El Ángel Caído.- William Hjortsberg

"-La verdad, señor Angel, es una presa escurridiza"

At the behest of an enigmatic client, the private detective Harry Angel begins the search for Johnny Favorite, a famous singer who has disappeared and is presumed dead by all. The detective embarks on a journey through the seedy underbelly of New York, visiting smoky jazz dives filled with alcohol and substances. As he investigates, he gets deeper and deeper into a labyrinth of black magic, voodoo, and deaths from which there seems to be no escape in sight.

El Ángel Caído (Falling Angel) is a work published in 1978 by the writer and screenwriter William Hjortsberg (1941-2017). The story was adapted to film in 1987 under the direction of Alan Parker with the title of Angel Heart (Corazón Satánico for us) with a screenplay written by the same author. The book has a sequel, Angel's Inferno, published posthumously in 2020.

Some time ago I read a review of this book by the great Victoria Marañón Rodríguez (I always recommend her account and her book, neither of them has any waste) and immediately it went on the to-read list. What starts as just another story in the beloved Noir genre, with all the ingredients of the style, little by little becomes a true descent into hell for the protagonist detective and for the reader who silently accompanies him on the other side of the pages.

A firm narration, full of scabrous details (the author holds nothing back) and an excellent ending make this book a highly recommended item for readers of horror who want to read something within the genre, but from a different perspective and style. The fans of Noir, I imagine, will come out horrified.

After a few weeks, I have decided to change my rating of this from 3 to 4 stars.

Starting from 1978, this work is both readable and well-researched. I truly liked it. However, it probably didn't assist my experience that I already knew, from the movie Angel Heart, what the ending would be. While the book has significantly more depth and content than the movie, they both conclude in a somewhat sentimental and soft manner. I don't have an issue with the violence depicted. I suppose I just find the concept of Satan to be rather silly. Oh, it's also worth noting that Falling Angel is set very much in Manhattan, whereas the movie Angel Heart is based in New Orleans. This difference in setting adds an interesting layer to the comparison between the two.

Overall, despite my prior knowledge of the ending and my personal view on the concept of Satan, I still found this book to be an engaging and worthwhile read. The additional details and the different setting compared to the movie make it a unique experience. I would recommend it to others who enjoy a good mystery or thriller with a touch of the supernatural.

This book is an outstanding combination of occult horror and a classic hardboiled detective novel. It contains all the elements that I desired.

Set in 1950s NYC, our main character is a mysterious private detective. His missing persons case leads him to become embroiled in the machinations of cultists. They have no qualms about leaving a trail of grisly murders, and our detective is being drawn deeper into their plots.

I adored the movie Angel Heart, and it had been long enough since I saw it that there were still great surprises when reading the original material.

The book has an amazing sense of place and captures NYC perfectly. The story builds well, and I found the procedure to be tight. I was always engaged with all the new revelations.

There are indeed some realistic descriptions of racist people in the book, but it seems like an important addition. Additionally, there is some disturbing content involving an uncle and underaged sex. Be warned.

Overall, this book is a must-read for fans of occult horror and detective novels. It offers a unique and thrilling experience that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

I always buy myself a drink after finding a body. It's an old family custom.

Well, this was an absolute delight to read. It was the perfect blend of noir and horror that I didn't even know I needed in my life.

Private eye Harry Angel is hired to track down Johnny Favorite, a singer who mysteriously disappeared after returning injured from the war. As Angel begins his investigation, he encounters a diverse cast of characters. There are jazz musicians with their smooth tunes and shady pasts, Coney Island freaks who add an element of the bizarre, a voodoo priestess who seems to hold some dark secrets, and even a Satanic cult lurking in the shadows.

As he delves deeper into the case, more and more layers are uncovered. People start turning up dead, and Angel realizes that he is in way over his head. Hjortsberg's writing is truly wonderful. His astute observations are a joy to read, and they are peppered with some dry humour that keeps the story engaging. The unique cast of characters he has created adds depth and flavour to the narrative. Moreover, his descriptions of 1950's New York are so vivid that it made me feel like I was actually there, walking the streets and experiencing the city's seedy underbelly. I really liked his attention to detail, such as Angel using a Minox camera, which was THE spy camera back in the day. Overall, this was a very compelling and entertaining read that I would definitely recommend checking out!

First and foremost, this is a truly nifty detective novel that firmly adheres to the tradition of Hammett and Chandler.

However, Hjortsberg has a remarkable ace up his sleeve that completely changes the rules of the game. He deliberately leaves numerous hints throughout the story, indicating that this is far more than just another ordinary detective novel.

Anyone who has seen "Angel Heart", the film adaptation based on "Falling Angel", already knows what that special element is. Frankly speaking, anyone who takes the time to play around with the names of the characters and carefully reads between the lines of the plot should also be able to figure it out.

