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Angel Baby
Winner of the International Association of Crime Writers' Dashiell Hammett A woman goes on the run in this intense and cinematic thriller by an award-winning writer.
To escape the awful life she has descended into, Luz plans carefully. She takes only the clothes on her back, a Colt .45, and all the money in her husband's safe. The corpses in the hallway weren't part of her plan. Luz needs to find the daughter she left behind years earlier, but she knows she may die trying. Her husband is El Principe , a key player in a high-powered drug cartel, a business he runs with the same violence he has used to keep Luz his perfect, obedient wife. With the pace and relentless force of a Scorsese film, ANGEL BABY is the newest masterpiece from one of the most ambitious and talented crime novelists at work today.
To escape the awful life she has descended into, Luz plans carefully. She takes only the clothes on her back, a Colt .45, and all the money in her husband's safe. The corpses in the hallway weren't part of her plan. Luz needs to find the daughter she left behind years earlier, but she knows she may die trying. Her husband is El Principe , a key player in a high-powered drug cartel, a business he runs with the same violence he has used to keep Luz his perfect, obedient wife. With the pace and relentless force of a Scorsese film, ANGEL BABY is the newest masterpiece from one of the most ambitious and talented crime novelists at work today.
337 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
107 people are currently reading
1605 people want to read
About the author
Richard Lange
12 books329 followersAuthor of Joe Hustle, Rovers, The Smack, Sweet Nothing, Angel Baby, This Wicked World, and Dead Boys.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 177 reviews
September 5, 2017
Angel Baby is a masterpiece of gritty crime fiction, professionally plotted from cover to cover, with richly drawn characters. Like Winslow's The Cartel, Lange here vividly portrays the horrors of the Narco cartels who have viciously carved out a bloody path through much of Mexico, turning what used to be a lazy beer-soaked desert into a scene of corruption, terror, and horror where people desperate for survival will do just about anything. Those horrors all too frequently poor over the Northern border.
The story is primarily about a cartel boss' wife finally doing what she's got to do to escape his control and the killer he sends to bring her back. It's a woman on the run story across the Mexican desert and across the border into California where a violent, nasty chase goes. Everyone involved is motivated by desperation, and by their twisted unhappy pasts that won't leave them be.
Most of all, it is high quality writing that bends the tension back from page one and never ever lets up until the very last page. An absolutely terrific piece of writing.
The story is primarily about a cartel boss' wife finally doing what she's got to do to escape his control and the killer he sends to bring her back. It's a woman on the run story across the Mexican desert and across the border into California where a violent, nasty chase goes. Everyone involved is motivated by desperation, and by their twisted unhappy pasts that won't leave them be.
Most of all, it is high quality writing that bends the tension back from page one and never ever lets up until the very last page. An absolutely terrific piece of writing.
February 1, 2015
I was initially drawn to this book because of the cover -- woman with gun, noirish Western, right in my wheelhouse. I finished reading it tonight being pleasantly surprised by how good it was. I carried this book to the kitchen, to the bathroom, in my purse to a dinner date with friends in the vain hope that I could cram 15 minutes of reading in if I was the first person to arrive at the restaurant. (I was not.)
The whole book is a pursuit. Nearly every character is out for him or herself, which creates mortal problems for other characters and claustrophobic "how's she gonna solve THIS one" situations. Richard Lange navigates his characters through these turns with a smooth plausibility and obvious heart for his heroine and succession of antiheroes. If you've ever wanted to read something like No Country for Old Men but stripped of McCarthyisms, or Tarantino stripped of a couple thousand "fucks" and random monologues, might I suggest Angel Baby?
The whole book is a pursuit. Nearly every character is out for him or herself, which creates mortal problems for other characters and claustrophobic "how's she gonna solve THIS one" situations. Richard Lange navigates his characters through these turns with a smooth plausibility and obvious heart for his heroine and succession of antiheroes. If you've ever wanted to read something like No Country for Old Men but stripped of McCarthyisms, or Tarantino stripped of a couple thousand "fucks" and random monologues, might I suggest Angel Baby?
January 24, 2025
Let me just say WOW! This book was phenomenal. I won it in a First Reads giveaway, but I gladly would have paid for it based on the description alone.
Angel Baby is based around a woman named Luz who married a Tijuana drug cartel key player but runs away to try to get back to her daughter in the US. For varying selfish reasons, many men stand in her way between her frantic run for a life with her daughter.
This book reads like a movie. I was drawn into the story, therefore, every emotion. Every scene. I could envision all of it happening before my eyes. The mother in me wanted to hate Luz for her selfish reason for abandoning her daughter and then to want to rip her from her life so she could have her back years later, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I found myself rooting for her the whole way, wanting her to make it. It was a gripping journey.
Richard Lange (The brilliant author of this book, whom I just realized I hadn't given credit to yet) did a fantastic job in capturing so many aspects of cartel life and Tijuana without overdoing it. He was able to transport me right there with each of the characters. There was a definite lead-up throughout the book to keep it interesting. I could guess what would happen next, and he was great at throwing an unexpected curveball just when I was playing into a predictable path.
The descriptions of locations are enough for me to envision but not exaggerated to the point that I found myself skipping through text to get back to the good stuff. The actions were wonderfully dispersed throughout the book. Lange never left a dull moment but still allowed for enough lead-up to having the book keep its hooks in you until the end. I honestly found myself staying up later, with my eyes barely open to grasp another chapter. I am ecstatic that I was introduced to Lange's writing, and I am looking forward to checking out his other novels! I highly recommend it.
In a search for a cover photo, I came across a hopefully genuine article stating that Warner Brothers have already acquired writers for the book to make it into a movie! It was written so well that I felt it was already a movie, so I hope it can be done as beautifully on screen!
An easy 5/5 at the very least, if not more.
Angel Baby is based around a woman named Luz who married a Tijuana drug cartel key player but runs away to try to get back to her daughter in the US. For varying selfish reasons, many men stand in her way between her frantic run for a life with her daughter.
This book reads like a movie. I was drawn into the story, therefore, every emotion. Every scene. I could envision all of it happening before my eyes. The mother in me wanted to hate Luz for her selfish reason for abandoning her daughter and then to want to rip her from her life so she could have her back years later, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I found myself rooting for her the whole way, wanting her to make it. It was a gripping journey.
Richard Lange (The brilliant author of this book, whom I just realized I hadn't given credit to yet) did a fantastic job in capturing so many aspects of cartel life and Tijuana without overdoing it. He was able to transport me right there with each of the characters. There was a definite lead-up throughout the book to keep it interesting. I could guess what would happen next, and he was great at throwing an unexpected curveball just when I was playing into a predictable path.
The descriptions of locations are enough for me to envision but not exaggerated to the point that I found myself skipping through text to get back to the good stuff. The actions were wonderfully dispersed throughout the book. Lange never left a dull moment but still allowed for enough lead-up to having the book keep its hooks in you until the end. I honestly found myself staying up later, with my eyes barely open to grasp another chapter. I am ecstatic that I was introduced to Lange's writing, and I am looking forward to checking out his other novels! I highly recommend it.
In a search for a cover photo, I came across a hopefully genuine article stating that Warner Brothers have already acquired writers for the book to make it into a movie! It was written so well that I felt it was already a movie, so I hope it can be done as beautifully on screen!
An easy 5/5 at the very least, if not more.
July 23, 2025
Excellent crime fiction. Lange moves into the Winslow, Pelecanos, Boyle must read writers for me.
May 15, 2013
The setting Tijuana, in this story its a place were people minded their own business if they valued their life.
There is one character Malone a driver of sorts that would get you across the border in the boot of his motor vehicle for a good price and he is about to handle goods that needs more than anyone else to be reunited with her estranged young daughter, she is on the run from some trouble aka Angel baby.
Malone turns out to be a likeable character even though he is a bit of a shady one, you sometimes may spot him in knee-length Bermuda shorts, a tourist t-shirt from Cabo San Lucas, and flip-flops, a typical Gabacho all in the cause of blending in.
