Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Blue Angel, White Shadow

3.32 of 5 stars 3.32 · rating details · 19 ratings · 5 reviews

Twenty-five year old lounge singer Laurice Saldiaga is found dead in her room at the Blue Angel Cafe and Bar in Binondo, Manila's Chinatown. Inspector Cyrus Ledesma, a Chinese mestizo cop with a dark past is assigned to investigate the matter. The bar owner, Antonio Cobianco, is a known associate of Mayor Lagdameo Go-Lopez. Ledesma walks into a cauldron of intrigues, labyr...more

Paperback, 229 pages

Published 2010 by University of Sto. Tomas Publishing House

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Smaller and Smaller Circles by F.H. Batacan

Goodreads Filipino Group - Favorite Local Books in English

48th out of 55 books — 62 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 51)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jan 02, 2012 Kristel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: filipino-fiction, crime-fiction, read-2011

Nostalgia for a Manila slowly ebbing away lies at the heart of Blue Angel, White Shadow, the newest offering from one of the Philippines' most renowned novelists, Charlson Ong. With references to Marlene Dietrich, John Coltrane, Old Binondo, World War II, dogfights and summary executions, his foray into the mystery genre results in a symphony about the constant push and pull between the old and the new, the artful and the brutal.

The story begins with an iconic noir image: the beautiful woman in...more Nostalgia for a Manila slowly ebbing away lies at the heart of Blue Angel, White Shadow, the newest offering from one of the Philippines' most renowned novelists, Charlson Ong. With references to Marlene Dietrich, John Coltrane, Old Binondo, World War II, dogfights and summary executions, his foray into the mystery genre results in a symphony about the constant push and pull between the old and the new, the artful and the brutal.

The story begins with an iconic noir image: the beautiful woman in a red dress. Rather than a seductive shift, however, singer Laurice Saldiaga was wearing a red cheongsam when she died in the upstairs apartment of the Blue Angel, a decrepit jazz bar in the middle of Chinatown. A Hokkien-speaking mestizo policeman named Cyrus Ledesma is brought into the investigation because of its delicate nature, even as he comes to terms with his own dodgy past. He encounters a list of people with motives and opportunities to kill Laurice. The implication even goes as high up as the Mayor of Manila himself, Lagdameo Go-Lopez.

I have always harbored the belief that the way to make cities real is to write about them. Charlson Ong succeeds in making this true with this novel, vividly sketching the melancholy, grime-filled streets of Chinatown in my head, using mellifluous turns of phrase to conjure up the perfect mood. I had trouble with the 3rd person ominiscient style in the beginning--I'm used to mysteries that are either in 1st person or the very tight, 3rd person POV of a single character--but it manages to lay out the inner lives of all the people who somehow intersect with the doomed jazz songstress. Particularly poignant are the memories of Antonio Cobianco, owner of the Blue Angel, whose fondness for Laurice and the bar puts his innocence into question.

There are elements of the supernatural here, with old houses haunted by spirits and two characters who see ghostly visions, but they do not detract from the logic of the mystery like I initially feared. They add a lovely gothic dimension to the story, in fact, emphasizing the extreme subjectivity of memory and the uncomplicated acceptance of the Chinese-Filipino worldview when it comes to the unexplained.

Suspects attempting to deflect blame or harboring their own suspicions complicate Cyrus's search for the truth, with bursts of violence throughout the story culminating into a satisfying horserace of a climax. The crucial thing for me was whether to final conflict would be satisfying, and I have to say it was--very reminscent of the over-the-top confrontations in Pinoy action movies but elevated by Ong's gorgeous prose. I found the denouement and the last two chapters dragging, however.

If Charlson Ong ever decides to write more of these, I'm definitely buying. You can hear him talk about this novel in a podcast by DZUP's Quadro Kantos, with download links here. I highly suggestion listening to it because they also played songs which they dubbed as the soundtrack of Blue Angel, White Shadow.(less)

5 likes · like · see review

Mar 24, 2011 jzhunagev rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to jzhunagev by: UST Publishing House

Shelves: action, drama, fiction-contemporary, filipiniana, mystery, suspense, 2011-reads

Crimes of Passion
(A Book Review of Charlson Ong’s Blue Angel, White Shadow)

Admittedly, I have had my meager share of crime fiction in my brief experience as a reader; however, this recent read feels like hitting two birds with one stone, not only by reintroducing me to the genre, but also a game changer that shuns the spate of literary of books posturing as social commentary that examines the human plight in lieu of a gripping whodunit written exceptionally by a Filipino author that’ll keep the...more

7 likes · like · see review

Apr 18, 2011 Carljoe Javier rated it 4 of 5 stars

I had a really fun time with this book. Most readers will know Charlson Ong for his short fiction (I remember studying it extensively as an undergrad english major, before actually meeting Ong as a panelist and then as my professor) but this novel is both clearly Ong, with the rich Chinese background injected into his stories, and also something totally new for the writer, and Phil Lit in general. Sure the detective novel has been done before, and done very well. Look no further than Smaller and...more

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 28, 2011 Tina rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, filipino, gifts, review-copy

Original post at One More Page

One of my favorite classes in college that wasn't my major was my Lit class, not only because I had an awesome professor, but because I just simply loved to read. I loved that I was required to pick up a novel for class, and write a report about it. The only lit class I had was Philippine literature so I was only required to read local fiction, some written by some professors in the university. While that wasn't what what I usually read then, I didn't mind -- I was...more Original post at One More Page

One of my favorite classes in college that wasn't my major was my Lit class, not only because I had an awesome professor, but because I just simply loved to read. I loved that I was required to pick up a novel for class, and write a report about it. The only lit class I had was Philippine literature so I was only required to read local fiction, some written by some professors in the university. While that wasn't what what I usually read then, I didn't mind -- I was allowed to read non-textbooks for class. In a word, it was awesome.