Yet, Hjortsberg's masterful conjuring of 1950s urban life and its seedy underbelly is a significant draw, making the price of admittance well worth it. The author skillfully builds up his deck of cards, creating a captivating and engaging narrative.

This is undoubtedly one of the most engrossing novels I have ever read, and the ending is among the best you will encounter in this voodoo-drenched mystery. I would rate it four and a half stars.

The movie truly killed half the fun of reading this novel for me. It's not that I didn't enjoy watching it the first time, which was a decade ago. In fact, every time Cyphere was on the scene, I couldn't help but think of Robert De Niro. That being said, the book is truly terrific in its execution and what it ultimately achieves. It takes a slow-burning noir, of the finest kind with dialogue as crisp as that from Chandler, and delves deep into the very heart of darkness.

I was, of course, aware of what to expect. However, sometimes I attempt to read from the perspective of a reader who knows nothing about the plot and the hype surrounding it. I try to imagine myself as the ideal reader a writer would hope for - naive, ready to be taken on a thrilling ride, someone willing to be manipulated for the sake of art itself. By doing this, I attempt to assume the reactions the writer would have expected when penning down certain scenes. It's great fun and I gain an intuitive understanding of the choices involved in constructing such scenes. The beautifully structured chapters in this book led me on an intriguing journey from the island of surety to the fog of the unknown. Even though the plot is labyrinthine, its execution is neat (not many can manage that). In other words, it's truly rewarding.

The detective, Harry Angel, encounters a strange image while conducting research in a library. He sees a young girl kneeling down to the devil, her mouth stuck in the beast's buttocks. He is told that it is a kind of pact, to kiss the behind of the devil. Later, towards the end, when Harry is up against Cyphere, he shouts in agony, trying hard not to lose the trademark wit that makes him a private dick, "kiss my ass!" Cyphere turns to him with a smile and makes a joke that fits perfectly within the context of the information Harry has come across earlier in his research. It is this delicate handling of events, combining horror and hard-boiled wit in a seamless dance, that makes this book truly unique and rare.

All style, no substance,

this book is truly a disappointment. It places a great emphasis on creating an atmosphere, but unfortunately, the plot is rather thin. After about a hundred pages, it seems to run out of steam and resorts to padding itself with repetitious chase scenes and needless expository dialogue about voodoo.

To be fair, if one is interested in knowing what it was like to live in New York City in the '50s, all the details are there - perhaps even way too many details. However, that wasn't the reason I picked up this book.

The movie version, Angel Heart, on the other hand, manages to concentrate the essence of what's in the book and tells the story in a much clearer and more engaging fashion. This is indeed a rare instance when the movie outshines the book. It makes one wonder if the filmmakers were able to see the potential in the story that the author failed to fully realize.

Overall, while the book may have some redeeming qualities in terms of its atmospheric setting, it ultimately falls short in delivering a satisfying and engaging narrative. The movie, on the other hand, offers a more polished and enjoyable experience.

Coming to Falling Angel is by no means an accident.

A long time ago, a film called Angel Heart was released in the cinema. And a long time after that, I happened to come across it late one night. It was a film that I watched and couldn't tear my eyes away from, such was the captivating story. I didn't even think of picking up a book or staring at my phone. It was some time after this that I learned it was based on a book. So, being the glutton for punishment that I am, I had to search out a copy.

Now, we all know that in an ideal world, you would do one or the other. Too often, we are let down by the film after having read the book. Things get lost along the way, and more often than not, it's our favorite parts. But what can I say? Time and again, I find myself doing both, and I can't see it stopping anytime soon.

Falling Angel is one of those books whose style harks back to a time before it was published. It owes a great deal to the noir detective books of the forties. Harry Angel is one of those booze-soaked P.I.s who did their best to solve a case but just seemed to end up making their lives a whole lot harder than if they had just sat back in their swivel chairs and drunk another scotch. In other words, he is just what you were looking for when you first pick up the book. And, as expected, Harry was never going to turn down the money. He will follow the clues to the bitter end, even if Cypher is the strangest client he has ever had. But the untrustworthy client is only to be expected. When it comes to stories like this one, everyone is playing an angle; it's just a matter of who knows whose. We also get to know a few more strange characters along the way. For me, it brings up this swirl of too hot summer days and looking in places that are best left dead and buried.

So, back to the matter at hand, the plot. Yes, it does vary from that of the film. But it was only to be expected. Locations change, and we get some different characters to come into play. For some, in a much bigger way than I had been expecting. But I can also see how the film took its bones from this book. For me, I had a very different experience with the book. You can see a greater influence of the nineteen seventies washing over it. I know, big surprise, seeing as that's when it was written. For me, horror is not really a genre I immediately go for when I look for a new book. So, I'm sure there are some staples in here that others have read time and again. There is also the fact that I would already know how it was going to end having seen the film. So, for me, it was more about enjoying the ride. Which, I have to say, it does rather well. We get a good dose of mystery, and there is plenty of blood splattered backstory to keep you happy. I'm not really sure this is one of those horror books that will give you chills and keep you up at night. But what it does, it does very well.

