Blood of Angels

Marshall's "The Straw Men" begins a trilogy of what I call "The Conspiracy Freak's Compendium of Worst Case Scenarios". I liked the surprises and twists, all amid a collection of conspiracies even Agent Mulder would raise an eyebrow in hearing. The second book "The Upright Man" went a little far-afield - I think the piece got overblown and the collection should have been two books instead of three. "Blood of Angels" was mostly very satisfying, although leaving Zandt 'offpage' for the finale feels a little like a cheat. Annie Wilkes might not approve. It seemed Marshall really got his groove back on in the unlikely chemistry between Zandt and Ward and had some very good dialogue. As a series 'wrap', it felt satisfying. In the context of 'The Straw Men' trilogy, it rates a 4. Or a 3.75. Good end of summer read.

Just finished up Michael Marshall's trilogy, and I'm having a difficult time separating Blood of Angels out of the pack for this review. For the uninitiated, go back and start at the beginning, with the Straw Men and The Upright Man novels, and work your way through, or you may be in for some confusion. The series is planted firmly in X-Files territory, and, as with the X-Files, there's lots going on, enough that keeping track is essential: In Marshall's world, surreal, horrific conspiracies and cover-ups abound. In fact, he goes as far as to reference the X-Files early in Blood of Angels, during a drug deal about to go strangely wrong. Here, our Mulder and Scully are ex-CIA intelligence agent Ward Hopkins and FBI agent Nina Baynam, who, after the bloody events in the previous books, are now hiding out in a small cabin, secluded on the edge of the Washington State forest. Their semi-idyllic life is cut short with the sudden - but not entirely unexpected - arrival of Nina's FBI boss, who's come with news. The story jumps into gear as they learn of a new, possibly female serial killer, and the kicker - the escape of Ward's murderous twin brother, a serial killer called The Upright Man, who is - was? - part of a powerful, world-wide cabal of killers who believe the rest of us are infected with a communal sort of virus that makes us behave more-or-less like sheep. They view themselves as the wolves in this demented scenario, and therefore, well, we're ripe for the picking. Unlike the X-files, however, which presented its version of space-aliens, governmental cover-ups and general weirdness as a growing mystery waiting to be uncovered, Marshall has structured his premise in a much more straightforward manner: There's a big group of serial killers out there, firmly entrenched in all walks of life, and they're planning something BIG. Quite an apocalypic scenario, eh? Unfortunately, Marshall wimps out on us. Nothing against his writing per se: the books in and of themselves are entertaining enough, taken as a breezy way to pass the time at the beach; the characters are well-drawn and there's action and intrigue aplenty, and we're treated to Marshalls' sly, cynical humor and cultural observations which helps break up the otherwise oppressive atmosphere. The problem is that (unless, perhaps, there is to be another book, say...) for all the big, ominous setup, nothing much happens. And in the end, we don't uncover much more about the Straw Men than we already knew from the first book. I'd hoped Marshall would explore this group he's created (a group that is not so unlike the terrorist organizations operating in the real world) and to see how deep the evil really goes, but no. Instead, we're basically told again and again that they're devious and untouchable mass-murderers. Great. Whooo. Creepy. I was left feeling feeling vaguely unsatisfied, like I'd choked down a stale pastry and cup of lukewarm coffee for breakfast, instead of having the artery-clo

I loved this book. Every bit as good as the first two straw men novels. The ending is powerful and shocking.

This book is supposedly the last in the Straw Man series. I rather hope there are more -- I like the characters and the entire concept was clever. The basic idea is that there is a sort of secret society that is thousands of years old. These people consider themselves evolutionarily different from the rest of us -- they believe we have succumbed to a virus that makes us altruistic. They are not and are responsible for many of the worst events of history. That is an original idea for a mystery thriller. The hero and heroine battle these people through three books. In particular, the protagonist's twin brother is one of the worst. This would make an interesting film -- the star could play both the bad guy and the good guy. The first book in the series was interesting, but I had doubts. The second one was much better (and the writing is probably the best of the three). The third one makes a perfect end. I recommend these books if you like this kind of reading.

Former CIA Agent Ward Hopkins and his lover FBI Agent Nina Bayman hide in the remotest part of the Cascade Mountains so that the conspiracy of killers THE STRAW MEN cannot come after them. They fear reprisal ever since they along with former cop John Zandt captured Paul "THE UPRIGHT MAN" Hendrickson, a serial killer who happens to be Ward's twin brother; a sibling he was unaware existed until he got involved in the homicides. FBI Los Angeles Special Agent in Charge Charles Monroe and LAPD Robbery Homicide Lieutenant Doug Olbrich arrives to inform Nina that that they need her in Virginia where an apparent female serial killer is on the rampage and that Paul escaped. Everyone knows Paul is coming for his brother, but no one knows what happened to Zandt who wanted to kill the Straw Man when they had the chance for murdering his daughter. Refusing to wait for the inevitable, Nina and Ward search for Paul, but not only uncover a tail of small town killings, they learn of the "Day of the Angels" is coming and fear the mass murders by a string of puppet serial killers. The third Hopkins tale is an exhilarating thriller that grips the readers with suspense from the moment that the heroes know their sanctuary has been breached. The story line is action-packed as the siblings hunt for one another. Though better to have read the previous chilling stories, the audience still gains a taste of how widespread and insidious the Straw Men murder for hire conspiracy is. Michael Marshall shows his horror roots with this frightening chiller that will leave a spellbound audience leaving the lights on at night. Harriet Klausner