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Falling Angel (Dead Letter Mystery)

3.97 of 5 stars 3.97 · rating details · 808 ratings · 97 reviews

For New York private investigator Harry Angel, it's just another job for the missing persons file. An enigmatic client wants him to track down famous 40s crooner Johnny Favorite. The problem is, the singer was last seen in a hospital upstate more than fifteen years ago. And Johnny's current whereabouts-and his fate-are shrouded in mystery.

With a trail as cold as stone, Ang

...more

Mass Market Paperback, 289 pages

Published July 15th 1996 by St. Martin's Paperbacks (first published 1978)

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Aug 14, 2007 Peggy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: darkforcesbookgroup

William Hjortsberg's Falling Angel was the basis for the movie Angel Heart, and, Mickey Rourke notwithstanding, it's a mighty fine adaptation. Even if you've seen the movie, the book is well worth a read, but those of you who haven't seen the movie are in for a special treat.

Falling Angel tells the story of Harry Angel: a P.I. hired by a mysterious stranger to find out the whereabouts of 1940's crooner Johnny Favorite. What seems fairly straightforward at first glance becomes more and more compl...more William Hjortsberg's Falling Angel was the basis for the movie Angel Heart, and, Mickey Rourke notwithstanding, it's a mighty fine adaptation. Even if you've seen the movie, the book is well worth a read, but those of you who haven't seen the movie are in for a special treat.

Falling Angel tells the story of Harry Angel: a P.I. hired by a mysterious stranger to find out the whereabouts of 1940's crooner Johnny Favorite. What seems fairly straightforward at first glance becomes more and more complicated as the investigation continues. Soon bodies start appearing and it looks like our man Angel is being set up to take the fall. Every new piece of the puzzle he finds reveals just how much of the story he hasn't been told. The investigation takes many unexpected turns and eventually Harry ends up involved with blues musicians, fake swamis, voodoo priestesses and a satanic cult.

Although the story is chock full of supernatural elements, the style is completely a hard-boiled detective story of the Hammett/Chandler/Cain era. It's a nice juxtaposition of style and content. The noir detective tends toward the cynical anyway, so Angel's disbelief in the occult occurrences rings true. The crime novels from that era deal with all kinds of conspiracies and chicanery, but everything is fully grounded in reality. There's always a reason, a human reason, for all the trouble that occurs. It's a treat to take that same style and those same assumptions and look at them all from a different angle.

Hjortsberg does an excellent job in keeping the reader guessing as the plot unfolds. Just when you think you know what's going to happen (or what just happened), the story slips away from your grasp. Hjortsberg plays us just as subtly and just as thoroughly as his characters play one another. Up until the final revelations, you're never quite sure just how it's all going to turn out.

And now for the bad news: those of you who've seen Angel Heart know the surprise that Hjortsberg has in store for the reader. Knowing how it all turns out before you get there is a real bitch. While this doesn't invalidate the story, it does mean that you get thwacked in the forehead with foreshadowing every other paragraph or so. This was incredibly disappointing to me the first time I read Falling Angel. I was actually angry at the movie for being too good of an adaptation and therefore spoiling a mighty fine read. But you know what? If the worst thing you can say about a book is that someone made a pretty good movie out of it, then that's probably a pretty safe recommendation.(less)

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Mar 09, 2012 Lee rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Twenty-five years ago I saw the movie "Angel Heart". I remember it being a very atmospheric film. Twenty-five years later, I read the novel that would become that movie. This is one of the best, noir, hard-boiled gumshoe novel's I've read. Hjortsberg also does a wonderful job on the atmosphere of New York City in the '50's. Throw in the case Harry Angel is working that involves, black magic, voodoo, and some gruesome murders, you have a very different hard-boiled novel. Getting in to this story,...more

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May 22, 2013 Jack Felson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow! When I remember this story I immediately get chilled... imagine you are a very common detective and you get hired by the Devil Himself? And you take the job? This is one of my favorite books. It's much better than the movie which I saw first and still like a lot. But the book has so many better things for it: it's much better told - the story is kept in NY instead of transferred in New Orleans, I have to ask Alan Parker why he did that in his film adaptation - and it goes straight to the po...more

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Apr 16, 2013 Tim Mayer rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: karl-wagner-memorial-library

I first read Falling Angel in 1983. Right after the KEW list was published in the old Twilight Zone magazine. Naturally, I went to the public library in search of the books on the list. Wagner being the obscure literature fan, I didn’t find too much. The exception was Falling Angel, which I took home and read over a matter of days.

