Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49272 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 400 pages

Synopsis
When the first body is found, mutilated and strangled on the riverbank, homicide detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano suspect yet another random case of urban violence. Until it happens again. And again. One by one, women are lured to the old Schuylkill River, their violent and increasingly staged deaths the only clues to the killer's twisted imagination. All are wearing oddly old-fashioned dresses, holding a prop of some kind. And each one seems to have a story to tell, speaking of nightmares that are not just the stuff of fairy tales...Desperately, Byrne and Balzano try to uncover the fragile link between the murders, until they realise they are up against two different kinds of evil. A ruthless killer is preying upon the citizens of Philadelphia. And someone else is killing the suspects.

From the Publisher
The new spell-binding, unputdownable thriller from the bestselling author of The Rosary Girls and The Skin Gods. Please note that Merciless is the US title for Broken Angels.

From the Inside Flap
Darkness has fallen on the streets of Philadelphia, sparkling red and green lights and festively decorated windows shining thinly through the cold, wintry city. That same night, the strangled corpse of a woman in an oddly old-fashined dress is found on the banks of the Schuylkill River, her feet mutilated and torn. Homicide detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano know that this Christmas won't be much of a holiday for them. There are no leads, no motive, and just when it begins to look like yet another case of random urban violence … it happens again. Another young woman, dressed in vintage clothing, is found strangled on the bank of the river. This time the victim holds a bird in her lifeless grasp.
The second murder exposes a fragile link between the two and Byrne and Balzano begin to peel away the layers of the victims’ lives, only to discover a twisted chain of events stretching back in time, to a series of even more sinister crimes.

Flash back six years, to 2001: A serial rapist turns up brutally murdered. Flash back further, to 1995: Two girls are followed into the forest and disappear.

As, piece by piece, a chilling legacy of malevolence and retribution is revealed, more bodies start surfacing – every single one of them connected to the five murders. Moving cautiously along the dark banks of the old Schuylkill River, towards what they think is the heart of the madness unleashed upon their city, Kevin and Jessica know they’re fast running out of time.

Someone is preying upon the citizens of Philadelphia. And someone else is killing the suspects.

Customer Reviews

New author for me
I have read some crime thrillers before, but nothing like Richard Montanari's Broken Angels.

Although there has been a steady trend of Da Vinci Code type books being published, a good suspense thriller focusing on the police investigation is hard to put down.

This was the first of Montanari's books I have read, so I have come in part way through the development of the main characters, Detectives Byrne & Balzano. However, Montanari's style of story-telling was compelling and it was hard to put the book down.

The use of Hans Christian Anderson's fairy-tales as the murderer's method of posing the body is excellent, as it brings back children memories of reading those very familiar stories, but also introduces us to the lesser known Anderson tales. However, as a reader you will need to be prepared for grizzly descriptions of the bodies found.

Overall, the plot was excellent and it was a surprise to find out who the killer was, but also left a few questions unanswered....

I would recommend Montanri as an author any time. However, I would suggest that new readers should start with The Rosary Girls.

Evil Stalks the Streets

Richard Montanari was born in Cleveland, Ohio. As a young man Richard travelled Europe extensively and lived for a time in London, before returning to work in the family construction business. Five years and a few damaged thumbs later, he decided that writing may be a less painful occupation. He has now written several very successful suspense novels.

I enjoyed Skin Gods, one of the author's previous books immensely, but of course it does not always follow that subsequent books live up to the same expectations and some of the reviews when the hardback version came out were less than complimentary. This is fact just goes to show that one man's meat is another man's poison etc. etc. because I enjoyed the book very much. It also shows how difficult it is to give a balanced review.

There can be no doubt that Richard Montanari writes very well. His characters are not only believable but in certain cases likeable as well. The author also knows how to add the chill factor to his novels and to build up the suspense until it is difficult for the reader to put the book down at any given point.

The book is a vehicle for the reintroduction of Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano, detectives from the Philadelphia homicide department.. They are called to a body on the riverbank. A body that has not only been strangled but also mutilated. At first this is thought to be a case of random violence, the sort that happens in any major city. But then it happens again . . . and again . . . and again.

What at first appeared to be random attacks, soon become something far more sinister and it rapidly becomes apparent that there is method in the killer's madness. The killer obviously has some kind of perverted plan in their unstable mind, but will Byrne and Balzano be able to catch them before the killer spirals out of control.

briliiant
I think that this book is really good as it keeps you guessing at what going to happen with the investigation and what happening in their private lives I loved reading it and can't wait for his next book