Jeronimo, a bad ass mexican is on his tail and needs to get her back. He has a shaved head, mahogany skin, tattoos covering both arms and boiling up out of the neck of his T-shirt.
So the scene is set and the events unfold in great pace the whole story has you hooked in anticipation and resolve, cleverly developed characters, spot on dialogue and action, this author has done a top notch job in telling this story a pulsating thriller that brings me back to tales like Savages by Don Winslow, Savage Season by Joe Lansdale, Point and Shoot by Duane, Donnybrook by Frank Bill and Carrion Birds by Urban Waite.
"A powerful man has enemies, a successful man breaks hearts, and the loser will always try to destroy the winners and drag them back down into the mud."
"She knew all his fears, all his weaknesses, and how to use them against him. And that's why we married her, he sees it now, the real reason: to keep his greatest enemy close."
There is one character Malone a driver of sorts that would get you across the border in the boot of his motor vehicle for a good price and he is about to handle goods that needs more than anyone else to be reunited with her estranged young daughter, she is on the run from some trouble aka Angel baby.
Malone turns out to be a likeable character even though he is a bit of a shady one, you sometimes may spot him in knee-length Bermuda shorts, a tourist t-shirt from Cabo San Lucas, and flip-flops, a typical Gabacho all in the cause of blending in.
Jeronimo, a bad ass mexican is on his tail and needs to get her back. He has a shaved head, mahogany skin, tattoos covering both arms and boiling up out of the neck of his T-shirt.
So the scene is set and the events unfold in great pace the whole story has you hooked in anticipation and resolve, cleverly developed characters, spot on dialogue and action, this author has done a top notch job in telling this story a pulsating thriller that brings me back to tales like Savages by Don Winslow, Savage Season by Joe Lansdale, Point and Shoot by Duane, Donnybrook by Frank Bill and Carrion Birds by Urban Waite.
"A powerful man has enemies, a successful man breaks hearts, and the loser will always try to destroy the winners and drag them back down into the mud."
"She knew all his fears, all his weaknesses, and how to use them against him. And that's why we married her, he sees it now, the real reason: to keep his greatest enemy close."
March 25, 2024
"The smiles these men have, Luz thinks. Never a bit of truth in them."
Well h*ll! This is one fast paced, train wreck of a story that you just can't stop reading. Very interesting characters, Luz the narco's runaway wife, Jeronimo/Apache, the man sprung from prison to hunt Luz down, the crooked border patrol officer with a gambling addiction, and the drunkard, loser, white dude caught in the middle of the mess. All damaged and morally ambiguous but very painfully human, and you just can't help but have sympathy for them in spite of their shortcomings. I really enjoyed my first book by Richard Lange and it won't be my last.
Well h*ll! This is one fast paced, train wreck of a story that you just can't stop reading. Very interesting characters, Luz the narco's runaway wife, Jeronimo/Apache, the man sprung from prison to hunt Luz down, the crooked border patrol officer with a gambling addiction, and the drunkard, loser, white dude caught in the middle of the mess. All damaged and morally ambiguous but very painfully human, and you just can't help but have sympathy for them in spite of their shortcomings. I really enjoyed my first book by Richard Lange and it won't be my last.
July 3, 2013
Angel Baby is a Mulhollard/Little Brown and Company publication. This book was released in May 2013.
First of all I would like to thank the publisher and Library Thing for this TSPB edition from the early review program.
Luz is living a nightmare with her abusive husband. She needs to leave him and get back to her young daughter, Isabel. She must cross the border into the United States and find her aunt that has been keeping Isobel for her. But, first she has to get away from her husband. Luz will do anything to get free and will have to. Once she gets away, she needs help. She is introduced to a man that sets her up with Malone, a man that makes his living smuggling people into the US. While Luz is not happy with the set up it's the best option she has.
Meanwhile, Luz's husband discovers she is gone and sets up a plan to get her back. This plan involves a man named Jeronimo. Jeronimo is just trying to do his time and get back to his family. When El Principe springs him, he makes the man an offer he can't refuse- bring back his wife or else he will kill Jeronimo's wife and kids.
Throw in a crooked border patrol agent that gets wind of Luz trying to cross the border carrying a large sum of money .
Now the chase is on. Will Luz find her daughter and get a chance at a fresh start? Or will her violent husband succeed in tracking her down?
This was a very imaginative story line. The deeper message was all about what people will do for the people they love. Will good triumph over evil? Overall a satisfying read. Part thriller, part crime drama. Overall I would give this one a B-.
First of all I would like to thank the publisher and Library Thing for this TSPB edition from the early review program.
Luz is living a nightmare with her abusive husband. She needs to leave him and get back to her young daughter, Isabel. She must cross the border into the United States and find her aunt that has been keeping Isobel for her. But, first she has to get away from her husband. Luz will do anything to get free and will have to. Once she gets away, she needs help. She is introduced to a man that sets her up with Malone, a man that makes his living smuggling people into the US. While Luz is not happy with the set up it's the best option she has.
Meanwhile, Luz's husband discovers she is gone and sets up a plan to get her back. This plan involves a man named Jeronimo. Jeronimo is just trying to do his time and get back to his family. When El Principe springs him, he makes the man an offer he can't refuse- bring back his wife or else he will kill Jeronimo's wife and kids.
Throw in a crooked border patrol agent that gets wind of Luz trying to cross the border carrying a large sum of money .
Now the chase is on. Will Luz find her daughter and get a chance at a fresh start? Or will her violent husband succeed in tracking her down?
This was a very imaginative story line. The deeper message was all about what people will do for the people they love. Will good triumph over evil? Overall a satisfying read. Part thriller, part crime drama. Overall I would give this one a B-.
July 25, 2013
Noir and crime novels used to mean something. It used to mean damaged people with their souls and lives in tatters trying desperately for one last desperate bid for redemption. A landscape devoid of heroes filled with dive bars, luxury as a malevolent trap, gutters filled with blood, a world of desperate self-involved people hoping for love, a bit of the pie, and or safety in a world rule by greed and violence. Somehow crime novels have become boring collections of sexy lab staff, quirky detectives, super clever serial killers, police procedurals and other boring clichés. Richard Lange’s Angel Baby hearkens back to that older tradition, doomed despairing people fighting with no hope for life to mean more than the trap they have made it. Everyone is dangerous and there are no heroes, but the characters bring you along, and you try to be optimistic that anything good can come out of the proceedings. A little simpler of a story in the end than one would hope for, but when its blood drenched noir you are in the mood for, complexity isn't always called for.
June 4, 2013
You may also read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2013/06/...
Luz is married to Rolando. Rolando is a narco who has kept Luz drugged and under his thumb for 3 years. It doesn’t end with the drugs either. There’s humiliation and beatings too, punctuated with rare moments of tenderness. Rolando is about to have a big problem on his hands, though. Luz has had enough and has spent quite some time getting clean. She’s also developed a game plan for escaping Rolando, and she only has eyes for one thing once she gets away: the daughter she left behind. Luz is determined to escape the life she hates and make a life with the daughter she longs for, but Rolando is a scary, scary guy, and his reach is legion.
After a shocking act of violence, Luz does indeed escape Rolando, and she seeks out a way across the border into the US. Help comes in the unlikely form of Kevin Malone, a man trying desperately to escape the tragedy of his own past, cocooning himself in a haze of alcohol, and supporting himself by doing the occasional transport of illegals. When he’s charged with getting Luz to safety, something awakens in himself that’s been dormant for a long time, and he finds a new drive to see her safe. Maybe it’s her devotion to the daughter she hasn’t seen in years, and the strength it took to get away from such a powerful man. Whatever it is, it gets him involved much more than he would ever think of getting with jobs like this.
