The Angel

I haven’t read too many of Carla Neggers novels, but what I’ve read I’ve enjoyed. So I didn't think twice about grabbing The Angel at the library.



Here's the blurb:

On a remote stretch of the rugged coast of Ireland, folklorist and illustrator Keira Sullivan pursues the mysterious Irish legend of an ancient Celtic stone angel. As she searches an isolated ruin, she’s certain she’s discovered the mythic angel, but before she can examine her find, she senses a malevolent presence. . . . Is someone in there with her? Then the ruin collapses, trapping her.

Keira’s uncle, a Boston homicide detective, enlists the help of Simon Cahill to find his missing niece. Simon, an expert with First Rescue, a rapid-response search-and-rescue organization, is trying to keep a low profile after secretly assisting in the takedown of a major criminal network, but he rushes to Ireland, pulling Keira out of the rubble just as she’s about to free herself.

Simon isn’t interested in myths or magic, nor is he surprised when Keira can’t find a trace of her stone angel. He doesn’t believe it exists. But the gruesome evidence of a startling act of violence convinces him that whatever she found in the ruin, the danger she faces is real.
When the violence follows them to Boston—Simon and Keira realize that the long-forgotten story that has captivated her has also aroused a killer . . . a calculating predator who will certainly kill again.

Suspenseful and evocative, The Angel is a riveting novel of dangerous myths, haunting secrets and the shattering truth concealed within them. It is Carla Neggers at her best.

I was looking forward on reading this book, but at the time I didn’t realize it was part of a series, there’s a previous book that is connected to this one, The Widow. It usually doesn’t bother me, but there seemed to be a lot going on from the previous book. I felt like I was missing something, ok, eventually I figured out, but it bothered me all throughout the book.

Also I expecting more of a mystical, paranormal feel to the story. Maybe I just thought it was a paranormal, I thought that the crimes that were being committed were of paranormal forces and not of human sort. Because they were pretty gruesome.

I did enjoy the book, I liked the characters (even feeling that something was missing - previous book), I liked the setting: Ireland, Boston and the woods of New Hampshire. I did find some of the mystical magic that I was looking for, but I wanted more of that. I think it was my misconceptions of this book that turned me off. I was expecting something and got something entirely different.

The Angel by Carla Neggers (3/5) Romantic Suspense; Published: Mira (5/08); 100 + Reading Challenge (52); Library book;