Murder of Angels [Paperback]

Caitlin R. Kiernan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 4, 2009

Niki Ky spends her days in a medicated haze, haunted by the ghosts of those she left behind ten years ago after a confrontation against an unspeakable evil that left her shattered. To find peace, Niki must return to the house on the side of Red Mountain in Birmingham, Alabama-to face creatures no human should ever have to face...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this stylish sequel to Kiernan's debut novel, Silk (1998), it's been 10 years since a drug-fueled experiment opened a window on an alternate world of horrors that pushed angst-scarred Spyder Baxter to suicide, and its survivors are still reeling from the aftershocks. Daria Parker has parlayed some of her experience into a successful musical career, but her lover, Niki Ky, is wracked by full-blown schizophrenic episodes in which Spyder beckons her from a dimension beyond death. When Niki follows Spyder's instruction to make a fatal plunge from San Francisco's Bay Bridge, she awakens in a gothic realm of death and darkness where she plays a key role in an intrigue Spyder has engineered to draw out a demonic entity known as "the Dragon." Meanwhile, Daria struggles in the world of the living to retrieve and protect an artifact Niki needs to keep horrors in the Dragon's world from erupting into our own. Though the plot often mystifies, the novel's unusual blend of otherworldly and supernatural horror gives it a uniquely weird cast. Kiernan's true achievement, however, is the careful crafting of her mellifluous prose to sustain an intense atmosphere of dread. Dream and nightmare, hallucination and reality, private fantasy and objective experience all merge seamlessly, making this one of the more relentless horror reads of the year.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Caitlin R. Kiernan is the author of nine novels, including Silk, Threshold, Low Red Moon, Murder of Angels, Daughter of Hounds, and The Red Tree. Her award-winning short fiction has been collected in six volumes, including Tales of Pain and Wonder; To Charles Fort, With Love; Alabaster; and, most recently, A is for Alien. She has also published two volumes of erotica, Frog Toes and Tentacles and Tales from the Woeful Platypus. Trained as a vertebrate paleontologist, she currently lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Roc (August 4, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451461827
• ISBN-13: 978-0451461827
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #939,435 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Caitlin R. Kiernan was born near Dublin, Ireland, but has spent most of her life in the southeastern United States. In college, she studied zoology, geology, and palaeontology, and has been employed as a vertebrate palaeontologist and college-level biology instructor. The results of her scientific research have been published in the JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE PALAEONTOLOGY, THE JOURNAL OF PALAEONTOLOGY and elsewhere. In 1992, she began writing her first novel, THE FIVE OF CUPS (it remained unpublished until 2003). Her first published novel, SILK (1998), earned her two awards and praise from critics and such luminaries as Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker, Peter Straub, and Poppy Z. Brite. Her next novel, THRESHOLD (2001), was also an award-winner, and since then she has written LOW RED MOON (2003), MURDER OF ANGELS (2004), DAUGHTER OF HOUNDS (2007), and, forthcoming, THE RED TREE. She is a prolific short fiction author, and her award-winning short stories have been collected in TALES OF PAIN AND WONDER (2000), WRONG THINGS (with Poppy Z. Brite; 2001), FROM WEIRD AND DISTANT SHORES (2002), and TO CHARLES FORT, WITH LOVE (2005), ALABASTER (2006), FROG TOES AND TENTACLES (2005), TALES FROM THE WOEFUL PLATYPUS (2007), and, most recently, the sf collection, A IS FOR ALIEN (2009). She has also scripted comics for DC/Vertigo, including THE DREAMING ('97-'01), THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE DEATH ('98), and BAST: ETERNITY GAME ('03). Her short sf novel THE DRY SALVAGES was published in 2004, and has published numerous chapbooks since 2000. Caitlin also fronted the goth-rock band Death's Little Sister in 1996-1997, once skinned a lion, and likes sushi. She lives in Providence, RI with her partner, Kathryn, and her two cats, Hubero and Smeagol. Caitlin is represented by Writer's House (NYC) and United Talent Agency (LA).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another brilliant book, September 8, 2004

By 

Amanda Oestman - See all my reviews

This review is from: Murder of Angels (Mass Market Paperback)

Ms. Kiernan's prose has grown more beautiful with every novel, and Murder of Angels surpasses even the stunningly high standard she set with Low Red Moon. While Murder can be read alone, I recommend reading its predeccessor Silk for added depth of characterization and back-story. For readers already familiar with Daria, Niki, and Spyder, (and others) Murder finds them older, more broken, and more beautiful than where we left off with Silk.

The characters and settings in Murder are breath-takingly, heart-breakingly drawn, both universes vivid and touchable. The story is deft and intricate, and ends with a punch in the gut (if you'll forgive such an unoriginal simile).

And for fans of H.P. Lovecraft, Ms. Kiernan's work continues to be far and away the best modern interpretation of his ideas, capturing all the horror, madness, and beauty without falling back on a pastiche of gibbering tentacles.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fine And Imaginative Effort, September 8, 2004

By 

CerisesJaunes "cerisesjaunes" (In the Kitchen) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Murder of Angels (Mass Market Paperback)

I learned of Caitlin R. Kiernan by reading Poppy Z. Brite, though I do not agree with some critics about the similarity of their work. I didn't realize that "Murder of Angels" was a sequel to another Kiernan book ("Silk") until I was halfway through it. Since I have not yet read "Silk," I can unequivocally say that "MOA" stands on its own. The writing is moody and atmospheric without being at all overblown. The story drew me right in, and I cared for the characters. I'll be picking up more Kiernan books soon!

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Able to capture desperate human emotion in beautiful prose, September 8, 2004

By 

David Lemoine (Adams, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murder of Angels (Mass Market Paperback)

Caitlin R. Kiernan is an author whose voice rings like the crisp tolling of a bell in an otherwise muddled and bland wasteland of predictable and soulless stories. Murder of Angels is her fifth novel. In it Kiernan takes us on the incredible journey of characters first introduced in her novel Silk, some ten years after that first story's ending.

The beautiful and quick prose of this dark tale reminds me of both Neil Gaiman and Clive Barker, and the artistic layout of text in some sections evokes shades of Mark Z. Danielewski's masterpiece House of Leaves.

Fans of dark fantasy and lucid dream worlds take heed; Caitlin R. Kiernan is a shining beacon of hope in the literary world, a writer who communicates raw passion and desperate emotion with exquisite accuracy.