In preparation for this review, I read the book again. I don’t usually re-read books as there’s too much out there I haven’t read. But I felt the passage of 30 years w...more I first read Falling Angel in 1983. Right after the KEW list was published in the old Twilight Zone magazine. Naturally, I went to the public library in search of the books on the list. Wagner being the obscure literature fan, I didn’t find too much. The exception was Falling Angel, which I took home and read over a matter of days.

In preparation for this review, I read the book again. I don’t usually re-read books as there’s too much out there I haven’t read. But I felt the passage of 30 years would dull my memory to the point of writing a bad review. I gritted my teeth and went back to the book.

Astonishingly, I enjoyed the book more this time than on the first read. Hjortsberg, on his website, talks about why he sat the novel in 1959: these were the most vivid years he could remember oh his hometown of Manhattan, New York City. Manhattan in the 50′s comes alive in these pages. Coney Island, Harlem all these places were written through the eyes of someone was there. It makes for a very vivid background.

Harry Angel, private investigator, is working the gumshoe trade in Manhattan, 1959. One day he’s contacted by a powerful lawyer on behalf of a mysterious client. The client, an eloquent gentleman named Louis Cyphre (pay attention to the name), wants Angel to find a missing crooner from the 1930′s: Johnny Fortune. It seems Mr. Cyphre sponsored Fortune’s musical career before WWII until the singer was wounded in the war. He’s been convalescing in a private sanitarium since the incident, barely conscious. Cyphre has discovered Fortune is missing from the place and wants him located.

In true hardboiled PI fiction, Harry Angel strolls down the mean streets of Manhattan looking for the missing Fortune. He runs into many people who knew Fortune, but few who remember anything about him. This was before the Net and massive data information on every particular subject. Angel is forced to visit reporters, libraries and consult things known as phone books. It was a different time.

The closer he gets to finding Fortune, the more the dead bodies start accumulating First, it’s a doctor at the sanitarium, then more and more. Each know a little bit about why Fortune disappeared, but they won’t talk. And each have an upside down star or inverted pentagram on their person. Soon, Angel begins seeing Mr. Cyphre in his dreams.

The book is full of bizarre occult references to New York City. There’s a voodoo ceremony in Central Park. One of the witnesses he consults is a socialite astrologer. And there is the required black mass. I’m not sure what Hjortrsberg was trying to say about the forces of darkness, given the grim ending. My guess is a warning to stay away from things far more powerful and sinister than you can imagine.

Of course I saw the 1987 movie adaptation, Angel Heart, when it hit the screen. Having read the book before and after the movie was released, I can say that it is a good adaptation. Mickey Rourke made a good Harry Angel, but the personality of Angle in the book is too Ross MacDonald to get a good visual. On the second read, I kept visualizing Lisa Bonet as Epiphany Proudfoot, Angel’s love interest. I should mention the entire book takes place in Manhattan, unlike the movie which has a side trip to New Orleans.

The book isn’t difficult to find and has been reprinted many times. It’s easily the best merger of PI fiction and supernatural literature.

