Falling Angel

Falling Angel
by William Hjortsberg

Falling Angel
Our Price: $69.00
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: William Hjortsberg
Introduction: James Crumley
Foreword: Ridley Scott
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-11-01
ISBN: 1933618086
Number of pages: 302
Publisher: Centipede Press

Book Reviews of Falling Angel

Book Review: Falling Angel
Summary: 5 Stars

Over Halloween I took the time to rewatch one of my favorite horror movies, Angel Heart which I hadn't watched in while. Seeing it again I decided to remedy the fact that I've never read William Hjortsberg's source novel. Of the plot movie or book I won't reveal much but to say both are very similar despite following vastly different plots.
The plot as it is concerns Harry Angel a P.I. in 1959 who's hired by the mysterious Louis Cyphre to find missing singer Johnny Favorite. As Angel begins his search He comes into contact with an assortment of characters and learns that Favorite was big into Voodoo. Soon though someone starts murdering witnesses in graphic ways and Harry is wondering about the true identity of Cyphre.
Its easy to see reading the book that Hjortsberg was heavily influenced from the pulp writers like Hammet and Chandler. Harry the ever present narrator has the hard bitten charm of a Philip Marlowe or Sam Spade. Plot wise theres also the femme fatale in Epiphany who conducts Voodoo rituals late night in a New York Park while Ethan Kruesmark is the Noah Cross of the title. The chapters are relatively short and the title moves fast.
Comparing it to the movie I found it strange that the film was set in New Orleans. The voodoo setting is more effective in the book with late night devil worship in abandoned subways, and the scene in a park with chanting and music which is more effective than setting the scene in a swamp. Theres also a bit with Coney Island where Harry drives out looking for leads that I liked where He seeks answers at a freak show and wax museum. Theres also a bit more scenes with Cyphre showing him influencing others as a stage act where He changes his name and dress while performing what could ammount to magic tricks that I liked.
In the end its a really good story, tightly plotted and written. The only complaint I could have against the book is that if You've seen the film you know the truth on Johnny Favorite takes away the ending. I still ike story as a whole but its lost some punch.
A word on this edition. Theres an afterword, a foreward, and bit by Stephen King in appreciation for the novel. There is also a very amusing Western story called Sidekick where the mocked partner of a gunslinger finally has his revenge with the ultimate prank at the end of the story. I wasn't expecting to read it but I'm glad I did. Its an amusing quick read just as good as Falling Angel. For twelve bucks picking up this book might just make you a Hjortsberg fan.

Summary of Falling Angel


"A terrific book-what might have happened if Raymond Chandler had written The Exorcist."-Stephen King

"Falling Angel 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

Falling Angel 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.

Horror Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Horror Books
Let the Right One In: A Novel ImageLet the Right One In: A Novel
by John Ajvide Lindqvist
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2008-10-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops: $15.95
Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus: The 1818 Text ImageFrankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus: The 1818 Text
by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
University Of Chicago Press; Published: 1982-03-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.00
Price in other shops: $17.00
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Oxford Bookworms S, Stage 4) ImageDr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Oxford Bookworms S, Stage 4)
by Robert Louis Stevenson
Oxford Univ Pr (Sd); Published: 1991-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.79
Price in other shops: $5.95
The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales (Oxford Books of Prose) ImageThe Oxford Book of Gothic Tales (Oxford Books of Prose)
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2001-11-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $50.00
The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower, Book 3) ImageThe Waste Lands (The Dark Tower, Book 3)
by Stephen King
Penguin Audio; Published: 2003-08-26; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $149.99
Thinner [UNABRIDGED] ImageThinner [UNABRIDGED]
by Stephen King
Penguin Audio; Published: 1996-09-01; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops: $34.95
The Crow: Temple of Night ImageThe Crow: Temple of Night
by S P. Somtow
Harper Paperbacks; Published: 1999-11-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops: $17.00
Brains: A Zombie Memoir ImageBrains: A Zombie Memoir
by Robin Becker
Eos; Published: 2010-05-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.23
Price in other shops: $13.99
The Strain LP: Book One of The Strain Trilogy ImageThe Strain LP: Book One of The Strain Trilogy
by Guillermo Del Toro, Chuck Hogan
HarperLuxe; Published: 2009-06-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.45
Price in other shops: $26.99
Prince of Darkness ImagePrince of Darkness
by Barbara Michaels
HarperTorch; Published: 2005-04-26; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.60
Price in other shops: $7.50
Similar Books and other products
Paths of Glory ImagePaths of Glory
DOUGLAS,KIRK; Release date: 1999-06-29; DVD
Best price: $4.58
Price in other shops: $14.98
The Seventh Seal (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] ImageThe Seventh Seal (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2009-06-16; Blu-ray
Best price: $26.99
Price in other shops: $39.95
Modern Times (The Criterion Collection) ImageModern Times (The Criterion Collection)
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2010-11-16; DVD
Best price: $21.49
Price in other shops: $29.95
The Club Dumas ImageThe Club Dumas
by Arturo Perez-Reverte
Mariner Books; Published: 2006-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.99
Price in other shops: $14.95
Train Dreams: A Novella ImageTrain Dreams: A Novella
by Denis Johnson
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Published: 2011-08-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.14
Price in other shops: $18.00
Odd Corners: The Slip-Stream World of William Hjortsberg ImageOdd Corners: The Slip-Stream World of William Hjortsberg
by William Hjortsberg
Counterpoint; Published: 2004-03-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.14
Price in other shops: $15.00
Hotel Rwanda ImageHotel Rwanda
TCFHE/MGM; Release date: 2005-04-12; DVD
Best price: $3.89
Price in other shops: $14.98
The Club Dumas ImageThe Club Dumas
by Arturo Perez-Reverte
Harvest Books; Published: 2006-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.13
Price in other shops: $14.00
Angel Heart (Special Edition) ImageAngel Heart (Special Edition)
LIONS GATE HOME ENT.; Release date: 2004-05-18; DVD
Best price: $4.19
Price in other shops: $9.98
Nevermore ImageNevermore
by William Hjortsberg
St Martins Mass Market Paper; Published: 1996-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.91
Price in other shops: $5.99
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories