The Second Angel

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: A Letdown for Phllip Kerr
Review: Author Phillip Kerr has written some amazingly diverse stories over the years, from the Phillip Marlowe-meets-the-Third Reich Berlin Noir trilogy to the high tech horror of "The Grid." Set in the year 2069, "Second Angel" is Kerr's stab at Near Bad Future science fiction. Unfortunately, it falls way short of expectations. Kerr is a master at creating memorable characters and scenes. This time out, however, his story is populated by a group of people who fail to generate much interest (even his main villian is just your standard issue bad guy and is bumped off well before the climax).

The backdrop against which the story is set has some interesting aspects. There's a computer generated assistant who is also a marital aid as well as a deadly Aids-like virus that has infected over 80% of the Eath's population, making unifected blood a commodity more valuable than gold. The polt, however, unfolds slowly, stalls and never really regain momentum. Annoying grammatical embellishments like the numerous footnotes (bizarre in a work of fiction) and the "author-narrator" repeatedly injecting himself into the story serve mainly as irritating distractions.

Overall, this is a disappointing work from an author who has produced many excellent works in the past.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting Science Fiction Thriller!
Review: Honestly, I did not know what to expect when someone on the SF-Lit internet group recommended this book. I was unaware of Phillip Kerr. What we have here is an engrossing, tightly plotted science fictional thriller. It is set in a future society where blood is a cherished and valuable resource. Kerr must be aplauded for his depth of characterization, swiftly moving plot and science. No, it wasn't boring, I have read alot of science fiction over the years and this ranks as one of the best I have read. I was really sad when the book ended because I left the world that Kerr had created for me. I hope he continues to write science fiction. The book was not marketed as science fiction but surely was. One of the most engrossing and engaging books that I have ever read.

Rating:
Summary: How to put sex in blood disease
Review: The book is poorly written and is boring.
It uses sex gratuitously to I guess try to justify writing it.
It is overpriced. I would reccomend that you not buy this book or anything else by this author.
I intend to take it down to the used book exchange and get it out of my home.
I should have read more of the reviews when I ordered it. Certainly the one written for sold by Amazon does not reveal its sexual nature.

Rating:
Summary: Second Angel
Review: This is the first Phillip Kerr novel that I've read, but it won't be the last. The book is well plotted, and Kerr has a gift for language. Contrary to what some other reviewers have written, the story moves at a quick pace, and the footnotes, rather than being distracting, are enjoyable and add greater richness to an already well drawn world.