Title: Angel of the Abyss
Author: Ed Kurtz
Genre: Dark Fiction, Noir, Mystery
Rating: 3 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
When Graham Woodard is hired to restore part of a previously lost silent horror film—Angel of the Abyss—the last thing he expects is the first in a series of murders clearly meant to keep it lost.
With one-time friend Jake Maitland in tow, the two must now navigate the treacherous enigma that is the lost film, while piecing together the story of the film’s ill-fated starlet, Grace Baron, who vanished in 1926. The closer they get to the truth, the more blood is spilled, and it soon becomes apparent that there is much more to the lost film than anyone expected, as there are still forces that will stop at nothing to keep it and its star buried. The darkness the strange film conjured all those years ago has come alive again with its discovery, and now everyone from Graham’s own estranged ex-wife to the LAPD is getting involved.
And the body count is growing.
From the burgeoning film studios of 1920s Hollywood to the perilous streets and dark underbelly of modern-day Los Angeles, Angel of the Abyss is a dangerous tapestry of cinema, history and murder, at the center of which stand two men with everything to lose.
Angel of the Abyss is a noir mystery that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. Graham Woodard is hired to restore part of a lost silent horror film called “Angel of the Abyss”. It was one of the only movies featuring a particular actress, Gracie Baron.
The plot switches between past and present, between Gracie Baron prepping to make the film and making it, and Graham trying to restore it. Gracie Baron went missing after filming “Angel of the Abyss”, so there’s a whole mystery attached to the film already.
As soon as Graham flies to LA to start working on the film, murders start to happen, and someone clearly doesn’t want that film restored. Graham nad his best friend Jake will have to team up to find out who doesn’t want the secrets behind the movie uncovered, and who is willing to kill for that.
The book reads like a modern Hollywood noir. Definitely not a bad book, but the parts in the past were better than the parts set in the present. You can almost feel Grace’s naivité, whereas in the present we just get a cut-and-dry murder mystery.
