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NIGHT ANGELS
by Danuta Reah
HarperCollinsUK, June 2002
452 pages
6.99 GBP
ISBN: 0007116284


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Danuta Reah's novels are dark psychological thrillers where the main characters are defined by the actions they take and the knowledge they have. In Silent Playgrounds (Listen to the Shadows (US)), the protagonist is haunted by her past after discovering the body of a murdered child. In Night Angels, the author will focus her attention on two key characters, Detective Inspector Lynne Jordan and Dr. Roz Bishop, a senior research assistant at the Law & Language Group in England. Both of them are interested in finding Gemma Wishart, a researcher at the Law & Language Group specializing in Russian dialects and language. Her disappearance is an enigma to both of these women whom are desperate in trying to find her. Dr. Wishart holds the key to several crimes in England's Peak District and time is running out.

The author takes the unique approach in creating two separate investigations in order to achieve the same result. Gemma was working with DI Jordan in a case involving a murdered Russian woman. Dr. Bishop is Gemma's colleague working together on her own project. Jordan is busy investigating two murders that may be related, while Dr. Bishop is puzzled with the disappearance of Gemma as well as some important documents in her research. Though these two characters rarely interact throughout the book, both of their investigative efforts will play an important role in the story. Each one will bring one piece of the whole, and when it is all brought together it will create a disturbing picture that will have deep ramifications in the book and leave one reflecting on the situation.

One of Danuta Reah's strongest assets in her writing is character development. There are several scenes in the book that are irrelevant to the main story, however, it is an important tool in getting the readers to know more about the characters. The character's insights are essentials in portraying them as real individuals. The mystery that is Dr. Gemma Wishart is intriguing because the reader will get several contradictory sides into her life. One will not be able to distinguish what is real and what is a lie until they reach the story's astounding climax. One of the book's weaknesses involves the late introduction of several key figures but it does not weaken the plot's impact. If you need to see why this author is well-recognized in her field, this is the book to try out.

Reviewed by Angel L. Soto, March 2003

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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