Title:
The Black Angel
Author: John Connolly
Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton Ltd
Review by: Vanessa Finaughty
Review published: Cape Times, 27.07.07
Author of the number
one best-seller The Black Angel, John Connolly has outdone himself.
The complex plot woven
around interesting characters, some with rather distressing backgrounds,
makes for entertaining reading and some deep thinking.
The Black Angel tells
the story of a strange group of people who have kidnapped the niece of
professional hit man Louis – friend to private detective Charlie
Parker.
The kidnappers, wrongly
thinking that nobody cares for the kidnapped girl and that nobody will
come looking for her, are complacent.
That is, until they
realise their mistake and discover “the hard way” that Louis
is a dangerous man who will stop at nothing, including murder, to find
his niece.
Against the wishes
of his wife, Parker endeavours to help Louis find his niece and bring
her kidnappers to justice.
Along the way, Parker
discovers some disturbing things about himself and his past.
Connolly works a quiet
magic with his words that allows him to get away with certain unmentionables
that other writers may not be able to slip by the keen eyes of their editor.
His writing style is
refreshing and Connolly manages to keep my interest from beginning to
end.
The Black Angel is
a “must read”, and I would recommend this book to anyone who
enjoys a good “whodunit” with a twist of the supernatural
thrown in for good measure.