The Second Angel

Rating:
Summary: Confused
Review: I've finished reading this book and found it to be very well written. Kerr is very techical in his writing as to how the story all fits together. The plot was very believable because if mankind is not careful the gap between the haves and the have the nots will widen. Blood being the commodity. What I found that was disappointing was the end. Kerr built you up during the story but suddenly let you down with the eneding. I guess Kerr is planning to write a sequel to this book.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad, until I got to the end
Review: My husband, who is a real science-fiction buff, explained to me that the purpose of all of those awful footnotes was to lend credibility for the real science-fiction lovers who need the "science" in order to believe the plot. OK, I'm not one of those, was bored by the interruptions of the footnotes, but I can accept that and skim them. The problem is that the two twists at the end (why Cavor was so important to the plan and who the narrator is) were totally ludicrous and WITHOUT the explanatory footnotes that tried so copiously to explain all of the other potentially unbelievable futuristic developments. For an author to try so hard through the footnotes to make the book believable, he failed in the end with his two most important plot points.

Rating:
Summary: Intellectually Delightful
Review: Nothing like I've ever read before. From the first page, the reader is transported to another dimension. You feel as if you have experienced the future, with Kerr's insightful and historical footnotes. This book captivated my imagination.

Rating:
Summary: A hyperkinetic thriller; enough plausible science to unnerve
Review: Philip Kerr has created a dystopian masterpiece of rare and throughly satisfying proportions. In a disease riddled world where blood borne viruses have supplanted man as earth's dominant species, "pure" blood has become our most valuble and sought after resource. The blinding plot propels you from realities as pervasive as gravity, to the hypothetical impacts and obscurities of quantum mechanics. The author's meticulous detail and research into the sciences is matched only by his relentless capacity for interpreting these facts and extrapolating utterly absorbing fiction. Kerr has arrived at the top of my "How can he top this list?"

Rating:
Summary: Dreadful with a Capital D
Review: I picked up this book after hearing a glowing review on Terry Gross's Fresh Air radio show. Big mistake. The reviewer called the book science fiction for people who don't like science fiction. A more accurate description is this: The Second Angel is science fiction for people who like cardboard characters, hackneyed plots, and wooden dialog covered with a veneer of literary pretension.

I rarely drop a book in the middle, but made an exception for this one. Perhaps the last half is far better than the first. I wouldn't bet on it.

Rating:
Summary: A Transfusion might help pep this up!
Review: After reading a good review in one of the weekly magazines, i purchased this book. As the other reviews comment, the book is thinly drawn, tedious to read (with repeated footnotes which interrupt the flow), as well as a second parallel discussion coming from the "author". While some of the scientific material is quite interesting and appears to be accurate, it should have been incorporated into the main story instead of the interminable footnotes. While the basic plot story has been summarized in previous reviews, it is an original idea and perhaps will become a movie. Because that is all this really is, a screenplay or plot outline. Finally, if someone who has read this volume could please e-mail me with an explanation of the ending, i would sincerely appreciate it. thanx. [e-mail].

p.s. try Tom Wolfe's new book instead!

Rating:
Summary: Like Footnotes?
Review: Philip Kerr is a poor man's Crighton. In fact, Kerr couldn't carry Crighton's literary jock or anyone's literary jock for that matter. The man mistakes footnotes for fiction. Add in a tinker toy plot revolving around a dumb assassin, a framed hero, and you have another book that Kerr probably wrote in one day. How does this guy keep on publishing books? He makes Bret Easton Ellis look like Shakespeare. Thumbs down on Second Angel.

Rating:
Summary: An average thriller
Review: As with other reviewers, I found the lack of character development a disappointment. The footnotes and italicized asides really made for a distracting read. This should not be the goal of any author. It had lots of promise with it's intriquing plot line, but it doesn't work in Kerr's framework. He should study the works of Caleb Carr (The Alienist) or John Case (The Genesis Code).

Rating:
Summary: Gruesome, I want my money back.
Review: I saw the Amazon 2 star rating, but had heard a reveiw on NPR that made it sound interesting. I fell victim and bought the book. Why doesn't the author just call the main character Bruce Willis and get it over with. The movie can only be better. This book never delivers on any level. For the pure escapist the violence and sex fall WAY short. For the imagination just go to sleep and whatever you dream is sure to beat this. I'm sure that my nine year old nephew will love it, and want to buy the life like plastic action characters.

Rating:
Summary: Second Angel ain't no Angel of a Story!!!
Review: While mildly humourous and certainly filled with graphic and imaginative scientific (yet believable?)detail concerning the future of our world, this "thriller" may well only thrill the thin of blood. An interesting premise prevails. The main character works as a security engineer for blood banks. These bankd are more valuable than Fort Fort Knox and hopefully as hard to get into since the entire world wants what it has... clean and pure blood.. the only means of survival in the future. And the only means for the rich to stay rich and the poor to stay poor. The main Character however turns away from his "clear" blood pals (since they've knocked off his family as a security concern) and avenges them with a group of misfits who steal the worlds largest supply of blood. At times the story is fun.. but more times than not, it drags through the drudges of unneccary explanations. The only blessing to this is that the author chose the form of footnotes to tye up the pages and probably help him meet a page goal. All in all, if you are looking for a quick easy to scan (cuz missing a major portion won't hamper the read).. go ahead and try it or you can wait for the made-for-TV movie to come out.