Book Binge

In Linda Howard’s gifted hands, second chances, unexpected romance, and unrelenting action combine into a riveting new novel of suspense. In Death Angel, bad girls can wake up and trust their hearts, bad guys can fight for what’s right . . . and dying just might be the only way to change one’s life.

A striking beauty with a taste for diamonds and dangerous men, Drea Rousseau is more than content to be arm candy for Rafael Salinas, a notorious crime lord who deals with betrayal through quick and treacherous means: a bullet to the back of the head, a blade across the neck, an incendiary device beneath a car. Eager to break with Rafael, Drea makes a fateful decision and a desperate move, stealing a mountain of cash from the malicious killer. After all, an escape needs to be financed.

Though Drea runs, Salinas knows she can’t hide–and he dispatches a cold-blooded assassin in hot pursuit, resulting in a tragic turn of events. Or does it?

Left for dead, Drea miraculously returns to the realm of the living a changed woman. She’s no longer shallow and selfish, no longer steals or cheats or sells herself short. Both humbled and thrilled with this unexpected second chance, Drea embraces her new life. But in order to feel safe and sound–and stop nervously looking over her shoulder–she will need to take down those who marked her for death.

Joining forces with the FBI, supplying vital inside information that only she can provide, Drea finds herself working with the most dangerous man she’s ever known. Yet the closer they get to danger, the more intense their feelings for each other become, and the more Drea realizes that the cost of her new life may be her life itself–as well as her heart.

I was very apprehensive about starting this book. Although I'm a self-professed Linda Howard fangirl, I'm the first to admit her last few releases weren't up to the standard I've come to expect from her. Not only have her later releases not been favorites of mine, but the blurb on this one didn't appeal to me much, either. I wasn't even sure who the hero was supposed to be based on the blurb and if I hadn't read Ames' review, I probably wouldn't have dived into this the second it arrived. As it was, I cracked that baby open as soon as I got home from work and finished it in a few hours.

Drea is mistress to a wealthy drug dealer. Having lived in squalor as a child she decided she would do whatever it took to rise above that, and manipulated her way into Raphael's penthouse. She acts like a brainless twit and slowly stashes away jewelry for her future. But when Raphael gives her to an assassin for one night, she's shocked. She knows her time as his mistress has come to an end and it's time for her to move on. Only she's shattered by her four hours with the assassin. He treats her like a woman, and for the first time in her life, she feels cherished. But he crushes her when he leaves, refusing to take her with him.

Her humiliation at the hands of the assassin fuel her rage at Raphael's treatment of her and in a fit of pique, she steals two million dollars from him and plans on disappearing. But she didn't plan on Raphael hiring him - her assassin - to come after her. Terrified, running for her life, she wrecks her car...and dies.

Now she has a new lease on life. Through the months of her recovery, she struggles with understanding her near-death experience and what to do with the rest of her life. What she doesn't know, however, is that the assassin wasn't out to kill her when she crashed, and he's now become her unofficial guardian angel...

There are so many things I want to say about this novel, but the first is: I didn't want it to end. I really feel like Linda Howard is on her way back, and I couldn't be happier.

Drea was an amazing character. You have to understand, she was a mistress and everything that entails. She had sex with a man for money, jewels, clothes, shoes. She cultivated this personality: Dumb, shallow, interested in nothing more than shopping and having her hair and nails done. Though it's obvious to us readers that she's extremely intelligent, for two years she does nothing to give that away to Raphael or his men. I thought I'd hate her because of this, but I didn't. I thought it was refreshing to have a character that was just what she seemed to be.

Her near-death (or "death" experience, as she calls it) experience was profound and really changed the person she was - or perhaps the better description would be brought out the person she used to be, the one she'd kept hidden for years while she cultivated her mistress persona. I liked watching her come to life during her recovery from her accident.

Her hero was also an amazing character. I feel Linda Howard really excelled with his character. He was strong and protective and yet cold and contained. His true bafflement over his feelings for Drea really rang true for me.

The romance between the two was well done and believable. They didn't come together quickly or easily, but their all-consuming love was evident. Throughout the story, I was rooting for them, waiting for the moment when they'd realize they were it for each other. The assassin and the whore. Was there ever a better match made, I wonder?

The overall tone of this novel was much darker than a lot of her previous novels. It reminded me (in tone only) of Cry No More. I cried at one point, and had a silly smile of my face more than once. I feel it was emotionally engaging and well done.

I wasn't really feeling Raphael. I feel his character was somewhat cartoonish and not as hard or cold as Howard wanted us to believe. I also feel the overall writing wasn't as smooth as I expect from a giant like Linda Howard. It wasn't necessarily choppy, but at times things seemed to drone on and on, or were abruptly cut off.

Still, I didn't want it to end. When I saw I was almost finished with the book I set it down, then drew it out by reading only a few pages before setting it aside. Then I'd pick it up and read a few pages then set it aside again. I'm sure that says a lot about the novel.

Overall there were a few problem areas, but for the most part I loved it. It's an intense, character driven novel that shouldn't be missed out on.

4.5 out of 5

This book is available from Ballantine. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

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