Soon, of course, Rolando discovers Luz has left him, and sends a pitbull of a man to retrieve her and somewhere along the line, a crooked Border Patrol agent gets in on the action. It’s a race to the finish, with a woman that will do absolutely anything to get back to her daughter. On the surface, Angel Baby may seem like a straightforward chase thriller, but it’s not. Kevin Malone is a tragic figure, and I couldn’t help but hope for an escape from pain by books end, and even the man that Rolando sends after Luz has three very good reasons for what he does. Make no mistake, he’s a killer, but it’s fierce love that drives him. The border patrol agent from hell (my nickname) is pretty awful. The guy disgusted me. However, the author enfolds enough tiny tidbits to suggest he’s not completely dead inside, although I think his chances of completely turning his situation around are slim to none. Then there’s Luz. Luz is beautiful, tough and knows exactly the effect she has on men. There’s a memorable scene where she uses that to terrifying advantage. She also longs for a life with her daughter, one where she’s not used and abused and it’s this that keeps her going through some pretty awful stuff. Angel Baby is a nonstop thrill ride and goes to some pretty dark places, but once you start it, you’ll want to see it through to the end, and what a helluva ending! Brutal, action packed, and sharp as hell, Angel Baby will keep fans of thrillers and suspense absolutely riveted!
Luz is married to Rolando. Rolando is a narco who has kept Luz drugged and under his thumb for 3 years. It doesn’t end with the drugs either. There’s humiliation and beatings too, punctuated with rare moments of tenderness. Rolando is about to have a big problem on his hands, though. Luz has had enough and has spent quite some time getting clean. She’s also developed a game plan for escaping Rolando, and she only has eyes for one thing once she gets away: the daughter she left behind. Luz is determined to escape the life she hates and make a life with the daughter she longs for, but Rolando is a scary, scary guy, and his reach is legion.
After a shocking act of violence, Luz does indeed escape Rolando, and she seeks out a way across the border into the US. Help comes in the unlikely form of Kevin Malone, a man trying desperately to escape the tragedy of his own past, cocooning himself in a haze of alcohol, and supporting himself by doing the occasional transport of illegals. When he’s charged with getting Luz to safety, something awakens in himself that’s been dormant for a long time, and he finds a new drive to see her safe. Maybe it’s her devotion to the daughter she hasn’t seen in years, and the strength it took to get away from such a powerful man. Whatever it is, it gets him involved much more than he would ever think of getting with jobs like this.
Soon, of course, Rolando discovers Luz has left him, and sends a pitbull of a man to retrieve her and somewhere along the line, a crooked Border Patrol agent gets in on the action. It’s a race to the finish, with a woman that will do absolutely anything to get back to her daughter. On the surface, Angel Baby may seem like a straightforward chase thriller, but it’s not. Kevin Malone is a tragic figure, and I couldn’t help but hope for an escape from pain by books end, and even the man that Rolando sends after Luz has three very good reasons for what he does. Make no mistake, he’s a killer, but it’s fierce love that drives him. The border patrol agent from hell (my nickname) is pretty awful. The guy disgusted me. However, the author enfolds enough tiny tidbits to suggest he’s not completely dead inside, although I think his chances of completely turning his situation around are slim to none. Then there’s Luz. Luz is beautiful, tough and knows exactly the effect she has on men. There’s a memorable scene where she uses that to terrifying advantage. She also longs for a life with her daughter, one where she’s not used and abused and it’s this that keeps her going through some pretty awful stuff. Angel Baby is a nonstop thrill ride and goes to some pretty dark places, but once you start it, you’ll want to see it through to the end, and what a helluva ending! Brutal, action packed, and sharp as hell, Angel Baby will keep fans of thrillers and suspense absolutely riveted!
June 16, 2019
This, to me, was initially a quintessential example of noir—a bunch of messed-up people, some of them trying hard to be heroic by their own twisted estimations, but ultimately failing, and causing bloody mayhem in the process. It had settings deserving of the characterizations, filled with ugly neighborhoods from the underbelly of "regular" life. There was a general feeling of despair, inevitability, existential nihilism. Lange wrote the characters well, in that they are all dangerous and some downright despicable, but they still bring you into their stories and make you hope that something good can result.
The problem I had with the story was its resolution. It did give a result, but it was one mostly due to accident and fate, not to anything purposely accomplished by its characters, and it annulled almost every effort made by every character during the course of the story. Also, it seemed like there was a slight sense of moralizing in the outcomes for several of the people, which felt false within the noir setting.
