Angel Heights
What better way than to let my Editor Lizzie Gray first review email outline her experience of reading Angel Heights
“Having now reached the end of Angel Heights, my overriding feeling is that you’ve created the foundations of what could become a very compelling crime series. It’s ambitious in its scope yet never loses sight of the characters at its centre, and for me that’s ultimately what made it such an enjoyable read.
Crime fiction lives or dies by two things: whether readers care about the people investigating the crimes and whether they feel compelled to keep turning the pages. Angel Heights succeeds on both counts.
From the opening chapters, there is an immediate sense that this isn’t simply another serial killer novel. Yes, the Dollmaker investigation provides the central narrative, but what kept me reading wasn’t necessarily trying to work out who had done what. Instead, it was wanting to spend more time with Michael Hallam and the people around him.
I found myself invested in him remarkably quickly.”
“He actually reminded me a little of Aaron Hotchner from Criminal Minds. Both characters possess that same calm authority where they rarely need to raise their voice or dominate a room in order to command attention. They’re thoughtful leaders rather than action heroes, and I think Hallam benefits enormously from that approach.
Perhaps more importantly, though, he feels believable.
By the end of the novel I wasn’t simply interested in whether the Dollmaker would be caught. I genuinely cared about what happened to Hallam himself, and that’s probably one of the highest compliments I can pay any crime novel.
As an editor, there are always things I can suggest refining. As a reader, however, the question is much simpler: Would I pick up the next Michael Hallam novel?
Absolutely.”