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Jun 11, 2012 Jonathan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Falling Angel is the story of Harry Angel, a private investigator in the Big Apple during the 1950s. Imagine your quintessential private eye—hardnosed, problems with authority, a little bit slovenly. That’s Harry Angel. He fought during WWII in North Africa and has the fake nose and plastic surgery scars to prove. He’s hired by a wealthy businessman named Louis Cypher to track down a once-famous crooner known as Johnny Favorite. Cypher and Favorite had some business deal back when the singer was...more Falling Angel is the story of Harry Angel, a private investigator in the Big Apple during the 1950s. Imagine your quintessential private eye—hardnosed, problems with authority, a little bit slovenly. That’s Harry Angel. He fought during WWII in North Africa and has the fake nose and plastic surgery scars to prove. He’s hired by a wealthy businessman named Louis Cypher to track down a once-famous crooner known as Johnny Favorite. Cypher and Favorite had some business deal back when the singer was rich and famous (handsome, wholesome, the kind of boy you could take home to mom), but he got shipped off to war and came back a vegetable. Since that time he’s been residing in a mental hospital upstate. But when Angel gets to the hospital, Johnny Favorite is nowhere to be found. He puts the screws to the good doctor at the hospital and finds out that Johnny had recovered, but was afflicted with near total amnesia. Back in the forties a couple friends of Johnny’s paid the doctor to keep quiet about it and keep Johnny on the hospital rolls so no one would be the wiser. A few hours after Angel gets his answers, however, the doc winds up dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, and Angel high-tails it back to NYC.

He starts investigating Johnny Favorite’s music associates, trying to find these elusive “friends” that took him away from the hospital. In the process he finds out more about Johnny and realizes that he most definitely wasn’t the type “type of boy you could take home to mom.” An orphan, he came from humble beginnings only to suddenly be catapulted to fame and stardom. The origins of his success? None can (or is willing to) say, but those in the know describe him as “a man of power” interested in mysticism, astrology, and the black arts. He dabbled in voodoo, carted around a human skull in his suitcase, and even participated in ceremonies dedicated to the dark lord himself. As Angel continues his investigation, the body count climbs. One of Johnny’s old band mates is murdered in a staged voodoo ceremony. His ex-fiance has her heart torn out like an Aztec sacrifice. And soon it becomes apparent that Cypher, the client, isn’t exactly what he claims to be. The horror drives Johnny Favorite’s estranged teenage daughter (and voodoo princess) into Angel’s arms. And then shit get’s really weird.

Falling Angel is a masterful blend of two of my favorite genres. Using the tried and true tropes of both hardboiled mysteries and horror fiction, Hjortsberg creates a genre mashup with surprising originality. And the way it transitions from a-typical P.I. mystery to gut-wrenching horror is performed so deftly that it’s hard to exactly pinpoint the moment the narrative moves from one to the other. You can feel the mounting dread in your bones as Angel slowly uncovers one piece of the puzzle after another, and the twist at the end will leave you breathless. Even I was left disturbed by it all, and I had predicted the ending about halfway through the book—which brings me to my next point.

If there was one thing negative that I can say about the novel, it would have to be that Hjortsberg telegraphs the ending somewhat. It could just be me (I am, after all, exceedingly smart and want everyone else to know it), but I doubt it. I mean, the client’s name is Louis Cypher. That’s such a huge clue I don’t see how anyone could miss it, and it’s a little too hokey and vaudeville for my tastes. But then again, maybe that was the point. At any rate, it didn’t ruin the read for me. The metaphors used were also almost exclusively similes (you know, those containing “like” or “as”), which isn’t itself a bad thing, but I found myself yearning for a little more structural variation after a while. I know Hjortsberg was just trying to replicate the a-typical “P.I. talk,” so it’s all good.

If you like either horror or hardboiled mysteries, Falling Angel will probably float your boat. I love both genres, so for me it’s like Hjortsberg combined pizza and ice cream into miracle confectionary on the level of nectar and ambrosia. Literarily speaking, of course. I give it four stars.

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Sep 22, 2011 Martyn Halm rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If a mystery gets mixed with the occult or the supernatural, the result is often disastrous for the 'willing suspension of disbelief'. Falling Angel is an exception to the rule.