I gave it three stars for the overall story and writing, but it would have been a two for the disappointing resolution. I turned the last page, looked to make sure there wasn't more, and said "Huh. What was the point of that?" I hate it when a book makes me feel that way!
The problem I had with the story was its resolution. It did give a result, but it was one mostly due to accident and fate, not to anything purposely accomplished by its characters, and it annulled almost every effort made by every character during the course of the story. Also, it seemed like there was a slight sense of moralizing in the outcomes for several of the people, which felt false within the noir setting.
I gave it three stars for the overall story and writing, but it would have been a two for the disappointing resolution. I turned the last page, looked to make sure there wasn't more, and said "Huh. What was the point of that?" I hate it when a book makes me feel that way!
October 8, 2021
This is a really good author and a really intense book. Just like Don Winslow’s cartel novels, this one is just as good and violent. Reminded me at times of No Country For Old Men. Has some of the most despicable bad guys in fiction. I look forward to reading more by him.
July 3, 2017
It's a good thing this is a short book because everyone in it makes terrible life decisions and I was starting to get mad at them.
August 12, 2020
Meh. Quick read but fizzled at the end. Not much substance.
March 10, 2017
When Luz escapes from her drug kingpin husband in Tijuana with a backpack full of cash and a pistol in a desperate attempt to reunite with her child in the U.S., it sets off a chase with enough twists to keep you turning the pages until the very end.
A wonderful tale of redemption with a satisfying conclusion.
A wonderful tale of redemption with a satisfying conclusion.
May 20, 2013
What a pleasure to start a book that jumps into high gear from the very first page, keeps up the pace throughout the book, and is very well-written. Yes, it's been done before: the beautiful, courageous, abused wife, named Luz, of a Mexican drug lord, plots to make her escape. Lots of bad decisions in her past, but now she wants to get back to the little girl she left behind and start her life all over again. Now, of course the drug lord is not going to be happy about this, especially as she has stolen all the money in his safe, a Colt .45, and shot the two guards. She escapes, and Luz's husband, Le Principe, sends an enforcer out to find her and bring her back to him. Luz pays a guy named Malone to drive her across the border, and he plays a part in her escape. Add to this mix a crooked border patrol cop who smells money. All in all, a terrific read.
August 9, 2013
Luz is a battered narcoficante's wife who seizes the moment to escape her imprisonment in Tijuana-she has to employ her husband's violent tactics too. Her vengeful husband gets one of his soldiers out of prison to hunt her down and bring her back so he can personally torture her to death. The chase leads to Los Angeles. There is an unusual alliance between a corrupt Border Patrol agent and the drug foot soldier along the way. Lots of interesting twists in the plot as Luz flees and encounters one obstacle after another. And there's also the burned out gringo smuggler who helps her. Just a very interesting and intense escape/chase story. It sounded a lot like a Don Winslow or T. Jefferson Parker story about the border.
May 15, 2014
I received this book when one of my book club members received ten free copies for our book club to read and discuss. Angel Baby starts with a bang and continues that way until the last page. Luz is a woman who left her daughter four years ago to marry a man who just happened to be head of a drug cartel. Now she is trapped in her own home, trying to escape Mexico and live with the daughter she left behind. From a corrupt border patrol agent, to a driver battling his own demons, to the man chasing her in order to save his own family, Angel Baby has you feeling sympathy for all characters and wondering who is going to come out on top.
February 3, 2013
This novel should come with a warning. Because if you read so much as a single sentence, you will be gripped by its unstoppable force, addicted to the book as if it were a brick of black tar heroin. Happily, perilously plan to lose the next twelve hours of your life. The sentences flash like switchblades, the chapters rattle off like gunfire. Make all the comparisons you like—Cormac McCarthy, Dennis Lehane, Martin Scorsese—but Richard Lange is a force of his own, the high standard for crime fiction.
August 8, 2014
It took me a while to get into this one and once I did I was hooked. However, it was all a little neat and anti climactic in the end.
