Frankly, I'm not much of a fan of suspense novels. Death Angel was sent to me for review by mistake. So when I couldn't sleep the night after I received it, I thought it might be a good sleeping aid. However, Death Angel, by Linda Howard, is quite the opposite. Like a menu from the finest restaurant, this book has it all. It serves up everything, from sex to special agents, from crime lords to hired assassins, from romance to roadside mayhem.

Linda Howard is skillful indeed. I wouldn't have thought it possible that a bought-and-paid-for mistress and a killer so detached, so cool, that even a handshake could leave you frostbitten, would make such a compelling couple. Victim and villain, Drea and Simon are fire and ice, and so is their lovemaking. The love scenes remind me of a line from an old Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn movie. "There's not much (of her) but what there is, is choice." You might want to use oven mitts to hold the book!

And the rest of the book is pretty darn good too. The plot is grippingly crafted, with as many twists and turns as a bowl of rotini pasta. And Death Angel is a veritable psychologist's playground, as the author explores the breadth of human emotions from abandonment and betrayal through fear, forgiveness and acceptance.

More like an extra strength dose of No-Doz than a sleeping aid, Death Angel is wonderfully entertaining, if not wonderfully restful. So if you're looking for a good night's sleep, you better look elsewhere.

Happily, in an election year, sleep aids are everywhere: CNN, the biography section of any Borders or Barnes and Noble, and of course, the ever-present campaign ads, interrupted only occasionally by actual programming. Good night and good luck!

Armchair Interviews says: Linda Howard writes with such impact you'll be up all night reading her.

I must say that Death Angel is a major pass for me. I was able to finish reading in less than a day and afterwards I felt empty. I was close to making this a DNF (Do Not Finish), but because of my loyalty to Linda, I finished. Death Angel has an interesting set up, about a mistress of a high powered mobster, and the assassin he hires. The mistress and the assassin end up having a one night stand together. The first chapter grabs you in a way that no other book I have read in recent memory has done. Basically Drea Rousseau has been offered by her mobster boyfriend, Rafael Salinas, as payment to the mysterious assassin he has on his payroll. The assassin wants a few hours with Drea in return for a job well done. Rafael gives his permission and leaves his girlfriend of two years with the cold blooded killer. Drea has no choice but to do what the killer wants, and expects the worst. But Drea is a survivor and will get through this. Expecting the killer to be rough, and the sex painful, he surprises her by being very gentle and gives her the best four hours of intense loving she has ever had. After it is over, he leaves her and Drea is changed forever.

Incredible how great sex can change your outlook on life.

For the next few chapters, we see Drea forming a plan where she will leave Rafael and hit him where it hurts, his bank account. She will steal two million dollars and hide it in her own secret account. Since he thinks she is an airhead, he has no clue how smart Drea really is, because her persona is all an act. Plus, she is a very angry woman who wants Rafael to pay for giving her to another man. She also feels angry at herself, because her four hour lover made her come alive for the first time in her life. She will no longer be anyone's plaything and make a better life for herself.

Up to this point I was very intrigued and couldn't wait to see if Drea would get away and if the mysterious assassin would make an appearance again. Drea is able to escape from under Rafael's nose and with the money. But not before too long, Rafael finds out and wants her dead. He hires the same assassin to kill her. And this is where the story becomes a bit confusing.

It seems to me that Linda had began writing Death Angel one way and then a quarter of the way through, decided to change the plot. What I assumed would be a woman on the run, and the man who must find her, essentially coming to fall in love with her and protect her, becomes a bit of a paranormal in a way. Drea ends up having a car accident where she dies. She sees the white light and is given a second chance. When she comes down to Earth, she is remorseful and has a change of heart. And oh yeah, she now can sense a person's future. She has the "sight". If she comes in contact with someone, she warns them or gives them advice on their future. Why and how does this suddenly happen? Well, Drea, really named Andie, has seen the light, literally and figuratively.

Also at this time, the assassin, who we come to know as Simon, also has a sudden change of heart. He watched Andie die and now that he knows she has lived, he will watch over her and make sure she is safe. He becomes her angel in a way, her guardian. But he still has his day job as a ruthless killer, even though he takes some time off to make sure Andie doesn't continue to go on the run or is found alive by Rafael.

Death Angel quickly lost momentum. I am all for an amoral character who changes his stripes, and I guess Simon is the hero, but he is written in such am ambiguous way that as the reader I can't find myself to like him. Drea/Andie has a bit more merit because her thoughts and actions are more pronounced. I wanted to really like her, but again the way Linda writes Andie's life change took away from my overall enjoyment of the novel. I even found the sex scenes stale and lacking, perhaps because I couldn't find any emotional attachment to these two characters who I can barely like? Perhaps I just don't understand a romance between a hit man and a woman who has risen from the grave, so the speak.

Katiebabs

This was a very disappointing book. More so because the first half of the book is great. It had a good plot, was tautly written, the characters came across strong and I was dying to see how the heroine, Drea, managed to thwart her drug running lover. Then we get to the second half and it's like I'm reading a completely different book. Two self-centered people, one a sociopath, all of a sudden become entirely different people. The plot, the excellent writing is gone, the strong characters are gone and the end is so simplistic and silly that I was having trouble believing this was written by the same author. If you are looking for a great thriller, you will be disappointed. If you are looking for a great love story, you will be disappointed.

Linda Howard has been one of my favorite authors for years. But her last few books have lacked the excitement and pizazz of her earlier books. Except for the rarely occurring sex scenes, I thought Death Angel was very unexciting, and the ending just seemed anticlimactic. And why introduce a psychic aspect at all when it really had no function with the story? I wasn't even going to bother writing a review, but when I saw how many people just loved this book, I had to write one with an opposite view. Yes, it was fast reading, but at the end, my thought was, "Okay, so what?"

i'm glad i didn't waste my money on this. i rented the cd from the library and didn't get past half the first cd. omg i can't believe how horrible this is. rape is not how i like to start a book.anyway i am totaly dissapointed with linda howard.

I am very happy to have bought this book. I have been a LH fan for many years but with her last 4 books sort of hopped off her bandwagon because IMO she most certainly had lost her edge (which by the way I am sure is hard to keep in this time of many amazing authors on the scene who are getting romance done!). I have always felt Ms. Howard set the standard in terms of romantic suspense with stories that pull you in and memorable characters that you remember long after you have turned the last page.

With this book she returns to form. While I will not get into the plot so much, suffice it to say that Drea and Simon are memorable for the way they live their lives and the sort of one fingered salute they feel comfortable flipping to the entire world. Theirs is the kind of selfishness that ends marriages, lives, and hell...kingdoms. While there is not much to represent them as citizens of humanity, by early in the book you feel there is certainly somethng about these twi that lingers just below the surface that you want to know about and once Ms. Howard finesses these aspects then you are rooting for them to make it at all costs.

I should note the I like a steamy book and recently Ms. Howards love scenes were so-so and on the light side (as in not enough) but the way she introduces the characters into their physical connection early on in the book, actually satisfied me enough to let most of the book pass before they reconnected intimately again.

I think Ms. Howard would please many long time fans if she peppered more of those scenes in future books.

The one part of the book that I was a bit thrown by was Andie/Drea's walk on the spiritual side. Her visit "north" was just a bit too hokie for me but I will let this pass as it seems that Ms. Howard is on her way back. I also feel that there was much to Simon's story to have warranted more time in the book but I guess that is what prequels are for.

while I am still cautious on if LH has her chops, this is a good return to form and I await her next effort.

I am so glad I borrowed this from the library and didn't buy it. I really find it hard to believe that an editor read this novel before publishing. It was a horrible degrating storyline from the first chapter and then to believe that this world class hit man would care about this women. Give me a break.
Very Very bad - don't waste a second reading this garbage. Linda Howard is off my reading list.

This is my first Linda Howard book and I know it will not be my last! I was immediately drawn into this book when I began reading. The sex scenes are so hot they seem to burn the page while I read. Even though the main characters are not the most likeable people, they do seem "real" and they have amazing chemistry. I highly recommend reading this book if you like romantic thrillers!

I thought this was a great effort by LH. I had been disaapointed by the last few books. Yes, the heroine was selfish and was not that likable. However, she did wake up from after a drastic change in her life. Yes there was a bit of a miracle involved but this is a fiction book and i see no reason why I could not go along with it. There was no a lot of back story for both main characters especially for the assasin but i think LH did a really good job in describing what shaped them without writing pages of back story and slowing down the pace of the book. Which showed some skill IMO and allowed us as readers to fill in the blanks with our own imagination. The first few chapters really grabbed my attention and the lull in the middle gave me a chance to breathe. All in all, this was one of the better books that i have read in a long time. If you liked Cry No More, you should enjoy this one.

This fiction is unbelievably wonderful. I read this book in 2 days...I mean, I could NOT stop reading it until it was over!!!
Love everything about it!!!!
It has a great twist that makes you wonder if it really can happen in real life!!!!

