Falling Angel

Rating:
Summary: not for publication
Review: After some short science-fiction texts (like "Gray Matters"), William Hjortsberg kept some after effects from them because he put some elements in his first detective attempt. Here, a detective sweetly named Harry Angel is hired by a weird, disturbing character named Louis Cyphre to refind Johnny Favorite, a crooner who vanished before he could respect a contract. His investigation will soon take him down to the depths of black magic and vaudou, and... But I won't give you the whole plot. Just read this and you'll see. You'll be stunned. It's amazing. All I can tell you is that Angel isn't really an angel, and that his soul won't go up to heaven.

The cinema world couldn't not matter about this vertiginous story: it's finally British filmmaker Alan Parker who took it on the screen, with Robert de Niro and Mickey Rourke, and directed his only detective movie so far (along with his next release, "Mississippi Burning"). Despite its gloomy and (too?) bloody atmosphere, the film is far from worthing this incredible, abnormal novel, which doesn't respect any of the conventions because it's the only one, I think, where... but I won't give you the ending. Just read it and you'll see. It's astounding. Stephen King was himself terrified, and that means everything. A very special novel, one of the best detective stories ever written, a jewel not to be missed!

Paradoxically William Hjortsberg is less known as a screenwriter: "Legend", a fairy-tale filmed by Ridley Scott (1985), starring Tim Curry as... the Devil (here called Darkness) and Tom Cruise.

Rating:
Summary: Worth Your Time, Movie or Not
Review: After watching the movie _Angel Heart_ a couple of times, I thought reading the book it was based on would be enjoyable. For the most part, it was.
The plot is not the norm and if you have already seen the film, you're one step ahead. Harry Angel, a private investigator in 1950s New York, is hired by Louis Cyphre. Cyphre is odd to say the least but he pays well and only asks that Angel track down Johnny Favorite. Favorite was a singer several years earlier but it seemed that at some point after he returned from the war, he disappeared. As Angel goes looking, he discovers that Favorite was not just an eccentric, but a man well versed in all things related to the occult. Contrary to the film's portrayal, Angel does not leave New York to find people in New Orleans. He finds plenty of trouble on his own territory and has a number of close-calls throughout the novel.
In terms of whether the story fits into the genre of mystery, horror or both, I am not sure. I would call both the book and the movie `noir' if I had to label them because they are forms of the classic gritty PI in a seamy underworld scenario. The writing does seem dry, tired and even inconsistent in some places but overall it will probably hold your interest. Personally, I finished it in two days (even while frantically preparing for finals) because I was interested to see how closely the movie followed the book. But even if you haven't seen the movie and have no interest to, the book is worth your time.

Rating:
Summary: AN EXCELLENT THRILLER THAT WORKS ON MANY LEVELS
Review: At one point in William Hjortsberg's masterful horror novel, Epiphany Proudfoot, 17-year-old voodoo priestess, tells our detective hero Harry Angel "you sure know a lot about the city." The city in question is the New York of 1959, and if Angel knows a lot about this crazy burg, then Hjortsberg, in the course of this tale, demonstrates that he knows even more. While much has been said of this book's scary elements--its voodoo ceremonies and Black Mass meeting and horrible murders--what impressed me most about this tale is the incredible attention to realistic detail that the author invests it with. I don't know if the author grew up in this town in the '50s or just did a remarkable research job, but the reader really does get the impression that this book (which came out in 1978) was written a few decades earlier. Roosevelt Island is called Welfare Island, quite correctly; street names are given the names they had 45 years ago; subway ads are described that I can dimly recall from my youth at the time; one-cent peanut-vending machines are in the subways (boy, does that bring me back!); and on and on. This is the type of book in which if something is described, you can bet your bottom buck that it really existed. For example, at one point our hero walks into a 42nd St. theatre called Hubert's Museum and Flea Circus. I checked it out; it was really there in the late '50s! You can really learn a lot about the city as it was by reading this fast-moving tale; it's almost like a history lesson wrapped up in a hardboiled voodoo thriller.
And what a thriller this is! Even without the incredible attention to detail, this book would be a winner. In it, Harry Angel is hired by Lou Cyphre (get it?) to track down '40s crooner Johnny Favorite, and by the time Angel is through with his quest, we have been treated to all sorts of oddball NYC characters and grisly doings. Many scenes impress, most notably the late-night Central Park voodoo ceremony, the Black Mass in the abandoned subway station, and an off-season walk through the Coney Island midway. The book is justifiably included in Jones' and Newman's excellent overview volume, "Horror: The Hundred Best Books." It works on many levels--as a thriller, as a scarifier, as a Faustian object lesson--and succeeds on all of them. I haven't seen the "Angel Heart" movie that was made from this wonderful book, but can't imagine it being any better. This volume deserves all the praise that's been heaped on it. Fortunately, it's still in print, as it well should be. I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing thriller
Review: Detective stories are a mine field. Given the amazing numbers of this kind of books, every now and then you surely are going to step in a bomb and regret the time and money you spent in some terrible story. Fortunately, this is not the case in "Falling Angel".