I think for me, I enjoyed this book in a very different way to the film. It feels a lot more claustrophobic, and for me, it seemed Harry toyed with more here. Usually, you would say that we get a lot more story in the book, but at two hundred and sixty-four pages, it's not all that long. But that is no fault in the writing. We get exactly what we need from such a story. So, in conclusion, I can truly recommend both. But if you choose, like I did, to have a go at both, you will see some bits shine just a little bit brighter in both.

So, Harry Angel is hired to investigate whether Johnny Favorite is dead or alive.

Up until then, we are taken on an endless carousel of who this singer was/is, who dabbled in black arts and was loved and hated by so many people.

Johnny was always eccentric and a greedy person disappearing so suddenly is strange. However, in my case, you reach the end and get the click that he was taken by those people; whether or not they were part of his disappearance.

The book itself isn't scary. Even with a somewhat gloomy title, everything is quite light.

It might be a bit of a bad read or some people might give up because he ends up having a case with himself - he didn't know and didn't remember anything since 1943. I didn't feel bad, but still strange, because you're left wondering who is who.

Honestly, I don't know if he deserved it or not, but who told him to mess with the one who shall not be named?! Here's a hint.

This is a truly remarkable work that masterfully combines the elements of crime, murder mystery, and occult horror.

It presents a tense and terrifying narrative that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat from beginning to end. The climax is nothing short of shattering, leaving a lasting impact.

However, it is a pity that I watched the movie "Angel Heart" before reading the book. Although the movie was a faithful adaptation, reading the book still offers a unique experience.

The detailed descriptions and the author's ability to create a sense of atmosphere make it an excellent read. If you have the stomach for this kind of dark and thrilling story, I highly recommend it.

It will take you on a journey into a world of mystery and horror that you won't soon forget.

I deeply regret having this book on my to-read list for such a long time.

As I delved into it, I had an incredibly enjoyable experience throughout the reading process.

We follow an extremely tough and unyielding detective, presumably in the 1960s, who is hired by a very mysterious and puzzling man named Louis Sipher. Quite an interesting name, wouldn't you say?

After this encounter, Harry Angel is tasked with finding an old music staff member who was drafted and returned, never to be the same again.

For the most part, the book is rather light-hearted... until it isn't.

The change in tone here is extremely sudden, yet it works so well.

There was a scene that I don't think I've ever read anything quite like it, and it will stay with me for a while.

This is a great novel if you have a penchant for mystery, detective stories, New York City, and beautiful women. Bahaha.

In all seriousness, though, you will not regret spending your time reading this book.

It offers a captivating blend of elements that will keep you engaged from start to finish.

A book that I absolutely loved and devoured in just a few days. Narrated in the first person with great agility, "The Fallen Angel" is an excellent noir novel with gothic touches that is set in 1950s New York, amidst voodoo, magic, and satanism enthusiasts, jazz clubs, and marginalization.

I believe it can be said that "The Fallen Angel" is a novel of self-discovery. Yes. Louis Cyphre, who always has the true identity of Harry, invites him to take that journey in order to claim his soul. Harry lives in a fog, unable to notice the strange parallels between himself and Johnny Favourite (both are adopted, have fought in the war, have suffered deformities, with Harry himself having had to have his nose implanted). He is not even able to perceive the similarity between the names Louis Cyphre and Lucifer. However, a hidden part of his soul does seem to notice the signs, which are conveniently dismissed by his conscious Self.

When at the beginning of the story, Harry recalls his stay in the hospital comparing it to a prison, couldn't it be considered that he himself, that is, his soul is imprisoned in the body of Harold Angel? To what extent is it Louis Cyphre and not himself who is compelling himself to reveal himself to the outside?

"The memories of the room welled up inside me and produced a suffocating sense of horror. Hospitals, like prisons, are all the same on the inside."

Shortly after, Harry lies to Margaret Krusemark so that she will read his astral chart, and I think he does this driven by his "subconscious", challenging his ex-girlfriend to recognize him, but neither his conscious self nor Margaret herself seems to correctly interpret the signs.

"His acting talent has a negative side and is a problem when you face the dual nature of your personality. I would say that he has often been a victim of doubt. 'How is it possible that I have done this?' is his most constant concern. He can be cruel with the greatest spontaneity, and yet it seems inconceivable to him to be well-equipped to mistreat others. On the one hand, he is methodical and tenacious, but paradoxically, he places a lot of faith in intuition."

