Review: Falling Angel

4 stars. This was an absolutely fascinating, stylistic, colorful reading experience - a true mystery, a true New York noir, a true detective novel through and through. Super trope-y - which I loved - and very, very dark. In a fun way, mostly. I couldn't get enough, and I'm excited to check out the adaptation, and maybe the sequel (though I've seen mixed reviews on that one).

Private investigator Harry Angel is hired to track down an old famous singer by the name of Johnny Favorite, who disappeared after returning injured from the war. The more he learns, the more Angel gets caught up in black magic, the occult, and the true intentions of his dastardly, enigmatic client. The path to finding Johnny Favorite, apparently, is soaked in blood.

I did dock a star - the portrayal and treatment of women is supremely gross, and there's also a UAD (unnecessary animal death). I also couldn't help but find this book to be very pleased with itself. Not denying that it's a good twist - there was just something a little... smug about it.

But I really enjoyed so many of the successful elements: the crunchy, snappy, classic Noir dialogue; the vivid depiction of New York; the way each clue fell into place. I was really rooting for Angel, almost against my better judgement (my spidey senses started tingling about 80% of the way through). I've seen this described as a horror/noir hybrid, and... I want more, because the flavor was deeply compelling and satisfying to me.

Falling Angel on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph