Johnny Angel [Paperback]

Danielle Steel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2, 2004

Johnny Peterson could light up a room with a word or a smile. He had a future filled with promise - until he stepped into a car on prom night and, in an instant, it was all taken away. In the months that followed, Johnny's family and his high school sweetheart, Becky, struggle to put together the pieces of their shattered lives. No-one is more devastated than Johnny's mother, Alice, but amid the heartache, something miraculous is about to happen. When a sudden illness sends Alice to hospital, a glorious vision comes to her - there, standing before her, is Johnny himself, gently urging his bewildered mother to be strong for her splintered family. Through a season of hope and healing, Johnny will walk by his mother's side, leading his parents, his girlfriend, his sister and his brother out of their grief. But as Alice is about to discover, Johnny has returned not just to help those he loves, but to uncover a purpose even he cannot comprehend - one that will change them all forever.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the 1962 rock ballad, Johnny Angel isn't an angel, but an angelic young dreamboat. In Steel's book, the titular hero is both-as well as class valedictorian, a football/track star, a faithful boyfriend and a college scholarship winner who holds down two jobs to help out his family; on top of it all, he has "great teeth." Killed in a car crash after his senior prom, 17-year-old Johnny Peterson is sent back to earth as an angel. His mission: to fix certain troubles left unresolved at the time of his death involving his girlfriend, Becky, her impoverished mother and his dysfunctional family. The plot may strike TV viewers as little more than a warmed-over Touched by an Angel rerun, but the theme-the healing power of love-is classic Steel. Unfortunately, the story is flawed by clunky characterizations. The sticking point isn't that Steel reveals her characters' problems through authorial proclamation rather than action and dialogue-that bluntness is simply her style-but that she explains those problems repeatedly. The first time readers learn that Johnny's dad drinks himself into a stupor every night from guilt over causing the accident that traumatized Johnny's brother, Bobby, into muteness, it is necessary information. The second repeat can be justified as emphasis. But multiple further repetitions are downright tedious. Still, Steele's heartfelt depiction of the central relationship between Johnny and his mother is touching, and few readers will get through the revelation of Johnny's final gift with dry eyes.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

With this brief foray into the world of a family devastated by the death of their teenage son, Steel moves away from the contemporary romance stories she is famous for, although her fans likely won't complain. Handsome, tall, polite, college-bound, hardworking, and the backbone of his fragile family, Johnny Peterson also is a star athlete and class valedictorian. All in all, his future is looking pretty bright when a terrible accident on prom night kills him and shatters the already tenuous relationships of his parents and siblings. Of course, Johnny, being the great guy that he is, returns as a vision/ghost/angel and begins to repair the damaged lives of his family and friends. Before we know it, his mute and semi-autistic brother is speaking, his father has laid off the booze, his girlfriend gets a scholarship to attend college, and his heartbroken mother gains the fortitude to let go of her grief and embrace life once more. Despite its sad story line, Steel ties it all together with a neat and somewhat happy ending. Librarians should stock up; this one will be hot this summer. Kathleen Hughes
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 319 pages
• Publisher: Corgi; First Edition edition (August 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0552148555
• ISBN-13: 978-0552148559
• Product Dimensions: 4.3 x 0.7 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,687,292 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Danielle Steel has been hailed as one of the world's most popular authors, with over 590 million copies of her novels sold. Her many international bestsellers include 44 Charles Street, Legacy, Family Ties, Big Girl, Southern Lights, Matters of the Heart, One Day at a Time, and other highly acclaimed novels. She is also the author of His Bright Light, the story of her son Nick Traina's life and death.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very Disappointing, October 12, 2003

By 

Donna Reynolds (Syracuse, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Johnny Angel (Hardcover)

I cannot believe that this book was allowed to go to print. As I read it, I was tempted to pull out my red pencil and edit as I went along. The repetition was more than I could bear and the writing was so elementary as to be insulting to the average reader. I can't believe that a writer with the kind of experience that Danielle Steel has doesn't even use quotation marks correctly. Unbelievable.

The sad thing is, this could have been a powerful story. Ms. Steel lost her own son and certainly knows a mother's pain. That is where the problem lies. Her character Alice is strong and well developed. But no one else is. If she had spent more time on this book it might have been different. But, as usual, she power-wrote yet another and it didn't click.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It did make me cry..., December 1, 2003

By 

Theresa W (mi, usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Johnny Angel (Hardcover)

Ok, first, I agree that Steel's writing has severely gone down hill the past 5 or so years. I don't know what has happened to those great long books she used to write, such as Jewels, Thurston House or Daddy...books that carried you through almost the persons whole life and when you put it down, you felt accomplished, like you'd read a complete story. Her newer books aren't that. Moving on...

I did enjoy this book a little more than some of her other newer books. It was a very quick read at 180 pages, which might have helped keep my interest. It could have been more like 160 if she had cut out all of the repetition. She kept repeating herself over and over and over...I don't understand why. It wasn't a long book, so it's not like we'd forget. She even had the same conversations with questions and answers repeated two or three times!

Looking past that, the story itself was compelling. It was sad, but you wanted to keep reading to see what would happen. The ending was so predictable, I figured it out probably 50 pages in, but still was a good ending. It did bring out some emotion in me and kept my interest, so I would recommend this book, the story is good, just need to look past the writing at times.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars laughter & tears, July 23, 2003

By 

Diane A. Sampson (Abington MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Johnny Angel (Hardcover)

This book grabs you right from the first page.....it makes you laugh right thru the tears it brings to your eyes. An emotional and real story of believable characters struggling thru life's ups and downs....In this book Steel covers it all...there is joy,sorrow,happiness,disappointment,first love,true love,tragedy grief & survival...it's all here in this quick & tender story (just under 200 pages)Once I started reading it I could not put it down. This page turner will lift your spirits as it tugs at your heartstrings!!