Book Review: Rage of Angels

I recently finished reading Rage of Angels by Sidney Sheldon for the book club at my office. I am not sure if I would recommend this book to another reader, unless they really enjoy the "thriller without thrills" genre. After reading the back of the book, I was expecting something more along the lines of Patrica Cornwall's books or the J.A. Jance books. I used to read Kay Scarpetta books hand over fist, but have burnt out on the murder-mystery thriller books. I thought maybe it was time to give these quick reads another chance. Maybe it still is, but not with this particular book.

Rage of Angels is the story of a young lawyer, Jennifer Parker, fresh out of law school, eager to make her way in the world. She was born in Kelso, Washington and went to school at the University of Washington (fun coincidence). Shorlty after graduating, she heads for the excitement of New York City and lands a job with the District Attorney's office. On her first day she is assisting with a case against a major mob guy, where she blows the entire case and is nearly disbarred. This results in the District Attorney forever holding a grudge against her and going to extremes trying to bring her career to a halt. Even after this mess, Jennifer is able to quickly get back on her feet and is heading up her own law firm in no time. The story just gets a bit too unbelievable for me from here. Things seemed to move too quickly and then the momentum comes to a halt. For several chapters, it is one case after another with no relationship to the plot, other than to show what a brilliant lawyer she is. I might buy this, except everything is so quickly and neatly laid out that it doesn't seem believable and is so quickly glossed over that you feel you shouldn't give it much attention. Eventually the story line gets bit exciting, but in a chapter or two all the action takes place and the book is over.

Maybe my disappointment with this story is the result of my generation. I have been watching action movies with suspense that would make this look like a children's book for most of my life. Maybe I have unreasonably high expectations for what is thrilling in comparison to someone reading this book when it was first published in 1980 (four years before I was even born). This book did entertain me for several bus rides to and from work, so it was not a complete waste of time, I guess.