Harry Angel is a private detective in the New York in the end of the fifties, hired by a misterious character to find a very famous crooner who disppeared in the middle of the WW2. During his investigation, he discovers some terrifying truths, envolving voodoo worship, satanism, black massess, and yet Johnny Favorite, the crooner, is nowhere to be found. In the end, the truth is really amazing, and Harry could never escape it.

For those who saw "Angel heart" before reading this book, I must say the surprise was completely lost. However, Hjortsberg is a fine and talented writer, the book is told in the fast-paced rhythm of New York, and the sucession of scenes is very well programed and easy to follow, and fast to read as well. This is a classic detective story, with lots of sarcasm, murders, twists, and something that you don't find in every down-to-earth detective book: supernatural elements. As strange as it seems, it doesn't spoil the story, in fact these supernaturals combine to enhance the thrilling of the plot. The final two or three chapters are amazing, and the ending is surprising and powerful.

Grade 9.5/10

Rating:
Summary: greatly exceeded my expectations -- four and a half stars
Review: It is difficult to review FALLING ANGEL without giving too much away, but here goes:

Basically I bought this book on a whim, having seen the film which it inspired (and which it would be better not to name, although even having seen the film I did enjoy the novel immensely). In short, the book greatly exceeded my expectations, being both more entertaining and more literary than I ever would have expected from a novel of the mystery or suspense genre. Hjortsberg's writing is the epitome of unpretentious intelligence. For example, every short chapter advances the story in some way, with the precision of a well-written short story. Often, seemingly casual details of the setting or a character turn out to be subtle bits of foreshadowing. Another reviewer has praised the evocative descriptions of post-war New York. I was simply compelled at every point in this novel to keep reading, not because of some cheap cliff-hanger ending to a chapter, but because the plot was always getting thicker, juicier, and definitely creepier.

Of all the books I have bought in the last few years this is the one that was the best reward for taking chances on unknown books or authors (and the consolation for all the ones that were disappointments). Whether you call it horror, mystery, suspense or just simply literature, FALLING ANGEL is a great read.

Rating:
Summary: not for publication
Review: Please please remove Jack Felson's review of Falling Angel from your site. It gives away the ending! (And it has no merit as a review.)

Rating:
Summary: Great combination of mystery and horror
Review: Set in late 1950's New York City, FALLING ANGEL is the story about a private detective named Harry Angel who is recruited by mysterious client Louis Cyphre to find a long lost big-band crooner named Johnny Favorite. Angel's search for Favorite leads him through a bloody trail that involves jazz musicians, sideshow performers, and Satanic voodoo cults. To further complicate matters, the closer Angel thinks he gets toward finding Favorite, the more dead bodies turn up that appear to have Angel written all over them. And closer to a truth that Angel won't want to know.

I'm not going to spoil the plot for you, even if some reviewers already did. What I can tell you is that this is a splendid atmospheric novel. Hjortsberg does such a good job bringing about the feel of 1950's New York City that you can almost hear jazz playing somewhere in the background. The plot is intricate without being confusing as well.

If you haven't read this masterpiece yet, I suggest you do so PDQ. But before you read it don't let anyone tell you how it ends. If they persist, RUN!!! Discover this fine book for yourself.

Rating:
Summary: read 20 pages and put it down
Review: stephen king read it
i couldnt

Rating:
Summary: Great, credible PI noir fiction
Review: This novel is always found in the Horror section but it is really a private eye mystery. It's as good a PI novel as I have ever read and I highly recomend it.

One note, if you havent seen the movie (great movie by the way) read this first. I wish I hadnt bought the DVD and had read the book first. But then again the movie is what brought me to the book. So what came first the chicken or the egg?

"I got a thing about chickens" Harry Angel

Rating:
Summary: This is one gritty detective story!
Review: While you read this, take what you know about the late fifties in New York City, and compare it here. This story immerses the reader superbly into the atmosphere of the setting. I swore I could almost smell cigarettes and hear the perfect, New York accents. The dialog was written well enough to do just that, make you think it is authentic New York. The storyline is fantastic. Basically, a detective is hired to find a person who has been missing for over fifteen years. Along the way, he must go through a bog of voodoo mysticism and black mass rituals until at the very end, the truth is revealed. The ending is extremely clever and there is no way I am going to spoil that. If you are into the crime - or horror - genre then there is absolutely no way you can miss this one.