Falling Angel [Paperback]

William Hjortsberg (Author), James Crumley (Introduction), Ridley Scott (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2006

"A terrific book-what might have happened if Raymond Chandler had written The Exorcist."-Stephen King

"Falling Angel combines the best of the classic detective story . . . with elements of the occult with surprising humor and wit. . . . This is the literary love-child of Raymond Chandler and Stephen King. . . . Not for the faint-of-heart."-from the foreword by Ridley Scott

Falling Angel pits a tough New York private eye against any detective's most fearsome adversary. A routine missing-persons case soon turns into a fiendish nightmare in which the shadow detective Harry Angel chases seems to be his own.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Originally published in 1978, Hjortsberg's debut mystery was the basis for the film Angel Heart.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Terrific...One of a kind...I've never read anything remotely like it." --Stephen King

"A near-perfect book...Not since Psycho changed the bathing habits of thousands has a novelist so completely turned preconceptions inside out." --Los Angeles Times

"A compelling, page-turning story in the best private-eye tradition, with brilliantly nightmarish scenes of black magic and voodoo." --Washington Post

"A tight, suspenseful story...Not for the timid." --Miami Herald

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 302 pages
• Publisher: Centipede Press (November 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933618086
• ISBN-13: 978-1933618081
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,125,595 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Horror Masterpiece, A Necessary Read, March 11, 2001

By 

Ryan Costantino (Nowhere, Special) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Falling Angel (Dead Letter Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

Falling Angel is one of the best Horror novels I have ever read, so fast paced I'm amazed there aren't scorch marks on the pages of my copy. At first you think you are reading a detective novel, and then a Horror novel, and then decidedly, the demented offspring of both genres.

Low rent private eye, Harry Angel is recruited to find a pre-war crooner by the name of Johnny Favorite, a singer indebted to Angel's client. A client by the name of Louis Cyphre. Angel's pursuit of Johnny Favorite takes him to the seediest of locales in mid 1950's New York and enlightens him on the city's darker side. A world of witchcraft and voodoo and unspeakable rituals. All the while Harry Angel is trying to deal with his own amnesia. As the mystery unfolds so does the terror and slowly as each piece is revealed Harry Angel walks the tightrope of madness. Not only is Falling Angel an intelligently crafted Horror novel it is incredibly vicious as well. Yet strangely it seems to be more of a cult favorite than a Horror novel that everybody knows. All I can say is that it is one of the most original Horror tales I have ever read, impossible not to read in one sitting. It was made into a movie called Angel Heart that follows the basic outline of the story and the plot but does some shifting of locales not seen in the book. The movie was good, the book a thousand times better. A must read for Horror fans.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is one gritty detective story!, February 16, 2003

By 

R. E. Mattey (Northern CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Falling Angel (Dead Letter Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

While you read this, take what you know about the late fifties in New York City, and compare it here. This story immerses the reader superbly into the atmosphere of the setting. I swore I could almost smell cigarettes and hear the perfect, New York accents. The dialog was written well enough to do just that, make you think it is authentic New York. The storyline is fantastic. Basically, a detective is hired to find a person who has been missing for over fifteen years. Along the way, he must go through a bog of voodoo mysticism and black mass rituals until at the very end, the truth is revealed. The ending is extremely clever and there is no way I am going to spoil that. If you are into the crime - or horror - genre then there is absolutely no way you can miss this one.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars greatly exceeded my expectations -- four and a half stars, September 20, 2003

By 

Alexanderplatz (Kentucky) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Falling Angel (Dead Letter Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

It is difficult to review FALLING ANGEL without giving too much away, but here goes:

Basically I bought this book on a whim, having seen the film which it inspired. In short, the book greatly exceeded my expectations, being both more entertaining and more literary than I ever would have expected from a novel of the mystery or suspense genre. Hjortsberg's writing is the epitome of unpretentious intelligence. Each chapter advances the plot in some way, with the precision of a well-written short story. Often, seemingly casual details of the setting or a character turn out to be subtle and wryly-humorous bits of foreshadowing. Another reviewer has praised the evocative descriptions of post-war New York. I was simply compelled at every point in this novel to keep reading, not because of some cheap cliff-hanger ending to a chapter, but because the plot was always getting thicker, juicier, and definitely creepier.

Of all the books I have bought in the last few years this is the one that was the best reward for taking chances on unknown books or authors (and the consolation for all the ones that were disappointments). Whether you call it horror, mystery, suspense or just simply literature, FALLING ANGEL is a great read.