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iblamewizards's review against another edition
3.0
I still love John Connolly, but I have to admit that The Black Angel was the first of his novels that I didn't love. The story was certainly gripping, well researched, with excellent pacing, but for the first time, I felt a disconnect from the characters.
The Black Angel fell into the trap that so many crime writers fall into, in that the women in the novel did nothing much except serve as a plot device to make the male protagonists have something over which to be melancholy. The novel's women were all very different, but their experiences and emotions simply weren't given the development they needed. Parker's wife comes across as unreasonable and weak because we only see their relationship through Parker's eyes, Louis' niece, Alice, lives a tragic life, but we only truly experience that tragedy through how it affects Louis, and his Aunt makes a desperate journey to find her missing daughter, only to disappear from the novel when her presence is no longer needed.
I know that John Connolly is excellent at writing characters, including women, and this novel may just be the product of its time. I still enjoyed reading it and found the narrative utterly compelling. But, for the first time, I have to say I 'liked' this, rather than 'loved' it.
The Black Angel fell into the trap that so many crime writers fall into, in that the women in the novel did nothing much except serve as a plot device to make the male protagonists have something over which to be melancholy. The novel's women were all very different, but their experiences and emotions simply weren't given the development they needed. Parker's wife comes across as unreasonable and weak because we only see their relationship through Parker's eyes, Louis' niece, Alice, lives a tragic life, but we only truly experience that tragedy through how it affects Louis, and his Aunt makes a desperate journey to find her missing daughter, only to disappear from the novel when her presence is no longer needed.
I know that John Connolly is excellent at writing characters, including women, and this novel may just be the product of its time. I still enjoyed reading it and found the narrative utterly compelling. But, for the first time, I have to say I 'liked' this, rather than 'loved' it.
pinknantucket's review against another edition
1.0
I nearly gave up on the first page (excluding the prologue), because of this sentence: ...the boy, now a man; her daughter, as she once was and as she now might be; and the one who had made her little girl upon her, his face sometimes contorted, as it was the moment of her daughter's conception, and at other times tattered and destroyed...
I mean, WTF?? I had to read it several times (and that's just a bit of the whole sentence), eventually deducing that 'made her little girl upon her' meant 'got her pregnant'. The author uses the turn of phrase several times and it's silly.
I decided to forge on and to use this book as a study guide for all that I do not want to be, should I should ever get around to writing anything of my own. But after about 150 pages I decided I couldn't stomach any more grim tragedy and murdered junkie prostitutes and gave up. What a relief that was.
By the way, it seems like a crime thriller when you start off, strange prologue not withstanding, but turns out to have weird supernatural-biblical elements.
Seeing as it is apparently a "Number One Bestseller" I hope Connolly won't be too upset should he ever stumble across this snarky review.
PS I'm going through a phase where I'm really over books and TV shows where women that have been murdered horribly are the 'hook' to get you into the story.
I mean, WTF?? I had to read it several times (and that's just a bit of the whole sentence), eventually deducing that 'made her little girl upon her' meant 'got her pregnant'. The author uses the turn of phrase several times and it's silly.
I decided to forge on and to use this book as a study guide for all that I do not want to be, should I should ever get around to writing anything of my own. But after about 150 pages I decided I couldn't stomach any more grim tragedy and murdered junkie prostitutes and gave up. What a relief that was.
By the way, it seems like a crime thriller when you start off, strange prologue not withstanding, but turns out to have weird supernatural-biblical elements.
Seeing as it is apparently a "Number One Bestseller" I hope Connolly won't be too upset should he ever stumble across this snarky review.
PS I'm going through a phase where I'm really over books and TV shows where women that have been murdered horribly are the 'hook' to get you into the story.
baja's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
moreadsbooks's review against another edition
3.0
A rare misstep by Connolly. There's just too much going on in this one, too many hookers, too many ossuaries, too many weird characters to keep track of, and the twist ending is a bit too twisty to be believed.
addison_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Probably one of my favorites in the Charlie Parker series!
This is the first book I read in this series, but as soon as I finished it, I started buying the other books because I had to know more about Charlie Parker.
What I really love about this book are all the underlying religious themes. Parker finds himself in another impossible situation, but this time he encounters more interaction from the spiritual world as he seeks justice.
Connolly has written a dark tale full of suspense, excellent characters, and a mystery that will keep you guessing.
This is the first book I read in this series, but as soon as I finished it, I started buying the other books because I had to know more about Charlie Parker.
What I really love about this book are all the underlying religious themes. Parker finds himself in another impossible situation, but this time he encounters more interaction from the spiritual world as he seeks justice.
Connolly has written a dark tale full of suspense, excellent characters, and a mystery that will keep you guessing.
ctgt's review against another edition
4.0
This series just keeps getting darker. Not the type of book to read if you're in the wrong frame of mind.
The fat man smelled peculiar. He hadn't noticed any stench from the other one in blue but the tubby guy had an unusual body odor. He smelled earthy and Ruiz involuntarily found himself picturing pale worms breaking through damp clods of dirt and black beetles scurrying for the shelter of stones.
9/10
re-read 2020
They identify what they believe to be the flaw in God's creation: God has given man free will, and so he is open to evil as well as good. So the war against God continues on earth, waged through men.
The problem is that, like cancer, a little corruption of the soul will eventually spread throughout the whole.
The problem is that there are no small evils.
The fat man smelled peculiar. He hadn't noticed any stench from the other one in blue but the tubby guy had an unusual body odor. He smelled earthy and Ruiz involuntarily found himself picturing pale worms breaking through damp clods of dirt and black beetles scurrying for the shelter of stones.
