Los Angeles
Angel Veronchek, son of one of Hollywood’s most influential film producers decided to go his own way in life. At least to the extent that he lived a hermit’s existence in a seedy Los Angeles apartment complex, obstensively to work on his screen play while living off his father’s money. In truth Angel has never held a job in part because of his albinism. Not only do people find his appearance to be startling but Angel also suffers from an extreme light sensitivity that can trigger gut-wrenching migraines. Only a steady supply of prescription drugs, booze, coffee and frozen dinners keep him going.
His quiet, solitary life came to an end when the lovely, beguiling young woman who moved into the next door apartment showed up at his door with a neighborly gift of lamb stew. Angela begins drawing Angel out of his reclusive shell, taking him out, showing him nightclubs and different parts of the city. Angel finds himself looking forward to her regular visits, visits that are suddenly cut off with a mysterious phone call. “Angel,” it was Angela’s voice, terrified, alone; the connection lost before she could say anything else. Where was she? What did the call mean? Why couldn’t Angel find her again? It was as though Angela had simply evaporated.
Angel has no choice but to face his personal demons and attempt to find her, but where to start? He realizes that for all the time they spent together, he knows practically nothing about her, not even her last name. So begins Angel’s panicked quest to discover the whereabouts of the missing woman, his lost love. For the first time in years Angel is off the drugs and on an airplane to Rio.
Shortly after arrival Angel realizes his father’s lawyer is having him followed. Why would his father or his lawyer track him and drag him back to L.A? Why does it appear that both men know what happened to Angela but refuse to tell him anything? The lawyer even tells Angel to imagine the worst case scenario and that’s what happened to Angela. Angel can imagine quite a bit but nothing could prepare him for what really happened.
Don’t know how the booksellers are shelving this but I would call it a thriller. It was an entertaining read with some surprising twists and turns. Just when I thought I had the story line figured out, it would take an entirely different direction. The author must have spent a bit of time hitting the physics textbooks as there is enough “real world” science used to flesh out the main character.
Not to worry if you are a science dunce, there won’t be a test on it but it does provide an excellent framework on which to base Angel’s mental processes and makes him believable. The ending was great; it had just enough question left in it that you can’t be quite sure what is truth.
Further details in our book database , where you can also read an excerpt .
Los Angeles is available from January 5th in all major stores or can be pre-ordered via the links below.
Your Talkback on this Story