Wicked Angel [Hardcover]

Taylor Caldwell (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0884111679 | ISBN-13: 978-0884111672 | Publication Date: June 1965

Taylor Caldwell's novel, Wicked Angel, is the story of a young boy named Angelo Saint (the fanciful name is the choice of his mother, who spoils him shamelessly). The story begins when the handsome, charming, and almost unnaturally intelligent "Angel" is four, and follows his malevolent career as his childish rages evolve into calculated attempts to eliminate anyone who opposes his goal to be the center of everyone's world. His desperate father, who knows something is wrong but isn't sure what, is told by a psychiatrist friend that Angel is a "textbook psychopath". -- Wikepedia

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Aeonian Press (June 1965)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0884111679
• ISBN-13: 978-0884111672
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,181,057 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An intriguing look at sociopathy, August 13, 2000

By 

Rosemary A. Becerra (Necedah, Wisconsin United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wicked Angel (Hardcover)

This is a very different type of story than one would expect from Taylor Caldwell. It deals with the premise that a person born without a soul (or conscience) is as handicapped as a person born without arms or legs. Since most people believe that heredity and environment have everything to do with the way a child develops socially, this story is a true horror story. The young mother in the story becomes gradually aware that her beautiful little son is different in an alarming way. It contrasts her growing concerns with the way her son is developing and her husband's opinion that it is her mothering skills that are lacking. This is a truly frightening story which the reader will compare to "the Bad Seed" or "Rosemary's Baby" A very short, easily readable book that was ahead of it's time as a psychological look at a true sociopath..

4.0 out of 5 stars before it's time, March 16, 2011

By 

S. Smith (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Wicked Angel (Hardcover)

More than a story about a psychopath, the story depicts our society at large as to how it handles it's children. Written in 1965, if it weren't so then, it sure is true now. Many children are spoiled, but the law catches up with them. I think our prison population presents better than any argument the state of child rearing in America. Teachers are expected to do everything when it comes to other people's children, and accept ridiculous remuneration in exchange. Doctors are leaving the field because of skyrocketing malpractice expenses, and stupid lawsuits.

The story is also one of good triumphing over evil. It is an allegory, a fiction of something that may be, and isn't to be taken too literally.

It's also a warning.

I thought it was great.

4.0 out of 5 stars Memorable and chilling, January 10, 2011

By 

Mary L. Pratt (HUNTINGTON, WV USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wicked Angel (Mass Market Paperback)

I recall reading this book when it first came out & I was about twelve. It was one of the first adult horror novels I ever read, and I never forgot the spine-tingling feeling that certain passages induced. It brings to mind "The Bad Seed" and also the movie "The Good Son" with Elijah Wood and MacCaulay Caulkin. The cherb-faced little boy, "Angelo," is not the saint he appears to be (coincidentally his last name actually IS Saint). Bad things happen to children and even adults who don't admire Angelo. Like in The Omen. One of the reviews mentioned a lot of inconsistencies in dates and logic, but the book scared me enough to stay in my mind 45 years! If life wasn't so short, I'd even consider rereading it to see how the book affects me as an adult.
If you like suspenseful stories that feature children, this is a good choice, even if it isn't exactly high brow literature. I remember my older brother examined it and scribbled inside the cover (in pencil): "This book was not nominated for the National Book Award."