I did enjoy the characters though. They all had a rich back story and the book constantly takes you back into their histories every so often. At times I enjoyed these more than the main plot of the novel.
I enjoyed this enough to seek out Lange's other books as there was plenty of potential here, it just didn't pan out as excitingly as I hoped here.
I did enjoy the characters though. They all had a rich back story and the book constantly takes you back into their histories every so often. At times I enjoyed these more than the main plot of the novel.
I enjoyed this enough to seek out Lange's other books as there was plenty of potential here, it just didn't pan out as excitingly as I hoped here.
June 14, 2014
Let me start by saying that I won this book in a Goodreads first reads giveawayand I am so happy that I did. Richard Lange slapped me in the face with intense action from page one and never stopped. He masterfully crafted this story with just enough action and description to keep me moving smoothly through the pages. A great book and a must read.
April 18, 2015
Easily one of my favorite reads. It's rare that an author makes me sympathize and empathize with such complex -gray- characters, wanting their opposing desires to come to fruition, even if it's near impossible. This will be one of a handful of books I suggest to people, regardless of their taste in fiction, for a long time to come.
July 2, 2013
Intense. My heart was beating so fast the first 1/2 of the book. Finished it in 2 days.
February 12, 2014
Richard Lange has the chops. He does his research. His dialogue flows.
November 29, 2016
Terrific read. Starts fast and keeps you interested all the way through.
Want to read
March 10, 2019Synopsis: a woman goes on the run to escape her drug cartel husband. She plans carefully but the corpses in the hallway were a surprise.
May 9, 2019
I'm quickly converting to a Richard Lange devotee. Sometimes, I find a novelist who I adore as a fellow writer. Lange is just that person. His imagery, metaphors, settings, scene builds, chapter structure, and editing are exquisite. He's someone just about any crime writer could learn a great deal from.
While none of the characters in "Angel Baby" is an inspiring role model, Lange creates something ultimately human in each one. Some of are so despicable, I'm glad they got theirs, as it were. Similarly, I appreciated the ability for some characters to find redemption in an unjust world. For someone like Luz to find a way back to herself, her past, and ultimately her future tempered the harshness of this world.
My only real complaint is Lange's tendency to head-bob from one point of view (POV) to another within a single scene. I don't mean to be insanely doctrinaire, but moving through multiple POVs rather than staying cleanly in one character's perspective was the biggest detraction. This tendency to meander, sometimes watered down the efficacy of scenes. That being said, I find so much to adore about Lange's writing. If only there were more books on the market -- so far, I've read two and I look forward to gobbling down his entire repertoire. As for recommendations? For readers who like noir, quality writing, complicated characters, and an exploration of dark worlds, this could be the book for him or her.
While none of the characters in "Angel Baby" is an inspiring role model, Lange creates something ultimately human in each one. Some of are so despicable, I'm glad they got theirs, as it were. Similarly, I appreciated the ability for some characters to find redemption in an unjust world. For someone like Luz to find a way back to herself, her past, and ultimately her future tempered the harshness of this world.
My only real complaint is Lange's tendency to head-bob from one point of view (POV) to another within a single scene. I don't mean to be insanely doctrinaire, but moving through multiple POVs rather than staying cleanly in one character's perspective was the biggest detraction. This tendency to meander, sometimes watered down the efficacy of scenes. That being said, I find so much to adore about Lange's writing. If only there were more books on the market -- so far, I've read two and I look forward to gobbling down his entire repertoire. As for recommendations? For readers who like noir, quality writing, complicated characters, and an exploration of dark worlds, this could be the book for him or her.
March 10, 2020
Picked this up after thoroughly enjoying Lange's debut short-story collection, and then his LA crime novel "This Wicked World." This one is set in Tijuana and nearby border area, and then up in Los Angeles. It's got a pretty simple setup -- a young beautiful woman is the captive wife of a terrifying narco boss in Tijuana and set out to make her escape to Los Angeles with $500,000 to start a new new life with the 4-year-old daughter she left up there.
