If Angels Fall

Tom Reed and Walt Sydowski #1

by Rick Mofina

NOTE: Before reviewing this book, please know that formatting issues and revisions concerning an outdated edition have been addressed. Pointing them out now no longer applies to the current edition.

Tom Reed is a crime reporter with The San Francisco Star, whose superb journalistic skills earned him a Pulitzer nomination. But years later Reed’s life is coming apart. His editor wants him fired. His wife has left him to wrestle with his demons. Alone, Reed is tormented by the fear he may have caused the suicide of an innocent man suspected of murdering a two-year-old girl.

Reed’s friend on the case is legendary San Francisco Homicide Inspector, Walt Sydowski, who has one of California’s highest clearance rates. He is also a lonely widower haunted by the fact he cannot solve the girl's heartbreaking death.

Both men grapple with the past while they race the clock to learn the truth behind a several new abductions that have anguished the Bay Area, in this acclaimed thriller set in the late 1990s.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Suspense, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook

477 pages, ebook

First published February 1, 2000

About the author

Rick Mofina is a former journalist who has interviewed murderers on death row in Montana and Texas, flown over L.A. with the LAPD and patrolled with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police near the Arctic. He's also reported from the Caribbean, Africa and Kuwait's border with Iraq. His true-crime freelance work has appeared in The New York Times, The Telegraph (London, U.K.), Reader’s Digest, Penthouse, Marie Claire and The South China Morning Post, (Hong Kong). He has written more than 20 crime fiction thrillers that have been published in nearly 30 countries.

His work has been praised by James Patterson, Dean Koontz, Michael Connelly, Lee Child, Tess Gerritsen, Jeffery Deaver, Louise Penny, Sandra Brown, James Rollins, Lisa Unger, Brad Thor, Nick Stone, David Morrell, Allison Brennan, Heather Graham, Linwood Barclay, Peter Robinson, Håkan Nesser and Kay Hooper.

The Crime Writers of Canada, The International Thriller Writers and The Private Eye Writers of America have listed his titles among the best in crime fiction. As a two-time winner of Canada's Arthur Ellis Award, a four-time Thriller Award finalist and a two-time Shamus Award finalist, the Library Journal calls him, “One of the best thriller writers in the business.”

Series:
* Tom Reed and Walt Sydowski
* Jason Wade
* Jack Gannon

Awards:
Arthur Ellis Award
◊ Best Novel (2003): Blood of Others

Reviews

[Louie the Mustache Matos · Rating 5 out of 5]

This must be one of the tensest, most jaw-dropping, anxiety-inducing, and nerve-wrecking thrillers I have ever read. The characters are genuine, realistic, humanly flawed people that engendered empathy in this reader. I highly recommend If Angels Fall by Rick Mofina. I'm amazed that it's his first novel and he is now a writer that I will seek out for more, more, more of his fiction. Tom Reed is a reporter whose personal demons have driven his wife away and has caused his boss to want to fire him. Walt Sydowski is Tom’s friend, and a detective who is haunted by his inability to solve a young girl’s murder. Both men wrestle with the past while a series of new child abductions have hit the San Francisco Bay area. They must work together in the hope of preventing more killings. The novel is bold and horrifying but riveting throughout all the way and including the final explosive pages. Awesome. Trigger warnings for children in danger, abused, and murdered. (Obviously, when you have a serial killer of children, you will get some of this stuff. Not a spoiler, but underscored for emphasis. The serial killer abducts children!) I loved this novel and Mofina is amazing.

[Dianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A crime reporter, once at the top of game makes a last ditch effort getting the scoop of his life in hope of putting its shattered remains back together. A past mistake will come roaring back to haunt him as history repeats itself and a monster is abducting small children. Tom Reed is a man on the edge, and this just might be the story that pushes him over. Will he soar once again with the eagles or plummet to the earth in disgrace, once again?

San Francisco Homicide Inspector Walt Sydowski is one of the top cops in California. A widower, alone with only his job to give him validation, still reels with the knowledge that one toddler’s murder was never avenged and now the monster is back and children go missing.

As Tom works his angles, Walt does his job, but are they both coming to the same conclusion or have they both become blind to the clues that lay right in front of them?

Just enough edgy chop to ramp up the tension to nerve scorching levels, Rick Mofina cleverly drops a particular sound throughout that was perfectly ominous!

