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The Angel Maker (2005)

by Stefan Brijs(Favorite Author)

3.79 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0143113097 (ISBN13: 9780143113096)

languge

English

genre

Horror

publisher

Penguin Books

review 1: For the first section of this book, wherein the odd physician Victor Hoppe returns home with identical triplets (identical not only to each other but to him as a child), I was interested. I felt the narrator wanted me to feel strongly for the children, but I just didn't. Clearly, there were some strange goings on, in a medical/scientific sense, and that was what interested me enough to stay with it. However, when I hit the next section (oddly enough while in a waiting room at a doctor's office), which alternates between Victor's birth and childhood and his early career in fertility, I became fascinated and had a hard time putting the book down. Actually, I came home and read the remainder of it that day. In many ways, this is an ensemble drama: interesting characters ... moreinclude Victor's former Dean from his days as an academic researcher, the children's governess - a retired school teacher, his Father, and the entire village of Wolfheim. Wolfheim is situated near where the three borders of Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands meet; appropriate as much of the story is about crossing metaphoric borders and being able to locate a self when things shift around you. All in all, a very thought-filled novel; I'm sure the author wanted it to also be thought-provoking, but the mystery and thriller elements are too strong for that. On the back cover, a Belgian reviewer is quoted: "A intelligently composed page-turner." that just about nails it.
review 2: The ideas have great potential, and the author has gone to great lengths to create a web of parallels. The central pro/antagonist is well-wrought, but the female characters lack equal depth. I wish the author had had more faith in the reader to perceive and appreciate the symbolism. Sometimes he goes too far and blatantly explains key themes and motifs, thereby robbing the story of some of its subtlety. Overall, however, it's an enjoyable read - a GREAT summer/beach pick! less

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