The new spell-binding, unputdownable thriller from the bestselling author of The Rosary Girls and The Skin Gods

When the first body is found, mutilated and strangled on the riverbanks, Philadelphia homicide detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano suspect yet another case of random urban violence. Then it happens again. And again. Carefully dressed and posed, each victim seems to tell a story so gruesome that Byrne and Balzano struggle at first to make sense of the killer's dark and twisted imagination. But when they stumble upon a collection of old fairy tales, the fragile link between the murders suddenly becomes clear - and with it the terrifying conclusion of the killer's plan. Desperately, they try to anticipate the madman's next move, but as the body count rises, the killing spree spirals out of control...

When the first body is found, mutilated and strangled on the riverbanks, Philadelphia homicide detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano suspect yet another case of random urban violence. Then it happens again. And again.

Carefully dressed and posed, each victim seems to tell a story so gruesome that Byrne and Balzano struggle at first to make sense of the killer?s dark and twisted imagination. But when they stumble upon a collection of old fairy tales, the fragile link between the murders suddenly becomes clear ? and with it the terrifying conclusion of the killer?s plan.

Desperately, they try to anticipate the madman?s next move, but as the body count rises, the killing spree spirals out of control ?

Richard Montanari's essays, profiles and features have appeared in scores of national and regional publications in America. He is also the author of The Rosary Girls and The Skin Gods, and lives in Cleveland where he is currently working on his next thriller featuring Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano.

2008-06-24 Montanari chiller leaves me cold

First I should put my hands up, as it were, and say I don't usually read police procedural novels. I expect fans of the genre will prefer to get recommendations from people who get off on the same thing they do, but here goes. The narrative of Broken Angels is pacey with enough interest in the plot to keep the pages turning and the pathology of the serial killer (a macabre link with fairy stories) is weird and macabre enough, if a bit silly. There is also an interesting theme about civilians and then cops taking the law into their own hands which ties the different narrative threads together pretty well.
On the whole though this strikes me as efficient but routine and probably more conservative than some other work in this genre - the police break the rules but their characters are fundamentally never less than upstanding and in any case barely individualised. The serial killer is out of central casting and we get the usual cosy reassurance that the psycho is apart from the rest of the human race.
The emotional temperature barely rises above the level of the frozen Philadephia winter setting - but plot is what counts in books like this. Aficionados who read these books with a chess playing mentality will probably guess who the killer is. My view is the best plots use emotional slight of hand to throw the reader off the scent, rather than cold-blooded plotting.