Rage of Angels

I have never read a novel by Sidney Sheldon prior to this one. I loved reading this book. The story was engrossing and I found myself rooting for the main character only to finish the book and think to myself, Wait- I rooted for her?? The author did a great job weaving the complexities of this character throughout her career and story that I felt like I was either her, rooting for her, or at the very least empathetic towards her. Story: Follows a young lawyer named Jennifer Parker whose begins her law career thinking in terms of black and white. Through her career and intimate relationships, she navigates through shades of gray, crossing moral and ethical lines in the process. Character: I can't tell whether I loved Jennifer Parker or just empathized with her. I think that is an indication that the author didn't just portray a two dimensional character- she was a character of substance. I feel like this was a very character driven novel, but unlike a lot of character driven novels, this one had a tornado of a story that blew the character into several different and unexpected directions. I had a great time reading this book and will probably check out Sheldon's other works because of it.

Rage of Angels, Harper-Collins e-book by Sydney Shelton is an interesting tale of a young woman lawyer and told in the inimitable Shelton style. Jennifer Parker, a young woman who had been born and raised in Kelso, Washington, a small timber town where she enjoyed a most pleasant youth. She adored her father who was a lawyer more interested in people than money. Her mother was beautiful and usually too busy for her and eventually left home with devastating results. She graduates second in her class from law school just after her father dies, and moves to New York as a new Assistant District Attorney. During her very first trial she makes a horrible blunder that results in the release of Michael Moretti, the second in command of one of the most powerful Maffia families in New York, and the country. The release is a blow to the career of Di Silva, the D.A. trying the case, and appears to have been perpetrated by someone `paying off' Jennifer. She is threatened with disbarment so no one will hire her. She opens her own office by sharing with a private detective. With a great deal of help, including that of Adam Warner, a prominent member of an elite law firm, the disbarment proceedings eventually are dropped. She keeps body and soul together largely by serving warrants until she is asked to do a pro bono case for a priest. She displays her brilliance by winning the case and gradually acquires a tremendous reputation leading to a brilliant career. However, problems multiply. To tell more specifics would ruin the story for readers. Suffice it to say, she becomes heavily involved with both Adam Warner, who now is being groomed for a seat in the U. S. Senate and Michael Moretti, who becomes head of the powerful Maffia family in a plot so typical of those that Shelton can devise. The story action includes scenes in a number of well-known `famous' restaurants, and world cities and resorts with a general ambience of wealth the author always provides. The book opens with a prologue that expresses the author's thanks to a roster of recognizable legal notables. In summary, it can be said that Rage of Angels provides another page-turner to add to the list provided by this popular author. Reviewed by John H. Manhold, award winning fiction/non-fiction author.

I remember watching the miniseries of Rage of Angels starring Jaclyn Smith, Ken Howard, and Armand Assante back in 1983 and loving it. Now, reading this book all these years later, I'm amazed how much of the story I recognized from that miniseries. Happily, it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the novel at all (although I did tend to hear Jennifer Parker's dialogue in Jaclyn Smith's voice). This book is pure entertainment. Sheldon has a keen eye for detail and a gift for building suspense. I might quibble a bit with the number of Jennifer Parker's cases we delve into--a few times the story felt like it was bogging down in too many unrelated legal details. And occasionally, the story turned into a travelogue--as if Sheldon needed to justify travel expenses to the IRS or something. Another knock might be that Jennifer Parker and Adam Warner sometimes felt a bit too perfect. Jennifer, especially, always seemed to know exactly what to do with every specific case--however outlandish or unconventional. And I don't know of too many Senators who get to test pilot bomber prototypes, like Adam Warner does. But I like the way Sheldon shows Jennifer being seduced--both professionally and personally--by Michael Moretti. And although I didn't quite understand how she was able to justify some of her actions to herself, I could understand her fascination with Moretti and found him to be a much more interesting character than Warner. Overall, this is an excellent read that I gulped down in just a few sittings.

Many years ago I decided to read this book after seeing my 17 year old daughter read it three times in a row. This was only my second time since then and it captured me immediately.

Sidney Sheldon is one of my favorite authors and I read anything that he writes. However, that won't prevent me from writing a honest review. I first read this book when I was a senior in high school and I was so captivated by Jennifer's character and the way Sheldon builds it. She inspiring and in every chapter I find myself hoping for her and feeling with her... needless to say it's a good book. My boyfriend said when I was sniffling after completing the book 'the best made up stories are the ones you don't know are made Jo's and I laughed so much so I forgot about the pain I felt for Jennifer. I won't be a spoiler but fresh out of law school, Jen is almost banned from practising law in New York and then she rises above everyone else's expectations and becomes a force to reckoned with, she is fierce. All through the book I kept wondering if she was simply unlucky or she kept making the wrong decisions and I've concluded she was simply unlucky. The story flows and you'll find that you don't want to put down the book because you want to know what happened to Jennifer. Like I said, read it a few years ago and was thrilled, read it again and I'm still thrilled. Sheldon is a great writer. Thanks so much

In my opinion its Sheldons best book

I apparently picked this up as a Kindle freebie in May 2010 -- since it was first published in 1980, I'm guessing it was maybe a 30-year anniversary celebration freebie or something. Not being very familiar with novels written shortly before I was born, I had no idea how old the book was. On the whole, it's aged very well. It reads a lot like a combination of John Grisham's best legal thrillers with some Mario Puzo's Godfather thrown in. The storyline had several major twists, basically all of which succeeded in surprising me. I even enjoyed the parts of the book that were a little dated -- references to national heroes whose names I didn't recognize piqued my curiosity, and a scene where the main character is trying to complete the "nearly impossible" task of winning a paternity suit made me chuckle. But the dated parts were fewer than you might think... the main character even turns to Lexis and Westlaw for her legal research, just like I do!

Sydney Sheldon is great author