IF ANGELS FALL by Rick Mofina is a parents’ gritty nightmare as small children go missing and finding the monster takes a turn no one could see coming!

I was hooked to this dark tale of suspense, my heart in my throat as young children disappeared! These characters are so very human, so flawed and the feelings of desperation are palpable as two men race against time for different reasons only to discover they were both on the same road.

Series: Tom Reed & Walt Sydowski - Book 1
Publisher: Carrick Publishing; 2 edition (April 15, 2013)
Publication Date: April 15, 2013
Genre: Suspense | Crime Thriller
Print Length: 477 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
For Reviews, Giveaways, Fabulous Book News, follow: http://tometender.blogspot.com

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this author He keeps his language clean and does not indulge in writing about sexual escapades. Other authors, take a lesson from Mr. Mofina. When choosing a thriller to read, I am always wary of what may come out of the characters' bedrooms or their mouths. Thank you, dear author, for kindnesses in these regards. The author's writing mechanics were excellent. I knew who the perpetrators were, but I was never convinced that there would be a good ending for Keller's hostages. The read twisted my stomach into knots more than once.

At his wife's insistence, Keller took his three children boating to log in some quality time with them. A storm and a whale caused a mishap that killed the children. Keller was the sole survivor. Tom Reed, a newspaperman, got on the story and on the effort to find the children. His efforts to find the children nearly him his job and his family.

My favorite character was three year old Danny, the first kidnapping victim. Did he have any skills to get away from Keller? I was actually glad when the six year old girl was kidnapped and housed with Danny believing that she had better survival skills than a three year old. I could not help but wonder if my own children at those ages could have saved themselves from Keller. I have thinly outlined the plot because I do not want to ruin the book for other readers.

Thank you, Mr. Mofina, for a Good Read.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book from start to finish the characters were believable & shows how easy it is for children to be taken. Mr Rick Mofina should be congratulated for bringing such a good thriller to life a 5 + from me.

[Tracy P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first Rick Mofina novel and it did not disappoint. Excellent mystery/thriller, filled lots of action and mental intensity. Looking forward to book #2 of the Reed Sydowski series.

[ElaineY · Rating 2 out of 5]

REVIEW OF AUDIOBOOK, APRIL 30, 2016
Narrator: Christian Rummel

Only two good things I can say about this audiobook - 1) excellent narration by Rummel (his female voices were so good I had to doublecheck there wasn't a female narrator as well. Especially noteworthy when Rummel has a rich and deep voice; 2) it cost me only $1.99.

Apart from that, this debut "thriller" was tedious to listen to, unnecessarily lengthened by repetitious scenes and dialogue of grief-sticken parents demanding and crying the same things. Several times I paused to wonder why there was hardly any interaction between Reed and Sydowski if the series were named after them. I was expecting them to have some sort of bond or be closely involved in the investigation and search for the abducted kids. Instead, Sydowski was like an incidental secondary character.

The whole police procedural felt inept and implausible, especially with the FBI involved. I wouldn't have known the FBI was there if the author hadn't mentioned it. The phone call made by one of the abducted kids was lengthy enough for the police and FBI to order a trace yet Sydowski merely hands the phone to Reed and passes scribbled notes to him. WTF???

I doubt I will follow the series.

[Wiseask · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had accepted an offer from Amazon to download six of Rick Mofina's books for free. His books are very favorably reviewed by readers and I looked forward to joining their ranks. I began with his debut novel, If Angels Fall.

Perhaps I was expecting too much but I was sorely disappointed. If Angels Fall is the story of a parent's worst nightmare: the kidnapping of children. Despite a marginally satisfying surprise three-quarters of the way through, there's no mystery to his story because Mr. Mofina tells us from the beginning who's doing it and why. Then there was another child who had been kidnapped and murdered the year before, but Mr. Mofina tells us who committed that crime too. A newspaper reporter and police detective who had clashed over that case from a year before work together, more or less, to find the kidnapped children.

So for hundreds of tedious pages we follow the cop and the reporter in their investigations to discover what we readers already know. But a thriller should be thrilling, never tedious.

Judging him on just this one book, Mr. Mofina is a decent writer but not anywhere near outstanding. The ending of his book was entirely predictable. His editing is far from perfect. He does not distinguish paragraphs within a chapter when a scene changes. There are numerous typographical errors, where even one is too many. The absence of page numbers is annoying.