9/10
re-read 2020
They identify what they believe to be the flaw in God's creation: God has given man free will, and so he is open to evil as well as good. So the war against God continues on earth, waged through men.
The problem is that, like cancer, a little corruption of the soul will eventually spread throughout the whole.
The problem is that there are no small evils.
nigellicus's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Wow, these are quite addictive. Aren't these essentially urban fantasy?
carol26388's review against another edition
3.0
The sixth entry in the Charlie Parker series takes a slightly different approach. To date, Parker has been involved in cases that touched him or were jobs he willingly took on. In The White Road, Parker began to seriously evaluate his connection to evil though the cases he took on. The Black Angel begins with the christening of his and Rachel's daughter, and though it is initially played for laughs, it becomes emotionally fraught as Rachel starts to overreact to any hint of danger or John's connections. The celebration is interrupted by Louis' aunt seeking him out and enlisting his help in finding her daughter, a prostitute and heroin addict. Parker has one of his premonitions and feels called by both friendship and his inner compulsion to help.
The narrative explores a number of viewpoints getting to the actual beginning of the case, including that of the niece, her pimp, and a killer. As the story progresses, he brings in even more viewpoints, usually not for long. It isn't always well done or pertinent, and I'd question what his point was. Sometimes it seems as if it is supposed to contribute to the tension, making it clear how awful the antagonists are. Not infrequently the viewpoints are people who are about to die or play only a very limited role. Connolly might also have done it in service of plot points he thinks are necessary (a hotel near the border of Mexico is a brief setting), but I think it actually just confuses the plot and the narrative flow.
Speaking of plot, this one is a bit different. While most of the stories to date have revolved around solving a murder and confronting the killer(s), in this one the mystery of the killer is solved relatively quickly as incidental to a larger goal. There's a lot of forced situations here (Louis' aunt taking a bus to Maine, the journalist/art critic having an in to an auction). The plot eventually takes a DaVinci Code type turn that feels somewhat incongruous with where the story actually began. This is also the book where the supernatural/spiritual angle becomes more overt, with Parker's connection to these evil cases become clear. Connolly plays it cagey, leaving open the possibility for more real-world explanations for those who have trouble believing, but ultimately, it's the foundation for the series. Less satisfying is the storyline between Parker and Rachel, not necessarily because of the drama, but because it makes so little sense in context of all they've been through together. It felt in service of a plot more than congruous.
But I'll tolerate a lot of plot issues with such beautiful writing. There's a connection to a kind of effigy art that ends up being a powerful part of the book. A passage from Parker's reflections on his life:
"The past lies in the shadows of our lives. It is endlessly patient, secure in the knowledge that all we have done, and all that we have failed to do, must surely return to haunt us in the end. When I was young, I cast each day aside unthinkingly, like dandelion seeds committed to the wind, floating harmlessly from the hands of a boy and vanishing over his shoulder as he moved onward along the path toward the sunset, and home...
Now, as I look back over my shoulder at the path that I have taken, I can see that it has become tangled and obscured by undergrowth, where the seeds of past actions and half-acknowledged sins have taken root. Another shadows me along the path. She has no name, but she looks like Susan, my dead wife; and Jennifer, my first daughter, who was killed beside her in our little house in New York, walks with her."
Overall, a good installment, and likely critical to the series in terms of Parker's mystical connection to his cases. It could serve as a jumping-in point for people who would like to give the series a try.
The narrative explores a number of viewpoints getting to the actual beginning of the case, including that of the niece, her pimp, and a killer. As the story progresses, he brings in even more viewpoints, usually not for long. It isn't always well done or pertinent, and I'd question what his point was. Sometimes it seems as if it is supposed to contribute to the tension, making it clear how awful the antagonists are. Not infrequently the viewpoints are people who are about to die or play only a very limited role. Connolly might also have done it in service of plot points he thinks are necessary (a hotel near the border of Mexico is a brief setting), but I think it actually just confuses the plot and the narrative flow.
Speaking of plot, this one is a bit different. While most of the stories to date have revolved around solving a murder and confronting the killer(s), in this one the mystery of the killer is solved relatively quickly as incidental to a larger goal. There's a lot of forced situations here (Louis' aunt taking a bus to Maine, the journalist/art critic having an in to an auction). The plot eventually takes a DaVinci Code type turn that feels somewhat incongruous with where the story actually began. This is also the book where the supernatural/spiritual angle becomes more overt, with Parker's connection to these evil cases become clear. Connolly plays it cagey, leaving open the possibility for more real-world explanations for those who have trouble believing, but ultimately, it's the foundation for the series. Less satisfying is the storyline between Parker and Rachel, not necessarily because of the drama, but because it makes so little sense in context of all they've been through together. It felt in service of a plot more than congruous.
But I'll tolerate a lot of plot issues with such beautiful writing. There's a connection to a kind of effigy art that ends up being a powerful part of the book. A passage from Parker's reflections on his life:
"The past lies in the shadows of our lives. It is endlessly patient, secure in the knowledge that all we have done, and all that we have failed to do, must surely return to haunt us in the end. When I was young, I cast each day aside unthinkingly, like dandelion seeds committed to the wind, floating harmlessly from the hands of a boy and vanishing over his shoulder as he moved onward along the path toward the sunset, and home...
Now, as I look back over my shoulder at the path that I have taken, I can see that it has become tangled and obscured by undergrowth, where the seeds of past actions and half-acknowledged sins have taken root. Another shadows me along the path. She has no name, but she looks like Susan, my dead wife; and Jennifer, my first daughter, who was killed beside her in our little house in New York, walks with her."
Overall, a good installment, and likely critical to the series in terms of Parker's mystical connection to his cases. It could serve as a jumping-in point for people who would like to give the series a try.