⇒ Download Free Falling Angel William Hjortsberg James Crumley Ridley Scott 9781933618081 Books

Falling Angel William Hjortsberg James Crumley Ridley Scott 9781933618081 Books

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Falling Angel William Hjortsberg James Crumley Ridley Scott 9781933618081 Books

Really well-written, capturing the feel of a 1940s private detective involved in a very original, non-formulaic tale. My only problem was that I'd seen the film version before reading this, so some of the suspense and surprise was missing, which is not the book's fault. There are some scenes that are not in the movie or were changed, so if you enjoyed the film version, I think you'll enjoy the source novel. Definitely well-written and compelling.


Tags : Falling Angel [William Hjortsberg, James Crumley, Ridley Scott] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <br /> A terrific book-what might have happened if Raymond Chandler had written <em>The Exorcist</em>. -Stephen King <br /> <br /> <em>Falling Angel</em> combines the best of the classic detective story . . . with elements of the occult with surprising humor and wit. . . . This is the literary love-child of Raymond Chandler and Stephen King. . . . Not for the faint-of-heart. -from the foreword by Ridley Scott <br /> <br /><em>Falling Angel</em> pits a tough New York private eye against any detective's most fearsome adversary. A routine missing-persons case soon turns into a fiendish nightmare in which the shadow detective Harry Angel chases seems to be his own.,William Hjortsberg, James Crumley, Ridley Scott,Falling Angel,Centipede Press,1933618086,Missing persons;Fiction.,Private investigators;New York (State);New York;Fiction.,Voodooism;New York (State);New York;Fiction.,Fiction,Fiction - Mystery Detective,Fiction Horror,Fiction-Horror,GENERAL,Horror,Horror - General,Missing persons,Mystery & Detective - General,New York,New York (State),Private investigators,Psychological,Voodooism

Falling Angel William Hjortsberg James Crumley Ridley Scott 9781933618081 Books Reviews

If you found this book from a list of great horror novels online, read it. If you liked the sound of the plot line from the description, read it. If you were a fan of the mid 80's Mickey Rourke Robert De Niro movie called "Angel Heart" that was based on this book you will love it.
Holy horror in the guise of a hard boiled detective novel, who could ask for more.
I would read this again if I didn't have so many books to explore. A great read, characters to like and hate, a hell-bent-for-leather ride through a gripping story. The ending startled me at first, but then it came to be such a wondrous outcome of so many intrigues. Now I will have to see the movie based upon the book. I want more of this author, but I can't think of how he can outdo himself after this book. Thanks for a favorite read.
The movie "Angel Heart" (one of my favorite movies of all time) was based on this novel. The novel is excellent--great writing, especially if you like the school of hard-boiled detective fiction (think Mickey Spillane).
Angel Heart, the movie based upon this novel, has long been a favorite of mine; as is often the case, the book was even better! Detective Harry Angel was hired for what appeared to be a simple missing persons case, but it turned out to be anything but simple. His case leads him into the underground world of voodoo and black magic, and everyone he talks to ends up dead. I can't bring myself to ruin the ending for you, but suffice it to say that you won't be disappointed!
The movie Angel Heart is loosely based on this book and despite the movie's rep and rating, this book...well written and detailed...makes the film look like a kid's movie. Some of the story and all the characters are here but the setting and pace is very different indeed. If you like good horror sixpence, read this now. Seriously.
Hjortsberg has given us readers a great gift with this book. It is a nineteen fifties style hardboiled detective novel with elements of mysticism, madness, voodoo, and black magic thrown in. It is an evenly paced novel that really takes off in the second half. It sort of combines themes from hardboiled pulp fiction with seventies-era horror movies. It takes the reader back to post world war two in a land of jazz and women and seedy haunts on Broadway and takes the reader through the funhouse carnival that was Coney Island. Hired by Louis Cipher (a thinly disguised client), Harry Angel must find a jazz musician that disappeared fifteen years ago when everyone thought he was either dead or ensconced in a mental hospital upstate. but to find him, Angel has to wade through all sorts of seedy characters who want nothing to do with him and to fall for a girl who dabbles in white magic. But, that is nothing compared to the world of horror that he finds once Angel digs deeper.

