Fallen Angel

by Don J. Snyder

When I looked up again, Mr. Halworth's red cap was gone. I wondered if his daughter had watched him disappear, and I turned to look at her. It took a little time for me to see that she was staring at her shoes. They were shiny shoes, and she was holding them up off the floor. One had slipped off her heel and was balancing from her toes. We sat there long enough for me to begin to feel responsible for her. At last I moved close enough to reach down and slide the shoe back on her foot.
One night can change a life. For eight-year-old Terry McQuinn, it was a snowy Christmas Eve on the coast of Maine, when Terry glimpsed a world he'd never seen before -- a "summer people's" world unknown to the son of a caretaker. Serenity Cottage was a place of beauty and privilege owned by the luminous Halworths -- but in the blink of an eye, a tragic accident left the family in ruins.

Now thirty years later, Terry has spent his life putting distance between himself and his history. Determined not to follow in his father's footsteps, he became a high-flying Hollywood film agent -- but has somehow lost himself along the way.

Terry is finally called back to Maine by the death of his father -- but in the workshop Terry comes across a note in his father's hand that stops him cold: Open Serenity for Christmas. No one has been in the house since that fateful night three decades earlier. Although Terry's first instinct is to leave it all behind, he soon discovers that Katherine Halworth, the girl from thirty years before, is the new owner. With her arrival imminent, Terry's past comes rushing back.

In the hands of critically acclaimed author Don J. Snyder, Fallen Angel is a warm and unique Christmas tale, reminding us that it's never too late to forgive -- and never too late to love.

Genres: Fiction, Christmas, Contemporary, Romance

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Sandra Deaconu · Rating 5 out of 5]

,,Dar, dincolo de toate acestea, ce ar fi putut un orb să înțeleagă pe atunci? Că ceea ce ne întregește sunt temerile și dorințele noastre? Că timpul trece fără să-i pese de visele noastre? Dacă te-ai fi aflat acolo, ai fi putut oare vedea că ea și cu mine, fiecare în felul său, țineam în mână capetele rupte ale unei povești vechi și că, în zilele acelea reci de iarnă din Maine, ne apropiaserăm, scoși din străfundurile istoriei noastre întunecate, în fine liberi să legăm capetele rupte?''

,,Acestea fiind spuse, iată mărturisirea mea: căutând Soarta care să mă cuprindă, am petrecut o mulțime de timp așteptând ca viața mea să înceapă. Timp pe care nu-l voi mai primi niciodată înapoi.''

,,Când părinții îți sunt în viață, simți că mai ai o vreme de stat pe acest pământ. Când s-au dus, știi că umbrela imunității a dispărut de deasupra capului tău.''

[Paula Engle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely Christmas story - with a few twists. Highy recommend.

[Janet Miles · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a perfect easy read about Christmas and love, of course!

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. A perfect book to cozy up with

[Gabriela Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice holiday read 😊 a small romance with story, character development and great quotes about nature/lakes/snow. It doesn't have space to big dramas and spins in the story but it begins in a small accident - that could have happened to anyone - and shapes up other people's lives around that. In the end, the book caught up important things as loneliness, the difficulty in living in society when you have some kind of health problem (e.g. being blind) and the meaningless path that sometimes our life takes. I recommend it!

[Pat · Rating 1 out of 5]

I THOUGHT THIS BOOK WAS VERY CHEESY. IT FELT LIKE WATCHING A LIFETIME MOVIE..PREDICTABLE..

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story.

[nad · Rating 4 out of 5]

When your parents are alive you feel that you still have a long way to go on this earth. When they're gone, you know that the umbrella of immunity has been lifted from your head.

I felt like I was alone for the first time in my life. Truly alone, but not lonely.

. . . I don't know, I should forget him. But I can't.
When something terrible happens to someone you love, your friends tell you that in time you will get over it. To me that always seemed like the saddest thing. I mean, when someone you love is gone and you finally stop thinking of them. The idea that I might go through a whole day without thinking of Charles…

I have been afraid of that coldness, afraid that it inhabits me and that I would pass it on were I to get married and have a family. There was a girl I would have married. Her name was Nicole and we were together three years. In the end she left me because I could not stop thinking about myself. My fears, my desires. My work. My future. She made me see that the world would be better off if men as self-centred as I didn't have families. If they had the courage to live alone.

I've realised there's a great amount of loneliness in me. When you have this inside you, you don't let anyone get too close, because if you come to need them or to love them and they leave, then there will be too much loneliness in your heart. So you push people away. I've become good at that. I pushed everybody away until I found Olivia, the one person who wouldn't leave me. At least, that's what I've told myself from the day I brought her home.

He told me so many times that he didn't deserve to be loved. I should have told him that no one deserves to be loved. Love is a gift.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an Awesome Read

I read this book for the first time likely over 10 years ago....When I read it then, it filled me with the knowledge that redemption is for the asking and taking....As I reread this awesome book, I was again struck about how true this is....This is one of my favorite books....So well-written and Mr. Synder has such a way with words that I felt like Iwas n Maine with Terry, Katherine, and Olivia....Don’t miss this enjoyable and inspiring read....

