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    Angel Baby (excerpt) by Richard Lange
    Angel Baby (excerpt) by Richard Lange
    Angel Baby (excerpt) by Richard Lange
    Ebook13 pages12 minutes

    Angel Baby (excerpt) by Richard Lange

    By Mulholland Books

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this ebook

    A woman goes on the run in this intense and cinematic thriller by an award-winning writer.

    To escape the awful life she has descended into, Luz plans carefully. She takes only the clothes on her back, a Colt .45, and all the money in her husband’s safe. The corpses in the hallway weren’t part of her plan.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMulholland Books
    Release dateJun 13, 2013
    ISBN9780316219822
    Angel Baby (excerpt) by Richard Lange

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    Reviews for Angel Baby (excerpt) by Richard Lange

    3.5/5

    52 ratings17 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Angel Baby is a masterpiece of gritty crime fiction, professionally plotted from cover to cover, with richly drawn characters. Like Winslow's The Cartel, Lange here vividly portrays the horrors of the Narco cartels who have viciously carved out a bloody path through much of Mexico, turning what used to be a lazy beer-soaked desert into a scene of corruption, terror, and horror where people desperate for survival will do just about anything. Those horrors all too frequently poor over the Northern border.

      The story is primarily about a cartel boss' wife finally doing what she's got to do to escape his control and the killer he sends to bring her back. It's a woman on the run story across the Mexican desert and across the border into California where a violent, nasty chase goes. Everyone involved is motivated by desperation, and by their twisted unhappy pasts that won't leave them be.

      Most of all, it is high quality writing that bends the tension back from page one and never ever lets up until the very last page. An absolutely terrific piece of writing.
    • 4/5