If I do read the rest of his novels in my collection they might change my opinion of Mr. Mofina, but I cannot find any particular reason to recommend this book or to rate it higher than 2.5 stars.

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a fan of police procedurals and to be honest this book didn't particularly change my mind about that, but for what it was it was a solid read. My standard preference for a mystery thriller is a surprise of a plot, surprise of a murderer/kidnapper/etc., the fun is in the figuring out who did it, plot twists and so on. In this one you know exactly who did what and why. Mofina's strength is in his intense excellently paced narrative, the readers get to follow along the legal and otherwise procedures (so inept and frustrating at times, that they seem utterly realistic) to uncover and bring to justice the criminals in question. So it's more of a thrill of pursuit over then thrill of discovery. It's entertaining though, Mofina's writing is consistently good, he even takes the time to develop characters, including minor players, which is always welcome, although it does add to the book's bulkiness. Nevertheless it's a fast read. Possibly the best thing about the book is that Mofina actually was a crime reporter like his protagonist, Tom, so it adds a nice degree of realism and presents a reader with a fascinating world behind the scenes. The book is slightly dated and not just because newspaper reporting is going by the way of Atlantis, but not terribly so, remains very readable and pretty good fun. For genre fans this would be lovely.

[Greg Tymn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the better police procedurals I've read in awhile. A real page-turner. The novel was suspenseful enough to keep me up into the wee hours of the morning until I finished it.

The plot was finely crafted. The prose and dialogue excellent. And while the characters might be a bit stereotypical, it may be because many people fall into broader stereotypes quite easily. I think Mr. Mofina's penchant for action overcame any shortcomings in this area. If there was any defect, it might be the focus on the characters with little time spent on San Francisco itself. Sure, there was some descriptive prose, but I'm more attuned to Lescroart's Dismas Hardy and his passion for the sights and sounds of the city.

Other commenters were appalled by the use of the "F" word in the novel. WTF? This is 2015. If that still bothers people, I wonder what kind of lighting they use under their rocks to read these novels.

Minor gun problem noted: The gun on the 110 ft CG Cutter was noted in the Kindle version as 3mm. No such animal. It's a Mark110 (57mm)....but I'm not sure what it was at the time this novel was written.

In any event, I look forward to reading more of Mr. Mofina's works.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read, real tearjerker though, keep you on the edge of your seat!

[Alicia Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book. Loved the characters and the storyline. Kept me engaged throughout. There were a few things that kept it from being a 5 star. For one, all the head hopping, jumping from one character's POV to another on the same scene. Also, there are SO many characters who have their own POV scenes. Didn't all seem necessary and I felt like it would have been better to connect with fewer characters. A few other minor issues, but those would be spoilers. Overall, I enjoyed it a great deal and will definitely read more books in the series.

[Kary Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

So-so

Good plot, terrible segues made for difficult read of what could have been a really good story. Transitions were many times confusing, forcing a re-read to figure out what's supposedly happening concurrently or somewhere else. Use extra spacing, asterisks in between paragraphs to indicate changes in time, place, characters. Very difficult to follow....

[Scott Bowlsby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh man, I had this really bad police-procedural itch and this totally scratched it. In fact, this was one of the best books I've read so far this year. It's a pretty basic premiss: guy gets away with murdering a kid, trail goes cold, police move on, then kids start disappearing again and the police have to do seriously fast damage control. BUT Mofina makes the story so much more interesting by introducing a whole bunch of different view points (shifts every chapter and new characters are still being introduced late in the book - but, it doesn't get confusing) and his characters are really believable and well developed. Even the minor characters are fleshed out and not just introduced in the story to move the plot and then dumped. Reed and Sydowski are both relatable and their back stories are interesting enough that they don't detract from the action when Mofina dips into them. The most believable and, quite frankly, hard to read, part of the book was Mofina's descriptions of grief. Reed's grief over his failing marriage and the reporter he caused to commit suicide, the killer's grief over his drowned children, and the parents' grief over the abductions of the children. I'm sure Mofina looked into how people tend to react to these kind of sudden crimes that leave families not knowing if their children are still alive. Mofina's writing is also a breath of fresh air; the thriller genre could use more of this.

[J. Kinney · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Good: A solid story with a lot of great detail (even if child abductions aren't a particularly enjoyable storyline to read). I enjoyed the characters and I especially appreciated the detail that went into the forensic aspects, really nailing down a lot of the techniques and procedures used.

