Angel

by Nicholas Guild

In ANGEL, Nicholas Guild, weaves together a tale of love and madness. A young lawyer, James Kinkaid, investigating the circumstances of his father’s sudden death, discovers the existence of a list of men, a number of whom have been the victims of grotesque murders. The trail leads back to his own home town which, until its last members died out, had been dominated by the Wyman family, for whom several generations of the Kinkaids had done legal work.All the men on that list had been born and raised in New Giliad, had been members of the football team and, at least by reputation, Kinkaid had known them all. And, in his first year at Yale, on a visit home, he had met and fell in love with an incandescently beautiful sixteen-year old girl who had been presented to him as a distant member of the Wyman family.But Kinkaid had not been allowed to love her. After a brief courtship she had been torn away from him. All the knew of the reasons was what old Mrs. Wyman had felt willing to tell him in their last anguished conversation.“Did you think me so little worthy of her, Mrs. Wyman?”“I know you will not believe me, young man,” she had told him, “but I have acted more for your sake than for hers.”It would be many years before he understood the meaning of that answer.PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, in a starred review, said, “Guild returns to the contemporary thriller with a vengeance, spinning an intricate, wonderfully paced tale in which nearly every scene proves vital to the resolution, which peaks only in the novel’s two final words . . . Memorable characterizations enhance this gripping yarn, which features two of the most frightening and ruthless killers in recent fiction.”THE NEW YORK TIMES said, “Because of the intricacies of the plot, which examines the history of this dangerous young woman from several angles, Mr. Guild manages to refine that perennial noir theme of the Bad Girl. The almost languid grace of his writing also sets the measured pace of the storytelling, while wrapping the narrative in an atmosphere thick with sensuality. As thrillers go, this one’s a luxury model.”OTHER BOOKS BY NICHOLAS ASSYRIANTHE BLOOD STARTHE BERLIN WARNINGBLOOD TIESTHE IRONSMITHTHE MACEDONIANTHE SPARTAN DAGGERTHE SUMMER SOLDIERTHE FAVORTHE PRESIDENT'S MAN

204 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 1995

About the author

Nicholas Guild was born in Belmont, California in 1944. He graduated from Occidental College with a B.A. in English in 1966 and from the University of California at Berkeley with an M.A. in Comparative Literature (1968) and a Ph.D. in English (1972). Since then he has divided his time between teaching and writing. He currently lives in Frederick, MD.

Reviews

[Sergio · Rating 4 out of 5]

In un crescendo di tensione, la lettura di questo libro non permette pause!