Struggling private investigator Harry Angel is hired by a foreign client, Louis Cyphre, to find Johnny Favorite, a crooner from before the war. Favorite is supposed to stay at a private hospital in upstate New York, where he is treated for 'shell shock' sustained in the war, but when Cyphre tries to visit him he gets the...more

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Aug 22, 2011 Sandy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

At one point in William Hjortsberg's masterful horror novel, Epiphany Proudfoot, 17-year-old voodoo priestess, tells our detective hero Harry Angel "you sure know a lot about the city." The city in question is the New York of 1959, and if Angel knows a lot about this crazy burg, then Hjortsberg, in the course of this tale, demonstrates that he knows even more. While much has been said of this book's scary elements--its voodoo ceremonies and Black Mass meeting and horrible murders--what impressed...more At one point in William Hjortsberg's masterful horror novel, Epiphany Proudfoot, 17-year-old voodoo priestess, tells our detective hero Harry Angel "you sure know a lot about the city." The city in question is the New York of 1959, and if Angel knows a lot about this crazy burg, then Hjortsberg, in the course of this tale, demonstrates that he knows even more. While much has been said of this book's scary elements--its voodoo ceremonies and Black Mass meeting and horrible murders--what impressed me most about this tale is the incredible attention to realistic detail that the author invests it with. I don't know if the author grew up in this town in the '50s or just did a remarkable research job, but the reader really does get the impression that this book (which came out in 1978) was written a few decades earlier. Roosevelt Island is called Welfare Island, quite correctly; street names are given the names they had 45 years ago; subway ads are described that I can dimly recall from my youth at the time; one-cent peanut-vending machines are in the subways (boy, does that bring me back!); and on and on. This is the type of book in which if something is described, you can bet your bottom buck that it really existed. For example, at one point our hero walks into a 42nd St. theatre called Hubert's Museum and Flea Circus. I checked it out; it was really there in the late '50s! You can really learn a lot about the city as it was by reading this fast-moving tale; it's almost like a history lesson wrapped up in a hardboiled voodoo thriller.

And what a thriller this is! Even without the incredible attention to detail, this book would be a winner. In it, Harry Angel is hired by Lou Cyphre (get it?) to track down '40s crooner Johnny Favorite, and by the time Angel is through with his quest, we have been treated to all sorts of oddball NYC characters and grisly doings. Many scenes impress, most notably the late-night Central Park voodoo ceremony, the Black Mass in the abandoned subway station, and an off-season walk through the Coney Island midway. The book is justifiably included in Jones' and Newman's excellent overview volume, "Horror: The Hundred Best Books." It works on many levels--as a thriller, as a scarifier, as a Faustian object lesson--and succeeds on all of them. I haven't seen the "Angel Heart" movie that was made from this wonderful book, but can't imagine it being any better. This book deserves all the praise that's been heaped on it. Fortunately, it's still in print, as it well should be. I highly recommend it.(less)

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Nov 23, 2010 Igolder rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The most interesting thing about this book is that I got it at a library sale in Sligo, Ireland, and kept it for 22 years before finally reading it. All that time I was worried the book would not be as good as I hoped it would be, and I was right. I kept it around because I thought it might redeem the movie adaptation, which I did not enjoy but did give me a feeling there was more in the source material.

The most interesting thing about this novel, though, was weird trivia about New York City and...more

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Apr 03, 2009 Kathryn rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, mystery, horror

I think that in order to have liked this book more I would have to a)be a bigger fan of mystery novels and b)have read it BEFORE seeing the movie "Angel Heart". The movie was a VERY good adaptation, so I didn't get the surprise at the end that those who read the book first would have.

I was intrigued by the changes that the movie DID make. The entire story takes place in New York; New Oleans isn't even mentioned as far as I remember. And the mysterious Mr. Cyphre has a much bigger role in the bo...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Jan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I just read this book and it was a page turner but also so well written. Mr. Hjortsberg wrote a private detective novel that was both familiar but so original. He does not waste a word and this novel is a mystery, comedy, extremely violent simultaneously. This book was made into a movie "Angel Heart" and the author wrote the screenplay. I added it to Netflix but I don't like to see violence so I'm not sure if I will watch. However, the novel was perfect for a movie. I'll be reading more of Willi...more

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Mar 04, 2012 Ugh rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 01, 2011 Mark rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Until the last 30 pages, there was nothing in this that made me want to keep reading. I only managed to by taking a long break, and then forcing myself since the book was short. The last 30 pages are okay, but even they aren't enough to recommend this. If you've read any pulp horror mags or reprints from the 1930s, you could take those and combine them w/ Rosemary's Baby, and you'd have this book.