      When a life of sex, drugs and cheap-thrills began to grow old Luz decided she needed to find her child, the baby she gave to relatives years ago. Her life as wife of cartel boss, El Principe, had become decidedly dangerous for her health so in an ill-conceived plan she stole a suitcase full of money, shot his body guard and escaped into the night.
      Knowing she had to flee to the States as soon as possible she managed to hook up with Malone, a gaboche with a talent to smuggle Mexicans across the border. Rumors have spread quickly that el jefe’s woman has gone missing, along with a lot of cash, and word gets back to him of her whereabouts.
      Jeronimo has been sprung from prison with one mission; bring Lutz back. He has been the right hand man of el jefe for many years, and the only one he trusts to succeed, and to be sure El Principe is holding Jeronimo’s family as hostage.
      Thacker, a Border Patrol officer has been on the take for years. His wife’s life-style demand s more money than his government pay provides. When word comes down that a top level smuggling mission is bringing a woman with a bag full of money over tonight he sees his opportunity for the good life and easy retirement.
      Pretty soon Malone and Luz are in a chase for their lives when Thacker and Jeronimo, mortal enemies by day join forces on one fateful night in a joint mission to bring Luz and the money back to Mexico. Can a pact between thieves be successful? Lange successfully entangles all the above parties in a duel to the death. When the real prize, Luz’s daughter Isabel, is caught in the crossfire who will succumb first? The mother who wants, to protect her daughter no matter the cost, the rogue agent with a heart of gold or the bandito who is seeking a way out of the life he has carved for himself?
      In a story that mirror’s life on the border between Mexico and the States we are dealt an insider’s glimpse on the emotions that lead these three desperate people into the awful decisions that they have act on.
    • 4/5
      The human thing is all an act. He can turn it on and off like that. What he is inside is a monster, a shark, something soulless and ravenous.When i first started reading this I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. I haven't read many books about Mexican drug cartels and drug lords so I didn't know if this was going to appeal to me. While it does mention the drug cartels and has a drug lord prominently in it, this book is more about Luz's journey to escape the clutches of her drug lord husband and reunite with her young daughter. This book is really about a mother's love for her daughter and the actions she will take to be reunited with her.I really liked Luz right from the beginning and hoped that she would be able to get away from Ronaldo and get her baby girl back. With all that Luz has been through I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She strikes up an unlikely partnership with Kevin Malone, a man who at first seems to just be drinking life away because he can. Once you realize why Malone is the way he is you can't help but be heartbroken for him. Luz and Malone really make this book worth reading.The book switches point-of-view between a few characters. I really did not like the two other main characters besides Luz and Malone. One is a corrupt border cop, Thacker, and the other is a former henchman of Ronaldo's being forced into trying to find Luz, Jerónimo. Thacker was a disgusting jerk and there was just nothing redeeming about him. Jerónimo was forced into this situation and must do it to protect his family but I like Luz and hated what he was doing to her that I just couldn't like Jerónimo at all. I have to say that even though I didn't like them, Thacker and Jerónimo definitely made the story interesting.I was mostly happy with where each of the main characters were at the end, but I felt like some didn't deserve what they got and some needed to be punished. Overall this was a good read with complex characters and some great action. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read Angel Baby.
    • 3/5
      First, I must thank the publisher for providing our book club with copies of this book in exchange for our honest feedback. Angel Baby is the story of a young woman who left her baby daughter with relatives to marry a Mexican drug lord. After 3 years, she has learned that she has made a mistake, and decides to leave Mexico and her husband to reunite with her daughter. She has tried to leave him before, only to be brought back. This time, she makes better plans, and she leaves better prepared (to include taking all of the money in her husband’s safe). She ends up crossing the border with a surfer-type has-been. They are being followed by a man her husband has sent to bring her back and a border patrolman who wants the money. The author has done a great job of making the characters realistic – and I found myself hoping that everything would turn out OK for several of them. The book started fast – and kept up the pace and I was able to finish it rather quickly.
    • 4/5
      From the very first page it is clear that Richard Lange’s “Angel Baby” is going to be a dark, gritty, tough, and violent tale. Moving the reader through a tension-filled, relentlessly brutal story at a dizzying pace, Lange populates his book with characters the reader will come to care about, empathize with, and understand. The consequences of poverty, bad choices, and despair play out against a tapestry woven from the love of parents for their children. With the lines between “good” and “bad” blurred grey, the reader will discover that sometimes there simply are no true winners.Recommended
    • 5/5
      Take one part of Don Winslow's Power Of The Dog, one part of The late great Elmore Leonard, and mix in a little of Michael Gruber's The Return, and you have Angel Baby. This is a fantastic fast read, filled with damaged people, making damaged decisions, with some hope and redemption thrown in. II highly recommend it.
    • 2/5
      This book begins slowly and there is little character development. Towards the end of the book the realness of the characters begins to appear. While I read mostly mystery and crime fiction this book is entirely too brutal for me. The entire subject of Mexican drug cartels is so hopeless I would rather not read fiction about it.
    • 2/5
      If I had to choose one word to describe "Angel Baby" by Richard Lange, it would be "brutal". Almost every single character in this book is a killer. The descriptions of prison life in Mexico are chilling, and I hope are not totally accurate. Sorry to say, this is a bit too bloody for me, but if your tastes run toward this type of literature, go ahead and give it a try. My preference is a bit more cerebral, even though I read mostly crime fiction.
    • 3/5
      My rating: 3 of 5 starsAngel Baby is a Mulhollard/Little Brown and Company publication. This book was released in May 2013. First of all I would like to thank the publisher and Library Thing for this TSPB edition from the early review program. Luz is living a nightmare with her abusive husband. She needs to leave him and get back to her young daughter, Isabel. She must cross the border into the United States and find her aunt that has been keeping Isobel for her. But, first she has to get away from her husband. Luz will do anything to get free and will have to. Once she gets away, she needs help. She is introduced to a man that sets her up with Malone, a man that makes his living smuggling people into the US. While Luz is not happy with the set up it's the best option she has. Meanwhile, Luz's husband discovers she is gone and sets up a plan to get her back. This plan involves a man named Jeronimo. Jeronimo is just trying to do his time and get back to his family. When El Principe springs him, he makes the man an offer he can't refuse- bring back his wife or else he will kill Jeronimo's wife and kids.Throw in a crooked border patrol agent that gets wind of Luz trying to cross the border carrying a large sum of money . Now the chase is on. Will Luz find her daughter and get a chance at a fresh start? Or will her violent husband succeed in tracking her down? This was a very imaginative story line. The deeper message was all about what people will do for the people they love. Will good triumph over evil? Overall a satisfying read. Part thriller, part crime drama. Overall I would give this one a B-.
    • 3/5
      This is a well constructed thriller, with enough story twists to keep the pages turning until the last one. Maybe not the thickest or the most believable characters in the genre history, and a rather predictable ending, but the author keeps a trove of surprises for the reader as how to get there... I enjoyed reading the story, especially since it was a welcome break from the nonfiction I recently went through. Good, easy read.
    • 1/5
      ANGEL BABY isn't captivating or exciting. All the characters are disgusting. Even Luz, the main character trying to escape her husband, is not a character a reader will sympathize with. There are only bad to more or less bad characters in this book.A couple of the chracters do have redeeming qualities: Luz probably did the best she could, considering what her mother is; and another character is FORMERLY bad and now does awful things only because Luz's husband is holding his family hostage. This isn't enough, however, to make a reader want to root for them. So in comes a really, really bad character, so bad and disgusting the reader now roots for the less bad characters. I can't say I enjoyed any part of this book, which I won in the librarything.com Early Reviewers program. And I'm suspicious of the four- and five-star ratings I see for it.
    • 4/5
      Angel Baby is not your average thriller. The plot follows the path of the wife of a Mexican drug lord as she escapes his hold on her by killing her bodyguard and housekeeper, and steals thousands of dollars in hopes of starting a new life in the U.S. with her young daughter. The reader is introduced to the underbelly of Mexican life in Tijuana where police, military, border guards, and everyday citizens are after money regardless of the moral consequences. The wife, Luz, makes contact with a coyote who agrees to get her across the border to take her to her daughter in Compton, California. The driver who agrees to take Luz is an American who is drinking his way through life following the death of his daughter due to his inattentiveness. There are numerous problems along the way as a corrupt U.S. border guard wants the stolen money and the drug lord has sent on of his thugs to bring his wife back to him. The book is violent, not a whole lot of humanity comes through, but it is rivetingly told and a terrific read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book. Thanks for the early reviewers copy!
    • 5/5
      I received an ARC of this book from a LibraryThing giveaway.I really wasn't sure if I would like this one or not based on the description. I am glad I was given an opportunity to read it though. I thoroughly enjoyed the story. It was exciting enough to get my attention at the beginning and it never lost me.
    • 4/5
      Page turning thriller when the abused wife of a high ranking drug cartel member tries to escape her bad situation by running away. On the run, her journey becomes complicated by the men her husband has sent to find her and bring her back. Her goal is to unite with the daughter she abandoned 4 years earlier, and start a whole new life. Can she do it. That is what the readers are going to find out. Lots of twists and turns. A good read.
    • 4/5
      A very interesting book that deal with two families and their battle for the safety of their families from the Mexican mafia. Luz has been held captive by her husband, Rolando, a member of they Mexican mafia. She is never allowed to be out by herself anywhere and her only desire is to get away from Rolando and be reunited with her daughter who she hasn't seen for three years. Rolando knows nothing about the child. Luz has made some bad choices in her past including leaving her child with her aunt in California, but she only made those choices because she was hoping to provide a better life for her child. Luz finally manages to escape and her path crosses with the coyote, Malone, also a former gang member and current prisoner, Jeronimo. Jeronimo, an American citizen living in Mexico, has work for Rolando in the past and has been pulled out of his Mexican prison by Rolando to hunt down and return Luz to Rolando who intends to torture and kill her. To insure Jeronimo's cooperation, Rolando kidnaps Jeronimo's wife and children and is holding them captive until Luz is returned to him. The story relates the story of how much family means to Luz, Jeronimo, and Malone, and the fight to keep their families safe and how losing family can affect ones life.
    • 4/5
      Once you start this book it's almost impossible to put it down. You're compelled to discover what happens on the next page and the next and the next. Very well written with a cast of characters so dirty, slimey and corrupt you'll be grateful for a shower, clean clothes and a nice safe home. Highly recommend!
    • 3/5
      Angel Baby was a good, but not great, thriller. While characters had motivation, and most had something likable about them, none were developed well enough to make me care too much what happened to them. That said, a thriller is not necessarily supposed to be too heavy on character development, focusing more on action and suspense. In those areas the book did well, and kept the pages turning quickly.