Angel of Darkness

By Charles de Lint

Book Overview

In the early 1990s, Charles de Lint wrote and published three dark fantasies under the name "Samuel M. Key." Now, beginning with Angel of Darkness, Orb presents them for the first time under de Lint's own name.

When ex-cop Jack Keller finds the mutilated body of a runaway girl in the ashes of a bizarre house fire, he opens the door to a nightmare. For a sadistic experiment in terror has unleashed a dark avenging angel forged from the agonies of countless dying victims....

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312874006
• ISBN13: 9780312874001
• Release Date: November 2002
• Publisher: Orb Books
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Different Kind Of Charles de Lint

After purchasing and collecting so many of Charles De Lint's urban fantasy books, reading Angel Of Darkness and From A Whisper To A Scream, it was hard for me to imagine Charles De Lint writing these books, so different where they, but don't get me wrong, I LOVED them! It's just that it didn't seem like him. Really good and exciting books. I'm glad I read them!

Not de Lint's usual stuff, Suprisingly better though.

From the basement of a madman an angel drifts forth, a manisfestation of the evil and torture of his victums. Those who see it, and the police that investigate his home, and those nearby, all start having visions and dreams. Only these dreams are all too real as some go to sleep in their bed and wake up, if they're lucky and don't die in the dreamland, somewhere else. It's like they're sleep walking but they actually disappear from our reality while they're dreaming. I won't tell you about the angel; you should read this book and be scared like I was when I read about her, and too when you start to consider the ramifications of where Mr. de Lint is leading us all in that psyche of horror hidden in our imaginations. No this isn't standard de Lint fare, but it is extremely interesting and very well written. Let us all hope there will be more tomes along this line from him. Yes, he's a great fantasy writer, but dare I say he is an even better writer within this genre. This book is a must read. All of his Key books are a must read. Enjoy!

Dark Plot Filled with Darkness & Horror

I always have to wonder about the minds of the authors who can come up with such diabolically deranged characters; characters like Chad Baker. Chad ran a recording studio out of his basement, and also helped a number of runaways survive, either breaking into the music scene, or going home. Then he came up with one very twisted idea, and those runaways began to be recorded as they were tortured. Pain creating a very interesting series of notes and sounds to Chad, notes which he then put together into something which became far more dangerous than a simple experiment. Perhaps it isn't wise to fool with death, and the sounds of inconsolable pain of so many different types, but it was something Chad felt he had to do. Blended in with this was some genuine singing and other sounds which can be acquired in asylums and hospitals, all culminating in a symphony of horror. Using current technology, Chad finally put all the sound bits together and then played the painful music back for himself. The outcome of such a composition was unknown, but not for long. When you dabble in the pain and anguish of others, sooner or later it will seek you out. Chad's music unleashed a horror upon the streets of Ottawa that should never have come to light, a horror so unknown and inexplicable that normal methods would never be adequate for destroying it. When the "Angel of Darkness" is called forth, she destroys Chad and the police are called to the scene by a private eye who'd been looking for Chad's last victim. It is a horrible scene, but unfortunately for humanity it is an ugly part of reality, for there are those who prey on the young and the helpless in our society. The officers who attend the scene all find their lives changed, as they keep slipping in and out of this reality into a far bleaker one. One where it looks as if a nuclear bomb has been dropped and they are not safe. These people and those close to them begin to pop in and out of sight unexpectedly, and when they return, they are usually corpses. The police are mystified, and have no idea who or what is behind this, and the measures that are taken to destroy this evil walking the streets of Ottawa are quite fascinating. Samuel weaves together a tight plot filled with darkness and horror, with only a glimmer of hope shining as a beacon for some memorable characters. Characters who resemble any number of people you might know or meet, characters who are wholly believable and human, characters who may not survive hearing the music. In all of us there is some past or present hurt we have caused to another - however unintentional it may have been - will this come back to haunt us someday? Samuel seems to think it may... And for those of you who don't know it, Samuel M. Key is actually a pseudonym for Canadian fantasist Charles de Lint. Two other titles have been published under this name, and they are "From a Whisper to a Scream" and "I'll be Watching You." Review Previously Posted at www.linearreflectio

and now for something completely different...

Highly recommended. Fresh de Lint in a new vein. The author says in the introduction that he felt compelled to write the book, and it shows. Different, powerful stuff.

An excellent horror novel

Angel of Darkness was originally published in the early 90s under the byline Samuel M Key. Since it has been republished under de Lint's name, I decided to reread it.It is just as good now as it was then. Sure, some of the pop culture references are amusing (like that unknown singer that one of the heroines is listening to, k d Lang), but beyond that is a creepy tale about a musician who tortured people to create a music of pain (using their recorded screams), and unleashes what is basically a Fury on the world.The private detective hunting for a missing girl, the cops who respond to the scene, the detective's sister and her friends start finding themselves dragged into an alternate version of their city that looks like something apocalyptic in their sleep, where they are hunted by the Fury.Everything focuses on the sister's roomate, a woman being hunted by her abusive husband. And even in the reread, one death in particular still manages to catch me off-guard.A book that has definitely held up well over the last 10+ years.