Customer Reviews

Stone Angel

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I think that Carol O'Connell has perfected her Character, Kathleen Mallory by this time to seem like the cold, unfeeling perfectionist on the outside but really does hold some aspects of human emotion.

Mallory is on a quest for information...information on the death of her mother and her illegal "partner" chases after her in an attempt to try and win her affections.

Ah, I know what you're thinking...but alas, this is not one of those sappy romances with a mystery weaved into it. No, the mystery is definitely dominant and the romance is just a subtle tap on the shoulder...enough to keep you wondering about the outcome of this one-sided relationship, but your brain working furiously to solve the mystery.

I'll admit that the identity of the killer was not difficult to figure out, but for some reason, I still couldn't close the book...I just kept on reading.

I highly reccomend this book and all other books written by Carol O'Connell. However, it is in your best intrest to read the Mallory series starting from the beginning so you know the whole story, beginning with "Mallory's Oracle".

Against a richly realised Southern Gothic background, a strange and exotic story works itself out. By the end of this novel, I was breathless with excitement, moved almost to tears by Mallory's tragedy and the damage that has resulted from it, and emotionally drained. You won't read another crime novel quite like this all year.

A touch of gullibility in the reader is needed to admire Mallory right out of the box. But this reader is perfectly willing to be treated like a child in the interests of a truly good read. If you don't enjoy this one, you'd better swear off Mallory; she doesn't get much better than here.

The best, most disturbing Mallory book to date! O'Connell answers many reader's questions from past Mallory novels, yet leaves us waiting in anticipation for the next novel in the series!

my largest complaint about this book - the only criticism that i have, really - is that o'connell is just too good. not only can you not put the book down, you scan ahead, skipping paragraphs in your rush to devour her words. DO NOT CONSUME HER WORK IN THIS MANNER! i've read Stone Angel six times now, and each time i pick up something i've missed, and every detail is paramount. Mallory (Hopefully we can call her Kathleen after this one)is on her most painful, obsessive mission yet, and Charles has managed to keep both his convictions and his rose-colored image of Mallory. Riker, cynical to the last, threatens to thwart Mallory's plans for avenging her mother's brutal death. The climax is riveting; images of Mallory stepping from one pool of streetlight to the next in her other-era gunslinger clothes is ultimately satisfying. i confess i missed Slope and Rabbi Kaplan, and the interplay among the NY cop shop, but hopefully they'll be back in the next of the series. Carol O'Connell is the true master, and Mallory is my hero - strength personified, but completely vulnerable. we understand why she doesn't want to be human, and yet, in spite of her self, her humanity shines through in her code of honor and her desire to protect the men she cares about. Yes, she cares, and we care. read all four novels back to back on a rainy day, and if you haven't read O'Connell's work yet, you've really missed the boat.

Fifty pages from the closing of STONE ANGEL I did not want the book to end. I did not want to leave Mallory or Charles or Riker or Tom or Augusta and other characters. Thirty pages from the end Carol O'Connell had me squirming in my seat with tension and anxiety. At the end I was drained and need a rest from these people...unfortunately I will get that rest while I wait for Mallory and troup to return. This is Carol O'Connell's four mystery-novel and her fourth Mallory character study. What a startling person Mallory is. As a child of ten she was arrested in NYC. The arresting officer and his wife take her into their home and raise her rather than let he be taken by the system. What a break for all of us. Mallory grows into a beautiful and extremely intelligent detective and gives us, through the talent of Carol O'Connell, some tremendous history. In the book store where I work part time, I have sold some seven hundered plus copies of MALLORY'S ORACLE (O'Connell's first). I've only had a handful say they did not enjoy the book. They are no longer allowed in the store. Each succeeding book (THE MAN WHO CAST TWO SHADOWS, KILLING CRITICS, and now STONE ANGEL), has been better and better written than the preceding one. Halfway through STONE ANGEL I wondered how I could possible induce my customers to purchase all four at once. After careful consideration I do believe I can just work with the first and STONE ANGEL. The reader will return for the middle two. STONE ANGEL is one of two of the best novels I have read so far this year and there have been some very good book printed. However, STONE ANGEL top the list because it has all those wondrous things a book can have and be to the reader. Great characters that you can love for themselves and for the interplay with each other. Evil characters that you can trul despise. Wounded characters that you can anguish over. STONE ANGEL is a mystery that is presented shrouded in magic and love. This is a book you will not put down except to rest your heart and brain and replenish your soul. There is a scene near the closing that places Augusta and Charles bareback atop a horse racing away from danger and to aid Mallory. I was with them atop that horse and it was some ride. Saddle up folks!