[Janice Llewellyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book in 1 day. It captured my interest right from the beginning. I couldn't wait to see how it all worked out, even though I was pretty confident the outcome would be a happy one.
I didn't "love" this writer's style, but thought his descriptions of winter in Maine were spot-on.
I think I will remember this story for a long time.
Will definitely search for the Hallmark movie.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll give it 2 stars because I'm very familiar with the area in Maine where this book is set. Other than that, it wasn't good. Several major plot events took place "off stage." There were logical loose ends left hanging in the wind. I see that it has been made into a Hallmark Channel TV movie, which makes sense.

[SraPanadera · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of a mix between Charlie St. Cloud and Nicholas Sparks. Easy reading and entertaining enough but does hold up to any kind of scrutiny or further thinking. Not quite mindless brain candy but close.

[Anelore · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie and thought they must have left out some details from the plot, so I wanted read the book. Turns out I was right--there was a lot more back story in the book, but I think I liked the simplicity of the movie better.

[Laurie Stoll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fallen Angel is a beautiful story. It has been a long time since I have been so touched by a story.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[K9stylist · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was so lame and cheesy I can't believe I read all of it. But it was the only Christmas book I had, so...

[Arthur · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pleasant Christmas story--well, except for the tragedy.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was given to me about 8 years ago as a gift from a co-worker. I recently picked it up because my mother saw the movie and enjoyed it. Fallen Angel by Don Snyder was a novel that a reader can take a lot of small lessons away from while still enjoying the actual story. It was a story of Terry, an almost 40 year old man, who has spent much of his life, proving he was better than his father was, but in the end lost himself too. He comes back to Rose Point after notice of his fathers death and finds that he had jobs left incomplete. This job had special interest to Terry and in the course of following it through there is much he learns and others that surround him. I loved the narration of the story, the characters were developed and followed me off the page. It did kind of read like a Christmas movie, but overall it was well worth it.

[Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been enjoying the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie based on this book for many years. It is one of the movies I watch yearly while wrapping Christmas gifts. I finally read the book with my Pages and Popcorn book group. The novel has the story I love with some extra details and depth. The main characters are likable and Terry, especially, shows tremendous growth as the story progresses. I recommend it for anyone who enjoys a sweet story about redemption and finding what is important in life.

[Jean Herlihy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Romantic, quick holiday read. A bit far fetched, but had some touching moments and a happy ending. I found Terry to be somewhat shallow in spite of him thinking of himself as being introspective. The relationships between the 'Mainers' and the local hired help was the most realistic part of the tale. Nobody in their right mind would take a blind child out in a skiff in late December in Maine let alone take a sailboat out in winter!

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Since I couldn't remember what this one was about without looking at the jacket I gave it 2 stars. It just didn't resonate. The characters could've had more depth. I really liked the descriptions of the houses in Maine though. And the stories of what happened to some of the characters was interesting.

[Nett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book about a year after watching the movie, and the movie was great so I gave the book a chance. I've started it on and off, but finally read it this past Christmas, front to back, in 2 days. This book was phenomenal. A great Christmas story that really puts me in the Christmas spirit. Imagine my surprise when I realized a man wrote a true love story.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this remarkable little book and will certainly read more by Don J. Snyder. The story is about two children who's lives intersect on a snowy evening in Maine. What happens next changes everything for both of them and their separate stories are both poignant and hopeful. I would recommend this book to anyone who needs a story about love, hope and finding what is real.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of my Christmas books - I seem to be starting a collection of them which I only bring out at Christmas to be used as decoration as well as to be read by anyone who may want to borrow them and possibly be reread by me if time permits.
This was a nice little story that seemed familiar but I'm not sure why. Everything works out nicely just as a Christmas story should.

[Helen Beesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this book. It had a great story and some thought provoking ideas. I would have given it a 5, but I didn't like how the author changed some of the Maine towns around as it made it difficult at first for a true Mainer to follow. I also found the idea of anyone sailing/rowing in the ocean for a lark in the middle to winter to be a bit silly. However it's a great read.

[Kim W · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be honest, I read this book about 10 years ago. Just decided to rate it 5 stars. Why? After all this time, scenes from the book still intrude into my thoughts. Partly because I lived in the area where the story takes place. Having a concrete mental picture of the setting probably helps cement it. But overall, the cold, haunting, reluctant opening of hearts stays with me. After 10 years.

[Billy Beasley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story. I had watched the movie a few times over the years at Christmas time. This is the first book I have read by Don Snyder. It won't be the last. It reminds me somewhat of the writing of Richard Paul Evans. It is a good story, with memorable characters, and the story moves along without getting bogged in mindless details.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saw the movie on TV last year and loved it so much I thought the book must be amazing as well. Although I just began it a few minutes ago (:)), I am thoroughly enjoying it. I have to read at least 5 seasonal reads during my winter break. Taking a break from my historical/gothic fiction binge.

[Mich · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMGGG got this at goodwill without a cover... someone had written in it GOOD and 5 stars so that sold me..
i didnt read any reviews i just started to read and OMG.. finished it in one evening
yeah its a feel good sort of story
READ IT!