The Bad: Not much in the way of suspense. You know who the bad guy is very early and there really aren't any twists in the story.

The editing issue others bring up is still a problem (I just downloaded this a couple days ago, so it's current). Misplaced quotation marks, the occasional wrong pronoun, etc. It doesn't really take away from the story a lot, but it could stand to have a professional editor/proofreader (or simply someone with a better eye for detail) read through it.

I normally enjoy reading multiple POV stories and I tend to write with multiple POVs myself, but I have a hard time when it becomes head-hopping within a single scene, multiple times. And this does that in spades. The story might have 3-4 characters become the main POV within a single scene without any clear indications or scene breaks to tell you it was switching. It becomes hard to follow at times. And it gets harder because there's a LOT of characters.

If those things don't bother you, give it a shot! If they bug you, then I'd pass.

[Avid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suspenseful!

Hold on for one heck of a ride! This is one book that is difficult to put down. With 2 men struggling in their job positions and trying to balance life's complex issues as well, a past child's unsolved murder case becomes entangled with a current kidnapping case leading both men straight back down the same destructive path they tried to get away from before. Only this time, as things heat up and more clues surface, neither man can let it go. So begins the journey and one unbelievable book I recommend. 👍

📚

[Sheila Beaumont · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rick Mofina is a terrific writer and storyteller! This nearly unputdownable police-procedural thriller, involving a serial kidnapper with religious mania, is a beautifully crafted, intricately plotted tale with characters the reader can really care about. This is the second novel by Mofina I've read, and I'm glad I have nine more to look forward to!

[SarahRobins_reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now I’d say this was around 4 stars. Some parts of the book were maybe too obvious but as far as a crime detective books goes it a good one. I really like the fact that the main role was that if a reporter and the actual crime was slightly different to normal. When children are involved it puts you more on edge. Well written and certainly keeps tour gripped till the end!

[Celeste Behsmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Hold on to your seat...

This book grabbed me from the start and wouldn't let go! What a page turner. I had to keep reminding myself it's just a book.

Great read!

[Diane Duchene · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. Now I can go back to reading Cold Fear which is #2 in the Tom Reed series.

[Anastasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Angels Fall by Rick Mofina is the first book in the Tom Reed and Walt Sydowski Mystery series. Crime reporter Tom Reed investigates several child abductions which may be linked to a previous child murder on which he reported and where the alleged offender killed himself. His friend homicide inspector Walt Sydowski is also on the case. A rather comples mystery with different parallel investigations. There is a lot going on in this book with a bit of repetition initially and it took me a little time to get into it but it seemed to pick up midway. It is good to see two excellent investigators at work. A superb thriller.

[Vfields Don't touch my happy! · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
This is the start of a series.
This book is more than 20 years old and lately I haven’t felt mysteries age as well as general fiction.
I am intrigued by the two protagonists, the detective and the news man.
I found the ‘bad guy’ if you will really irritating and extremely yucky and felt absolutely no compassion toward him.
I haven’t gotten the vibe down as to how this author treats his female characters.
I was on pins ‘n needles how it would all end.
Overall, I was satisfied with the conclusion.
If another book in this series fell in my lap I would read it.

[Pat Raab · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrilling, chilling. Behind the scenes with the police as well as the press, and a look inside the head of a psychopath. Plenty of action, lots of emotion. One of the best books of its kind that I've read.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending was pretty exciting. The book was enjoyable but not the best I’ve ever read. Not sure I can even put my finger on why I didn’t totally love it. But it was definitely worth my time so you should decide for yourself....

[~Mindy Lynn~]

AMAZON KINDLE FREEBIE 6/22/17

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow., what a fantastic read, it is

After midnight and I just finished this marvelous book. I simply could not put it down. I needed more, more , more!

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Long it felt to go on forever with multiple stories that merged into one. First there is a kidnapped girl you have the police looking for her kidnapper and the reporters looking for the story. This girl ends up dead and found so the story becomes where's the murderer. Tom Reed is the reporter the story mainly talks about. He is the one that on a hunch goes to a sex offenders house and tries to question him on his connection to murdered girl. Apparently he got to this person before the police did, and while his report didnt get much the "guilt" the person had led him to kill himself again before the police even questioned him on this case. This lead to frustration in not solving this case, led to Tom burning alot of bridges within his sources, his career also took a huge hit in the negative direction which added to his marriage falling apart.