Kathy Mallory goes back to the southern town where her mother was murdered to seek revenge. This was one hell of a book and I read it word for word in order not to loose the thread. Deeply affecting. Charles and Riker show up in the book to try and influence Mallory. (Yeah, right!)

I now have to read something fluffy in order to get my nerves back in order but I dont regret reading this book for a moment. I got shivers when it was revealed why Mallory insists in being called "Mallory". I hope subsequent books by O'Connell are as good as this one. The first ones were.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ Definitely a 5 star ***** read!
~ * ~ This book is thrilling, chilling, totally absorbing!!! Definitely the best of the " Mallory books,
~ * ~ I believe this book is really the best read if you have read the other books in the series ("Killing Critics" etc.). However, I did share the book with some people who were new to Mallory and they said they enjoyed it immensely.
~ * ~ Mallory was taken in at age 12 ?? by an NYPD cop, who found her as a tough street kid, apparently a "throwaway", in earlier novels she is eerily without the type of "consicence" we recognize though we can sympathize with her ruthless pursuit of justice, especially in avenging her foster father's death.
~ * ~
Now Mallory has returned to what apparently once was "home" the scene of an inexplicable crime- the murder of her mother, a well liked, caring physician.
~ * ~ Mallory tries to refuse any assitance in her quest for justice and vengeance, but eccentric and loveable allies fall in beside her in an elaborate plot to uncover the truth and strike terror into the hearts of the guilty.
~ * ~
This novel is almost frightening in the way in which the reader becomes a willing participant in the quest for revenge. The author does a wonderful job of first enticing us into the plot and then shifting back to consider whether the quest for vengeance itself is really such a good idea even in the face of the enormity of the crime, as no-one involved can emerge unscathed. Very beautifully done- this one is a keeper.

O'Connell has created a book that is both original and incredibly fascinating. I read this book in under four hours at one sitting simply because I couldn't put it down. Mallory (main character) might be on the verge of being a sociopath, but at the same time evolves as a character by not outright killing the bad guys in the end (at least most of them). But the uniqueness of this book doesn't lie in just the creation of a deeply flawed and borderline sociopath lead-all the characters are some of the most complex and colorful people to be written about in any book, period.

O'Connell is a master at using seemingly insignificant details and phrases to describe places and people that make them unforgettable. She has a way of writing whole paragraphs that should lead up to a predictable conclusion-but then in the last sentence floors the reader with a different perspective. (Usually Mallory's rather illegal or sociopath views) This makes for some of the most humorous and thought provoking material that I've read in a long time. O'Connell is simply at the top of her game here, making this book, in my opinion, much better than the previous three books in the Mallory series due to tighter editing, a more emotionally involved plot, and an insane setting.

The detail of Mallory's name at the end of the book completely shocked me. It showed that O'Connell has either planned out this book from the very beginning of the series, or simply is a master writer. Everything about this book is incredible-from the autistic piano player with broken hands and the old dog waiting for his owner to the haunting stone angels in the cemetery and a mischievous old lady who lets her mansion go to ruin. In short, a masterpiece.

After becoming fully gripped in the Kathleen Mallory series, I was blown away by Stone Angel. In this book we learn about Mallory as a child, and the horrific event that (almost) destroyed her soul. But as you will see in the interactions with Ira and Charles, Mallory is much stronger and emotionally developed than previously indicated. This one will deserve a second, and a third, read to fully appreciate the writing efforts.