snatch them away. A character in the back of a cop car casually tosses stuff into the front seat. I could be accused of nitpicking, but it's those kind of little details that contribute to a sense of realism, to the reader's suspension of disbelief, and this book needs all of that it can get.

As "Blood of Angels" meanders along to its weak-kneed whimper of a finish, it continues to pile up typos and lapses in logic. Marshall writes as if he's in a rush to finish and go do something more fun: "I oriented myself in relation to the body by from the direction of curve in the revealed sections of seven ribs." He and his editor obviously weren't much more interested in the project than I was.

Very well written book, and it was a nice finish to the trilogy. Would love to see the author continue with this story for another trilogy.