Although this was made into a hit movie starring Mickey Rourke and Lisa Bonet, the novel itself is well worth reading because it opens up a world of dreams and madness as Angel slowly but surely peels away the layers of mystery surrounding the jazz player's disappearance.

If you have read other books by Hjortsberg such as Mañana, don't open this with any preconceived expectations. It is not anything like Hjortsberg's other work.

Smoky, jazzy, hip, dark, strange, unearthly, and just plain good reading.
I can't say this novel was an unexpected pleasure. I saw the movie made from it, Angelheart, and loved it. I've also seen the book highly recommended by people whose opinions I respect. I waited years for it to come back into circulation and onto the kindle. Among the things I can say about it is that I was not disappointed.

The movie had a couple of scenes of breath-taking psychological horror. The book is touched by similar genius. It reads like a diabolical jigsaw puzzle assembled piece by piece with increasing dread until the last piece is snapped into place to reveal a shining leer of pure terror.

The basics of the plot are that Harry Angel, a low-rent private eye, is hired by an odd and sinister client to find a man who has gone missing for more than 15 years. As is typical of the novel's genre, which remains more private eye than horror despite the nature of the mysteries uncovered, the investigator's encounters trace a path through society's lowest and highest places, uncovering the common corruption so pervading them as to make them indistinguishable.

Not that Harry's much of a hero. Unlike Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon and so many other classic private eyes, he follows no code. The filth does not slide off him as he rises and makes a final break from the muck of the world he has been forced to swim through. The problem is that, as the people he finds, threatens, and interviews wind up dead, Harry himself becomes the clearest link between them and the most likely villain. With cheap hoods, a wealthy industrialist, a voodoo priestess, satanists, and a creepy cop on his tail, can Harry sort things out before he himself is sorted out -- permanently? And ... do these people know each other?

The devil is in the details. And there are a lot of details in Falling Angel. Every time Harry catches a cab or takes a walk, you read about his journey street by street, block by block, sometimes building by building. People who love old New York -- the book takes place in 1959 -- will love the anecdotes about what it was like way back when. They are told with authority and the relish of someone in love with the city. I found them alternately fascinating and tedious, and enjoyed the latter third of the book most, when less time was spent describing how Harry got someplace and more on what he did when he got there.

Secreted laconically throughout the text are unobtrusively clever hints about the characters and their ultimate destinies. Their discovery is a series of quiet pleasures dovetailing together into a satisfying sense of foreboding. Another quiet pleasure is Falling Angel's unexpected literacy. For a gumshoe, Angel is as quick with references to classical literature, voodoo jargon, and obscure bits of history as he is with a skeleton key or a slug from a .45. Who, exactly, is this man? Where did he come from, this seemingly contradictory fellow, to be what he is today? And where is his quarry?

Finding out was a joy. Falling Angel is one of the best horror novels I've ever read, presented in the style of a detective novel written when today's daring trend of crossing genres was only a glimmer in the eye of people now old enough to be grandparents. It's not just original and good enough to be dragged back into the public eye and ranked a classic; it provides that all too rare thing among literary and genre fiction alike a satisfying ending. And by satisfying I mean virtuoso. Falling Angel is an unusually rewarding treat for horror aficionados -- and I count myself a lifelong devotee among them -- who usually must choose between either lowering their standards or having little to read. It is also so well written that I would recommend it to almost anyone looking for a ripping yarn who is not too squeamish about the (mostly off-screen, so to speak) horrors one might expect in a story about lost souls.

One last thing The biography and pictures regarding author Hjortsberg's life and career are not to be found on the kindle version of the book, despite their promotion on this site's page.
Really well-written, capturing the feel of a 1940s private detective involved in a very original, non-formulaic tale. My only problem was that I'd seen the film version before reading this, so some of the suspense and surprise was missing, which is not the book's fault. There are some scenes that are not in the movie or were changed, so if you enjoyed the film version, I think you'll enjoy the source novel. Definitely well-written and compelling.