The author went overboard in his attempts to remind you that the story is set in the 1950s. If he h...more

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Apr 06, 2013 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A well-crafted noir story in which the gumshoe narrator is slowly drawn into a web of horrific events revolving around a missing musician. The ambience and tone are exquisite--claustrophobic and creepy. Having figured out where the story was going fairly early, most of the book had an agonizing sort of "No, don't--you really shouldn't--OH GOD NO NOT THAT" feeling to it, which was probably more effective than if I hadn't guessed where it was going. However, because I saw it coming from fairly ear...more

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Jul 10, 2012 Joanne Parkington rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Well, what a cracking good read that was .... at first i struggled with the lingo & obviously didn't recognise the places but after a few chapters the jargon & the landscapes slotted into place and the mounting tension & whole advancing seediness overtook me ... there's a darkness lurking behind the lines & it seeps out of every page. I never write reviews detailing what books are about .. What's the point ?? Thats what the covers do so its a waste of time repeating tag lines......more

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Jul 02, 2011 Theresa Glover rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 25-book-challenge-for-2011

I've posted Something Like a Review for this book on my blog. Here's a sample, but to read the whole thing, please click here.

In general, I like the idea of the pulp private investigator/detective fiction of the 30′s and 40′s. There’s a romance and mystique around the ramshackle offices with tar-streaked walls, the jaded, bitter detective questioning some knock-out in heels and an ermine-trimmed coat that simply reeks of trouble. There’s a certain comfort of knowing that after he knocks back a d

...more

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May 22, 2012 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Having just finished "Falling Angel" there are only three words that come to mind: Ho. Lee. Shit.

Hjortsberg's story is absolutely mesmerizing, an awesome mix of Raymond Chandler detective noir and Richard Bachman horror without a conscience. I've not seen the movie Angel Heart, but after reading some reviews I'm not sure I want to. This is one story I'm not willing to spoil by watching the film.

It all starts out so innocently...a streetwise private eye, a mysterious client who wants to track dow...more

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Apr 23, 2012 Marvin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

First and foremost, this is a nifty detective novel in the tradition of Hammett and Chandler. But Hjortsberg has an ace up his sleeve that changes the rules. He certainly leaves lots of hints that this is more than just another detective novel. Anyone who has seen Angel Heart, the film based on Falling Angel, knows what that is. Frankly anyone who plays around with the names of the characters and reads between the lines of the plot should figure it out too. Yet Hjortsberg's conjuring of 1950s ur...more

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Nov 26, 2011 Andre Farant rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Falling Angel was originally published in 1978. So why review it here and now? For one thing, it’s an excellent novel that blends noire-style mystery with Exorcist-level horror. Secondly, the book’s importance is criminally under-appreciated. For instance, a single edition of Falling Angels is available on amazon.ca, and delivery could take up to four months. On amazon.com, there are apparently no new copies available at all. Just think: know anyone who’s read it? Had you even heard of it?

Fact i...more Falling Angel was originally published in 1978. So why review it here and now? For one thing, it’s an excellent novel that blends noire-style mystery with Exorcist-level horror. Secondly, the book’s importance is criminally under-appreciated. For instance, a single edition of Falling Angels is available on amazon.ca, and delivery could take up to four months. On amazon.com, there are apparently no new copies available at all. Just think: know anyone who’s read it? Had you even heard of it?