Cut to a year anniversary a new child is abducted within minutes the whole city seems to be on the look out for Danny. With this latest abduction regret from the unsolved murder of Tanita Donner way heavy on Tom and the lead detective Walt Sydowski. The police force wants to right a wrong and find this child alive to bring hope back into the city. As leads turn cold another child is taken, dectectives wonder if its the same person who took Tanita. Tom gets put onto this case since he had background in previous kidnapping cases (Tanita's) and is told not to go on his gut but follow the story.

This story bounces scenes from Tanita's case to the current ones trying to merge them into one case and not have a copy cat. While the one suspect in Tanita's case committed suicide they know he wasnt the only one and suspect a ring of child pedophilia and revisit everyone in the sex registry.

A research group of different grieving parents (Tanita's mom is in this group) like an AA meeting is tossed into this book where we are give more characters and their loss backstories. Then religion gets added to the book in a cult like form and you have the story.

Two separate child abductions a year apart: one a single child found murdered a few days later. And the rebirth 3 children abducted for their awakening.

[Pam Resner · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book!

Not one of his better books but still an amazing read all the same. I would highly recommend any of Rick Mofina's books. The characters are very realistic and engaging with many plot twists to keep you guessing. A must-read for people who love to solve puzzles.

[E.A. Briginshaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting story but I felt there were a few things lacking. First, I didn't think the so-called main characters of Reed and Sydowski were developed very well. I found myself disliking Tom Reed because he did so many stupid things throughout the novel. I also felt there were too many characters in the book which created confusion. There is also a lot of head-hopping which added even more confusion.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tough as nails veteran homicide cop Wladslaw "Walt" Sydowski is haunted by the brutal death, and dismemberment of tiny 2 year old Tanita Marie Donner. Found in a trash bag near Golden Gate Park, it haunts Walt more than a year later. San Fran Star crime reporter Tom Reed is also haunted by the same crime. Reed had outed the main suspect in the paper causing a suicide by Sunday School Teacher Franklin Wallace. All sides had agreed Wallace had "probably" done the crime. The city had a hard time healing after that crime. But it's a year later and little Danny Becker has gone missing from a BART train platform. Witnesses claim they saw Danny being carried away by a large man. Walt and the SFPD go into overdrive in the search for Danny. Making matters worse little 6 year old Gabrielle Nunn also disappears. The city is really busting at the seams with the pressure. The police are looking for a man with long tattoos down his arms. Tom Reed's marriage has fallen apart. Between the booze and chasing leads, his wife takes their son Zach and leaves. Reed really falls apart. He attends a group session of parents who lost kids to crime or kidnapping. Dr. Kate Martin wants no part of Reed in her group. The paper makes Reed go back to write a story. This time he meets an odd duck named Ed Keller. Keller's 3 kids drowned some 20 years before and has really fallen off the deep end. The police are stuck, Reed hasn't a clue to which way to turn his own life. The story line has been intense to the max, when Reed's son Zach becomes kidnapping victim number 3. Was just a fantastic story to be involved within the pages. the outstanding characters were built into life like people we had to root for. Even the bad guys are people we know we've seen ourselves in real life. Great dialog moves this at max high octane speed. The conclusion was just put together like a master puzzle built right from page one. I really enjoyed this book. Highly recommend anyone who wants to read a really good mystery/ thriller. 5 stars out of 5 for "If Angel Fall". Don't miss this one to be sure !

[Audrey Driscoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a huge cast of characters. Most of them appear briefly, but are given names, physical descriptions, and personalities. The point of view bounces among the handful of main characters, including the villains and victims. The reader therefore knows who did what; the thrill is based on whether the police will be able to apprehend the criminal in time.
I liked the two detectives, Sydowski and Turgeon, especially Sydowski, with his heartburn and his canary breeding hobby. Tom Reed, the disgraced journalist is by turns sympathetic and pathetic. The female characters are almost entirely responsible and devoted to their children, and often disappointed by the men in their lives. This aspect of the book bordered on stereotyping.
I enjoyed the police procedural aspect of the story. Mofina renders the investigations in great detail, including a lot of stuff that doesn't work out, and the consequent psychological effects.
Altogether, this was an absorbing read. The final chapters are indeed thrilling.
One thing that bothered me was the lack of anything to indicate shifts between points of view and scenes within chapters. A few asterisks or even just a blank line would have been helpful.