Three men are soon involved: El Apache is a former narco trying to go straight who is set on the trail of the wife by the boss, and the stakes for his success or failure are very high. Malone is a loser alcoholic from San Diego who makes ends meet smuggling people across the border in car trunks. Finally, there's a corrupt Border Patrol agent with a gambling problem who sees a possible way out of his current tight spot.
It all unfolds like a relentless chase film -- with Lange's usual attention to vivid details that put the reader deeply into each scene, whether it's a shootout in a dusty canyon, a dingy motel room, or a hectic amusement center. I found the characters here a little too one-dimensional for a book, and the theme of family perhaps slightly overdone. But I could easily imagine this working quite well as a film, and it's hard to imagine this won't end up as a movie at some point.
Three men are soon involved: El Apache is a former narco trying to go straight who is set on the trail of the wife by the boss, and the stakes for his success or failure are very high. Malone is a loser alcoholic from San Diego who makes ends meet smuggling people across the border in car trunks. Finally, there's a corrupt Border Patrol agent with a gambling problem who sees a possible way out of his current tight spot.
It all unfolds like a relentless chase film -- with Lange's usual attention to vivid details that put the reader deeply into each scene, whether it's a shootout in a dusty canyon, a dingy motel room, or a hectic amusement center. I found the characters here a little too one-dimensional for a book, and the theme of family perhaps slightly overdone. But I could easily imagine this working quite well as a film, and it's hard to imagine this won't end up as a movie at some point.
August 23, 2017
Angel Baby by Richard Lange, is the story of a woman who goes on the run. To escape her awful life, Luz plans carefully. She quits drugs and pretends all is normal. All she takes are the clothes on her back, a gun, and the money from her husband’s safe.
Her plan is to find her daughter who she left behind years earlier on the other side of the U.S.-Mexico border. What she doesn’t count on are two dead corpses left in the hallway before she has even stepped outside.
Her husband, El Principe, is a key player in a powerful Mexican drug cartel and a violent and dominating man. What follows are thrilling chases, and unpredictable twists and turns.
The author, Richard Lange, is a finalist for the 2014 Hammett Prize for Angel Baby. The Hammett Prize is awarded annually by the International Association of Crime Writers, North American Branch. Richard Lange is a strong contender with this powerful story of ruthlessness, revenge and redemption.
Her plan is to find her daughter who she left behind years earlier on the other side of the U.S.-Mexico border. What she doesn’t count on are two dead corpses left in the hallway before she has even stepped outside.
Her husband, El Principe, is a key player in a powerful Mexican drug cartel and a violent and dominating man. What follows are thrilling chases, and unpredictable twists and turns.
The author, Richard Lange, is a finalist for the 2014 Hammett Prize for Angel Baby. The Hammett Prize is awarded annually by the International Association of Crime Writers, North American Branch. Richard Lange is a strong contender with this powerful story of ruthlessness, revenge and redemption.
May 13, 2018
In the paperback edition I have, there’s an interesting discussion at the end between George Pelecanos and the author, Richard Lange, in which Pelecanos cites Chapter 6 as being “self-contained”, almost as if it could have been one of the short stories for which Lange has become so well known. He doesn’t come right out and say it, but I sensed that this was Pelecanos’s favorite chapter. It was certainly my favorite. That’s the one that presents Jeronimo in La Mesa prison. It remains vivid in my mind, far more so than the rest of the book, which by comparison is cinematic at best and cartoonish at worst. I am in the midst of reading Lange’s most recent story collection, Sweet Nothings, and that is far more satisfying.
January 25, 2022
This is my second Richard Lange book and definitely not my last. I love his efficient and gritty prose that bring to mind a kind of hybrid between Elmore Leonard and earlier Don Winslow while having his own distinct voice. Lange does a great job of switching POV’s and giving every character real depth that makes the reader understand the logic of their decisions. I love an author that can write shady, flawed and sometimes downright despicable characters that aren’t tired stereotypes, and often have you rooting for. I can also tell Lange did his research and/or knows about the worlds he writes. It gives his stories an authenticity that I find extremely special.
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