Fact is you probably do know of it, or have at least heard of it. In 1987, Falling Angel was adapted to the big screen as Angel Heart. The film was directed by Alan Parker, starred Mickey Rourke, Robert DeNiro, and Lisa Bonet, and, like the book, was about a private detective named Harry Angel (Rourke) hired the mysterious Louis Cyphre (DeNiro) to find a man who may have been involved in voodoo and the Occult. As it is with too many great novels, more people have probably seen the movie than have read the book.

So what if you have seen Angel Heart (and if you haven’t—what are you waiting for)? After all, in addition to being beautifully shot and often disturbing (it is proof that not all horror films of the eighties were without artistic merit), Angel Heart is known for its shocking twists. If you know how the movie ends, is it still worth seeking out and reading the novel?

In a word: absolutely. The movie follows the novel’s first third almost scene for scene but, past that, the book and novel are quite different. The surprises are the same, but Hjortsberg’s tight prose and complex plotting go beyond a few twists and a shock ending. The book is worth reading because it is an excellent piece of horror lit. It ranks up there with Levine’s Rosemary’s Baby and Blatty’s Exorcist. It is fast-paced, hugely accessible and sure to satisfy fans of mysteries as well as horror.

Along with the titles mentioned above, Falling Angel is a must read for lovers—and especially writers—of horror literature.

Find and contact me through Facebook, Twitter, and andrefarant.com(less)

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Jul 17, 2012 Rebecca Martin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I came across this title by chance and thought I'd, well, give it a chance. It's not going to ever be on my list of favorites but it did keep my interest. It's a knowing combination (a parody? I'm not so sure) of hard-boiled action and dialogue with a supernatural interest and an Oedipal twist. The reader who enjoys watching how the hard-boiled bases are touched may enjoy this book. It's the 1978 novel on which the movie Angel Heart was based. If you got through Jonathan Lethem's gun, with occas...more

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Oct 11, 2011 Ben rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Ben by: Mitchell Layne

Shelves: mystery-thriller

This is a really enjoyable hard-boiled thriller with voodoo infusion. The book has a nice Kolchak the Night Stalker vibe, and Hjortsberg enjoys playing tour guide, and the reader enjoys playing the tourist, to New York City in the late 50's. Falling Angel avoids the typical let-down endings of most thrillers (and many other types of fiction) with an ending that is on-par with the rest of the novel.

This pleasantly reminded me of Raymond Chandler, not because of any masterly descriptions, though...more

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Mar 01, 2012 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I don't know why it took me so long to discover this book as I've loved the film version (Angel Heart) since the 80s. At any rate, I'm glad I did! This book has everything a horror/suspense fan could want: violence, murder, missing persons, voodoo, devil worship, and a hell of a twist at the end. Even knowing the ending from watching the movie didn't spoil the book for me.

Hjortsberg's main character, Harry Angel, is a likable, salt of the earth P.I. The author's knowledge of 1950s era New York...more

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Sep 25, 2011 Kevin O'Keeffe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-since-4-15-11, fiction

1987's "Angel Heart" is one of my all-time favorite movies, so I've been meaning to read this novel (which I saw mentioned in the credits the first time I saw it, when it first came out on VHS) since probably 1988, or '89 at the very latest. And now I have finally gotten around to doing so.

I must say, I significantly prefer the storyline from the novel. I like the way the entire story takes place in New York City (instead of a totally unnecessary jaunt to New Orleans, as per the cinematic adapta...more

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May 29, 2011 Scott Morgan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My favorite fiction book of all time.

For those who don't know, this novel is the source of the movie "Angel Heart." Which is crap. This book, however, is pure poetry. Hypnotic, outright sexy, seedier than the alley behind a porno theater, and, finally, scarier than hell.