Once again, the subconscious manifests itself clearly in the disturbing dreams that Harry has.

"I kept running and, who knows how, I stopped being the prey and became the hunter, pursuing a distant figure along endless unknown avenues. (...) I grabbed the man by the collar of his coat and made him turn, pushing him against the viscous surface. He was my twin. I felt as if I were looking at myself in the mirror. He affectionately put his arms around me and kissed my cheek. The lips, the eyes, the chin... all his features were interchangeable with mine. I relaxed, suffocated by a wave of affection. Then I felt his teeth. His affectionate kiss became fierce. The hands of a strangler made their way to my neck."

"A revolutionary caught my attention from the front rows of the audience. He was dressed in black and brandished a pike. It was Louis Cyphre. His Phrygian cap was jauntily tilted, crowned by a striking tricolor insignia. When he saw me, he brandished the pike and bowed to me as if mocking me. (...) I knelt to murmur the last prayer. The executioner was beside me. A gust of wind lifted his black hood. I recognized the greasy hair and the buzzing smile. The executioner was Johnny Fontaine!"

Strange dreams of which Louis Cyphre seems to be aware, who begins to adopt strange attitudes that, however, are irresistible to Harry himself.

"Who among us knows how our days will end? Who can say if there will be a tomorrow? (...) The future is a blank book, and whoever dares to inspect its pages does so at his own risk."

Cyphre warns not only Harry but also all of us, the readers, of the inexorable passage of time and the dangers of wanting to know more than the devil himself. Making a pact with the devil is a risky game in which only the mortal ultimately loses, and again Cyphre reminds us of the dangers of an eternal prison, of an endless hell:

"(...) I had known an old beach snooper in Samoa who had given him a bottle. This bottle contained the soul of a Spanish master-at-arms of King Philip's Navy. All the diseases or misfortunes that could have afflicted him had instead fallen on the martyred prisoner."

When Cyphre shows the miniature scene, he emphasizes that for him this world is like a huge entertainment, in which he reigns supreme, tempting souls, something he will do again in the sermon in which he adopts (as the trickster he is) the role of preacher. Without a doubt, a warning also to be cautious with false preachers.

Cyphre himself recalls that at some point every human being will be compelled to choose between Good and Evil ("Zero, the intermediate point between the positive and the negative, is a portal that every human being must cross sooner or later"). It is no coincidence that Harry's own detective agency is called Crossroads ("crossroads"). Although he already made his choice and his own pact a long time ago, he again finds himself at a crossroads and must choose, and so, despite being terrified and noticing that Cyphre is hiding something fundamental ("my client was playing with me, juggling with my mind like a cardsharp set on fleecing the unwary"), he continues the investigation driven by his own soul, by his own Self that is trying to surface by all means.

In his confrontation with Krusemark, after witnessing a brutal black mass in which we are left in doubt whether Harry is really horrified or fascinated by what he is witnessing (and even more so when later, we know that he was a convinced, ambitious, and vain satanist who had made a pact with the Devil), the final break with reality occurs. It is that moment that is the antechamber to his final confrontation with reality, which also means the freedom of his soul and the fateful fulfillment of the pact with Lucifer.

"The endless call had the same tone of anguish as the solitary voice of the Spanish sailor imprisoned in Doctor Cipher's bottle. Another lost soul like me. (...) I had lost all hope. I had crossed the threshold of disaster. (...) I was at the corner of the Crossroads of the World and he asked me where to go. It no longer mattered. I had fled for a long time and had traveled a considerable distance. I was tired of escaping."

Indeed, it was Johnny himself who was struggling to reveal his existence after assuming that the battle with the Devil was lost from the start, that you cannot win against the old cardsharp who sets the rules, since one cannot hide from oneself forever:

"Poor old Harry Angel, thrown to the dogs like the scraps from the table. I had killed him and devoured his heart, but I had also been the victim. Neither magic nor power could change that. I was living on borrowed time and feeding on the memories of another man. I was a corrupt hybrid trying to evade the past. I should have known that that was impossible. No matter how stealthily you approach a mirror, your image always looks you straight in the eye."

Therefore, "The Fallen Angel" constitutes a search for one's own identity by making a descent into the infernos, or rather, a pilgrimage through the purgatory that precedes the final destination: hell itself. And with a final reflection: what has it served Johnny Favourite to achieve fame when his true reward is eternal condemnation? When has he lost the love of a daughter (and I'm not referring to incest, which is also caused by himself, by that ritual performed with Harold Angel)? It is at that moment when Cyphre's warning takes on more importance: "The grave awaits at the end of all paths. Only the soul is immortal. Guard that treasure jealously. Your fleeting skin is nothing more than a transitory vessel for an infinite journey", which ties in with the initial quote from Sophocles that opens the book: "Alas, how terrible is wisdom when it yields no profit to the wise!"