Close to the Ground (Angel) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Jeff Mariotte (Author) "The island rose from the waters off the west coast of Ireland like a great beast thrusting its head up from the surf..." (more)
Key Phrases: tour office, Jack Willits, Monument Pictures, Los Angeles (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Even if it takes an eternity, he will make amends...

MORTAL WEAKNESS

Greed. Fear. Anger. All, technically, human emotions. But Angel's a demon, not a saint, and he's not immune to human emotions. So when big-shot Hollywood studio head Jack Willitts offers him huge sums of cash in exchange for guarding his overprivileged daughter, Karinna, the Dark Avenger takes the gig. After all, as Cordy and Doyle point out eagerly -- there's rent to pay. And Willitts can certainly foot the bill.

After accompanying Karinna to several trendy nightspots, Angel writes her off as a spoiled brat. Cordy thinks Angel's too personally involved in the case, but the situation is worse than they suspect. Karinna's in trouble and suddenly Angel and company are being pursued by an unidentifiable creature, bent on destroying everything between it and what it wants most in the world.

Before long, Angel finds himself trapped within a supernatural struggle for power, fame...and immortality.

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment (August 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671041479
• ISBN-13: 978-0671041472
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #682,087 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Angel grounded by his humanity., July 27, 2000

By	algerina "algerina" (Saint Paul, MN USA) - See all my reviews

A powerful Irish magician travels to LA where he hopes to raise the dreaded giant Balor and rule the world. A Hollywood studio head struggles to keep his job. Kate tries to track down a gang of bank robbers who have killed three people. Doyle has a brain splitting vision of a young girl in trouble. These plots are all part of a puzzle framed by fear, greed, anger and regret. And when the pieces are all fit together a new image of Angel appears more human than we have seen him before except perhaps with Buffy. Trapped by strong magics Angel must face the ultimate death.

The story moves at a fast past. The pages are heavy with demons and villians. The fastbacks are kept to a single sad incident. Hollywood and the Otherworld blend surprisingly well together.

This is an excellent addition to the Angel series. Even if a reader has never watched the TV shows they can enjoy this book

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another really good Angel book., July 25, 2000

By	Rebecca Herman (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Angel's newest job is pretty unusual for him - he's been hired as a bodyguard for seventeen-year-old Karinna Willits, the spoiled, bratty daughter of a Hollywood studio head. Angel can't really figure out why Doyle had a vision of Karinna in trouble - she doesn't appear to be in any sort of supernatural danger. But he figures he'll stick with guarding Karinna and keep an eye out for trouble. He doesn't expect to be abducted by an ailing sorceror who thinks by killing Angel he can trasfer Angel's immortality to himself and live forever. Angel knows this all corrects to Karinna SOMEHOW, but he just can't figure out how. The connection, revealed in the end, totally shocked me, but I won't say what it is, since it would spoil the whole thing. I didn't get why the whole subplot about bank robbers was in there, but that's revealed at the end as well. Talk about a plot twist! On a side note, I really liked the brief part about Cordelia working for a short time as a tour guide. That brought a nice bit of humor to a mostly dark story (although the darkness fits the mood of the show). The ending was sad (but again I won't reveal what happens). I highly reccomend this to fans of Angel, both the show and the books. One thing I noticed: although the Angel books are classified as young adult books, they're much darker in nature then the Buffy young adult books. They're as dark as the adult Buffy books, in fact.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Job, Jeff Mariotte, January 21, 2001

By	Josh "Josh" (Sc, Usa) - See all my reviews

Close to the Ground is now my favorite in the line of Angel books. Mariotte managed to combine true greed with the supernatural in a well-thought out manner. After Angel has accepted the job of bodygaurd over a hot-shot director's daughter, Karinna, weird (as usual) things began to happen. What does an ancient Celtic sorceror want with Angel? How does Karinna mesh with the Celtic man? Angel has to figure out those two questions, as well as save Kate Lockley who has become hostage to a group of nasty bank robbers. Nothing like a good old cops and robbers plot. Especially one which is splendidly done and meshed in with a supernatural tale. I do have one tiny complaint; Mariotte made Angel a bit too sarcastic during his battles with the Celtic sorceror's minions. But other than, Close to the Ground is a very good novel.