Time and the pop-fiction penchant for twists inside of twists inside of twists might lessen the slithery reality behind William Hjortsberg's story arc, but do yourself a favor and let yourself get lost in the imagery and just enj...more

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Jan 16, 2011 Alberto rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-mystery

En 1978, William Hjortsberg escibió un clásico de la literatura de misterio en el más puro estilo hard boiled y, a la vez, de la literatura de terror. Se suele decir que está a mitad de camino entre Dashiell Hammett y Stephen King. El propio Stephen King, admirador de esta novela, asegura que es como si Raymond Chandler escribiera El Exorcista. A mí particularmente me trae recuerdos de La Semilla Del Diablo. Posiblemente tenga ingredientes de todos esas obras. Aparte de la tensión y el suspense...more En 1978, William Hjortsberg escibió un clásico de la literatura de misterio en el más puro estilo hard boiled y, a la vez, de la literatura de terror. Se suele decir que está a mitad de camino entre Dashiell Hammett y Stephen King. El propio Stephen King, admirador de esta novela, asegura que es como si Raymond Chandler escribiera El Exorcista. A mí particularmente me trae recuerdos de La Semilla Del Diablo. Posiblemente tenga ingredientes de todos esas obras. Aparte de la tensión y el suspense policíaco excepcionalmente narrado y la perfecta ambientación del New York de los 50, la novela toma un giro final absolutamente sorprendente. Dado lo original de la propuesta, no es posible explicar la trama sin desvelar el punch final. Teniendo esto en cuenta, solo se puede avanzar parte del argumento: un misterioso personaje, Louis Cyphre, contrata al detective Harry Angel para que dé con el paradero del músico Johnny Favorite, quien tras ingresar en un hospital al volver de la guerra, ha desaparecido sin dejar pistas. Harry Angel irá desvelando en sus pesquisas que Favorite estaba hasta el cuello metido en ritos vudú y sectas demoníacas. Poco poco Angel verá que el caso le queda demasiado grande.

Hjortsberg se crió en New York y retrata con una fidelidad increíble, para disfrute del lector, todo el universo popular de esta ciudad en los 50, tanto en el apartado musical (el hard bop, los representantes de artistas, los compositores del Brill Building), como en el bizarre (Coney Island en su etapa dorada de atracciones y exhibiciones de freaks, así como otros antros del vaudeville) la propia arquitectura de la ciudad, los garitos de moda...

El núcleo de la historia ya se encontraba en el relato “To Hell In A Handbasket” escrito por el autor en su adolescencia para un concurso escolar con el que ganó el tercer puesto. Años después trató de vender el argumento a varios estudios cinematográficos para hacer una película pero uno de los ejecutivos le dijo “no gastes el tiempo en hacer cine. Es demasiado bueno. Escribe una novela con ello”.

Pese a la gran aceptación del libro nada más editarse, una serie de malas gestiones hicieron que el libro no se convirtiera en un best seller desde el principio. Ya antes de que llegase a las librerías en Halloween del 78, Paramount se había reservado los derechos para la adaptación al cine del mismo, contratando al propio Hjotsberg para que escribiera el guión y a John Frankenheimer para su dirección. No en vano Hjortsberg había trabajado en Hollywood el año anterior escribiendo el guión de Infierno en Florida (Thunder & Lightnin’,1977); posteriormente, en 1985, haría lo propio para la popular película Legend.

En solo un mes se vendieron los 25.000 ejemplares de la primera edición de El Ángel Caído, cifra nada desdeñable para los parámetros de la época. Pero una huelga de periódicos impidió la aparición de reseñas en prensa. El editor no había previsto tantas ventas y tardó varios meses en volver a reponer el volumen en las tiendas. Ya habían pasado las Navidades con la posibilidad de arrasar en el mercado en esas fechas y el interés inicial por la obra ya se había desinflado. Un año más tarde caducó la opción de Paramount de rodar la adaptación. Robert Redford se interesó por el proyecto y compró los derechos, ya fuera para dirigir o protagonizar la película. Ésta no se rodó y el proyecto prmaneció aparcado cinco años más, hasta que Alan Parker escribió y dirigió la película El Corazón Del Ángel (Angel’s Heart) con Robert De Niro y Mickey O’Rourke en 1987. El guión incluye algunas textos literalmente tomados del libro y Parker se toma ciertas libertades como trasladar el clímax de la acción a New Orleans en lugar de a New York. Casi siempre salen perdiendo las adaptaciones cinematográficas en comparación con losl libros en el que están inspiradas. El fallo en este caso está en los tics propios del cine de Parker de filmar poderosos momentos clave de forma inconexa y luego hilarlos como buenamente puede. Vale, es el estilo de este director, pero se despega en ese sentido de la forma de contar las cosas de Hjortsberg, y sorprende, tras experimentar la consistencia del libro, que el espectador sea capaz de seguir la línea argumental del filme. Aún con todo ello, la película es bastante interesante por sí sola.