Reading Charlson Ong's Blue Angel, White Shadow reminded me of those college days. I can't quite put a finger on it, but there's something about this book's tone that reminded me of that. It's been a while since I last read a serious Filipino novel so it took me some time to adjust to the tone of this book. In Blue Angel, White Shadow , we was introduced to Filipino-Chinese cop Cyrus Ledesma who was sent to investigate the death of Laurice Saldiaga, found dead in her room in The Blue Angel Cafe. The investigation leads us down Cyrus' dark past and introduces us to several other characters -- bar owner and singer Rosa Misa and her fiesty daughter Rosemarie, the old and kind-hearted Antonio Cobianco who has his own secrets, Manila Mayor Lagdameo Go-Lopez who formerly wanted to be a vet, pitbull owner Robert Cobianco, and Cyrus' priest friend Fr. Jay among others -- all somewhat related to the death of the singer.

I was expecting a typical murder mystery novel as I read Blue Angel, White Shadow , but was surprised to find something more. Instead of just following the main character collect clues to find out whodunnit, I was led through different character studies as for most chapters, I was introduced to the different people and how they were all (or will be) connected. It felt a little confusing at first, and I was impatient to know how all these characters related to the opening incident. I liked reading about the characters but I guess I was expecting something else that was why it took me a while to really get into the story.

But once I did, I realized just how good the author was in weaving the story. Even as he exposed the characters, their past and their possible motivations one by one, I couldn't figure out who was responsible. Sure, other issues and conspiracies were discussed, but there was never a solid clue that pointed to the culprit. Once it was finally exposed, however, it seemed...well, obvious. It wasn't even ingenious, just...well, obvious. I guess my years of watching CSI has never really rubbed off on me. The ending was pretty satisfactory, and interestingly, there was even a little romance. I liked how everything tied up in the end, answering most of the questions but not in a too clean way that it didn't seem realistic anymore. I remember giving a satisfied nod as soon as I closed the book, my mind content with how it ended.

This isn't really my genre, but I liked Blue Angel, White Shadow , and I am truly impressed by Charlson Ong's writing. I feel like I could learn a lot with how he wrote his characters. I hope that the seriousness of the cover or the blurb wouldn't make readers ignore this book because it is an enjoyable piece of fiction, even if I did feel the need to write a book report for school after reading it. :D
(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 05, 2012 Bomalabs rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed reading this book, and it almost kept me through the early morning - but there's something missing that's keeping me from giving it a 5-star. It's crazy good as a Mystery/Detective novel given that you wouldn't really know who killed the victim until second to the last chapter. You wouldn't really know what happened, and almost anyone who's in the book could've done it. Every character has a plausible theory. And that really kept me reading until the end.

like · see review

Apr 30, 2013 Mitch Cerda marked it as to-read

Apr 15, 2013 Raffy Dacles rated it 5 of 5 stars

Apr 09, 2013 Biena Magbitang marked it as to-read

Apr 04, 2013 Hanne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Mar 24, 2013 Faye Kennedy added it

Mar 17, 2013 Genalyn Buenafe rated it 3 of 5 stars

Mar 11, 2013 Anne added it

Mar 06, 2013 Ashe marked it as to-read

Mar 03, 2013 Alula marked it as to-read

Feb 28, 2013 Tiff marked it as to-read

Feb 28, 2013 Linelle Reyes marked it as to-read

Feb 27, 2013 Michelle Ciriacruz marked it as to-read

Feb 25, 2013 Althea Mae added it

Feb 21, 2013 Jay marked it as to-read

Shelves: hedhad

Jan 18, 2013 Ryan Jay added it

Jan 16, 2013 Infinity marked it as to-read

Jan 15, 2013 Rica Angela marked it as to-read

Jan 15, 2013 Paul Kenny rated it 3 of 5 stars

Jan 06, 2013 Mike Mello is currently reading it

Dec 09, 2012 Mari Domingo marked it as to-read

Dec 07, 2012 Led Villafuerte rated it 3 of 5 stars

Sep 20, 2012 Regene marked it as interested-in

Jul 30, 2012 Julian Inah Anunciacion y Gamboa marked it as to-read

Jul 19, 2012 Mikha added it

Jul 19, 2012 Azer rated it 4 of 5 stars

« previous 1 2 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (1)

Popular Shelves

to-read

20 shelves

currently-reading

3 shelves

filipiniana

3 shelves

filipino

2 shelves

hedhad

1 shelf

interested-in

1 shelf

fiction

1 shelf

crime-suspense

1 shelf

not-yet-read

1 shelf

kindle

1 shelf

About Charlson Ong

Charlson L. Ong , resident fellow of the Institute of Creative Writing and fictionist/scriptwriter/singer extraordinaire, was born on July 6, 1960. He obtained an A.B. in Psychology from the University of the Philippines in 1977, and currently teaches literature and creative writing under UP's Department of English and Comparative Literature. He has joined several writers' workshops here and abro...more

More about Charlson Ong...

Books by Charlson Ong

A Tropical Winter's Tale and Other Stories

Woman of Am-kaw and Other Stories (Contemporary Philippine Fiction)

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Blue Angel, White...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: Blue Angel, White Shadow
avg rating	preview: Blue Angel, White Shadow Goodreads rating: 3.32 (19 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10289880-blue-angel-white-shadow?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1295706494l/10289880.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10289880-blue-angel-white-shadow?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Blue Angel, White Shadow by Charlson Ong[/url]

Blue Angel, White Shadow

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

combineOther Editions (1)

Popular Shelves

About Charlson Ong

Books by Charlson Ong

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Blue Angel, White...

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (1)