Esta novela no ha parado de ser reeditada internacionalmente desde que vio la luz por primera vez y ha habido varias ediciones de la mismas en castellano, la más reciente la de Editorial Valdemar en su colección Gótica. (less)

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Aug 06, 2010 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-mystery, horror

In 1959 New York, Harry Angel is hired by the mysterious Louis Cyphre to track down Johnny Favourite, a crooner who’s been holed up in a hospital since the war. When Angel discovers that the singer is missing, everyone he speaks to on the trail to find Favourite ends up dead. And all the time, the mysterious Cyphre seems to pop up everywhere, not least haunting Harry’s dreams. A hard-boiled private detective novel, employing (and enjoying) every staple of that genre, this takes things into far d...more

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Oct 05, 2011 Tony Gleeson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hjortsberg is a difficult author to find on the shelves. IMO he's well worth searching out.
After probably twenty years or so, I decided to pick this up and read it again. It stood the test of time quite well-- possibly since I have in the interim read a lot of other authors, his literary allusions might stand out better to my mind now. The tale begins as a first-person narrative by a private detective, told in the now-familiar manner of Chandler and Ross MacDonald. The action takes place over...more

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Sep 29, 2008 Nicolas rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: immortalité, fantastique, innocence, rayon-fantasy-et-sf

Dans ce roman de William Hjortsberg, on suit les pas de Harry (du moins je crois) Angel, un détective privé chargé d’enquêter sur les raisons de la disparition de Johnny Favorite, un ancien chanteur. Rien de sf à priori, et pourtant… ce roman, adapté à l’écran en un film grandiose avec Mickey Rourke et Robert de Niro, est une plongée tout à fait terrifiante dans les rites vaudous, et le satanisme.
On y suit, avec au début un certain détachement, peu à peu remplacé par une certaine apréhension, l...more

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Sep 11, 2008 Nancy Oakes rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm a huge fan of noir crime fiction, and someone recommended this book as one I'd like in that genre. And sure enough, it held up as a fine noir novel. There's the private detective, Harold Angel, working out of a crappy little office, dressed sloppily, with stains on his tie; places that people wouldn't go to after dark; a private hospital in the country, characters involved in the dark world of voodoo and black magic etc. etc. And Angel's been hired by someone to find a missing singer who's b...more

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Aug 06, 2012 Jared Sandman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

The plot is straightforward, the writing a stark hardboiled mystery. The twists are fairly telegraphed, so originality suffers here. What kept me reading was the writing itself. This book is bleak . . . and very funny. I love a good horror novel that makes me laugh out loud. Hjortsberg clearly likes to play with language, as evidenced by the countless one-liners sprinkled throughout. I'd give this book a three, but its wordplay alone elevates it to a four.

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Jul 27, 2011 Tarl rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

Harboiled detective with a hint of supernatural. I have to say, I really enjoyed this book, and was happy that the twist ending didn't hit me until about a page or so before its verification. All in all I really enjoyed this book and all aspects of it. It was easy to read, it had a good narrative voice, it wasn't overly descriptive. A good read, a nice mix of supernatural and hardboiled detective. A must read in my opinion.

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About William Hjortsberg

William Hjortsberg (b. 1941) is an acclaimed author of novels and screenplays. Born in New York City, he attended college at Dartmouth and spent a year at the Yale School of Drama before leaving to become a writer. For the next few years he lived in the Caribbean and Europe, writing two unpublished novels, the second of which earned him a creative writing fellowship at Stanford University.

When his...more

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