I was extremely dsappointed. This was a romance novel and a poor one at that. one more like this and Linda Howard is crossed off my list. Please let us know if the only real theme of the book is sex.

Great book, kept me on the edge of my seat and looked forward to reading it

I usually love Linda Howard's books, but I didn't like anything about this book. I hated the characters, the plot, and especially the ending.

I don't think I ever read this particular storyline before and I felt myself torn. I didn't love the book or dislike it. It doesn't have much depth but then most romantic/thrillers don't so being entertained is the most I can hope for. Most of the book is about the 2 characters; The Assasin and the Mistress. Could they be redeemable? Perhaps! I think some reviewers have trouble with someone getting away with murder. HE did indicate he never killed anyone in law enforcement or women. The people he killed were evil men involved in the Underworld-Still one has trouble justifying it. Military men kill the enemy-but here it's a moral issue but this is fiction and the whole book takes on a fantasy feeling. I really doubt that Drea had the knowledge to transfer large sums of money to other banks but I saw some amusement in the fact that she did. The Miracle is a bit far out and another reason the story takes on a fantasy feel. It's not badly written and moves along except it does seem to get wordy at times. Simon and Drea are basically the only two characters in the book. Others come and go except for the 2 FBI agents who are very likable characters. In order for you to know the 2 main characters well, the author does need to give us a lot of their thoughts so therefore the excess wordiness. It's not a book I will probably read again but was an interesting change of storyline and though no one else mentions seeing humor in it but the fact it's a "dark" story I still saw an amount of humor to the whole concept. I haven't liked many of Ms. Howards books since the McKenzie's but this one was just enough different to keep my attention. Some reviewers didn't like Simon's character but
I can't see him played any other way. This is one book you will probably dislike strongly or really like it.

I have always enjoyed Linda Howard's books, but I cannot understand why she would make such unappealing characters into her protagonists. I don't want to spoil anything for other readers but the lead characters were completely unlovable and unlikeable.

Some other reviewer commented that this was the best in years, well I have to disagree. Not just the subject matter bothered me, the hero did too. Come-on, he was a murderer and she made him a hero? Plus, other things in the book about the hero's actions that I found hard to take, but will not mention because they would be spoilers. I haven't liked other books that Ms. Howard has written, but I have always bought them hoping for the best. This one I wish I could return for a full refund.

Death Angel was dead from the beginning. I've never read such a bad book by Howard. The plot is weak and improbable, the characterizations sloppy and the characters are unappealing. Too much Angel and not enough Death- skip this one and read the new Nora Roberts instead

I knew when I finished this book that other readers were going to have trouble accepting the fact that Simon was/is a hitman, plain and simple. While reading the book, I kept waiting for more background on him to come out- such as he was secretly working for the gov't. But, nope. Didn't get that info, in fact, there wasn't much on Simon at all. Almost like LH cut him out of a cardboard box and said "You will have amazing eyes but say next to nothing."
Drea, I actually liked her even though many reviewers were calling her a whore. Yes, she was arm candy and slept with a drug lord for the life she wanted, but considering the hardknock life she came from, it's really not that unfeasable.
LH made her characters real with flaws and all and none of the "OMG. What is this person? A saint??" feelings that usually accompany me when I read through a romance.
For all the flaws in this book, I could not put it down.

This story is a little different and a bit of a surprise for this die-hard LH fan. Without giving away the plot, I can say that the story is very dark (reminded me a little of "Son of the Morning" and "Cry No More") and heartbreaking. For the first time Howard has a story where none of the main characters are intrinsically good and without major moral deficiencies - it really became a story about the redemption of a couple of very tortured souls. While LH gives you some of her patented hot moments, there are some surprising twists and turns, and it ends up going in a totally different direction than expected. This is both good and bad. Death Angel makes you think, but if you are looking for your typical hot and sexy crime thriller about the cop and the damsel in distress, Death Angel is not for you.

I love most of Linda Howard's books but this one gave me some real trouble. While the story has a few good "morals", the two main characters have not lived very upright lives. In fact, the female lead is mistress to a mobster/drug lord and squirreling away jewelry he gives her so she will have money once he tosses her aside -- money is VERY important to her. Drea will do any sexual favors for her man, Salinas. The male lead is nothing short of a cold-blooded assassin! He works for money and has made lots of it. They mention in the story that the assassin has never killed anyone in law enforcement a couple of other caveats. Does that make all the other killings he has done alright?

Right in the beginning Drea is with Salinas and he is paying off the assassin and offering him a bonus of $100,000. However, the assassin asks for one afternoon with Drea instead. Reluctantly at first, Salinas finally does tell him he can have Drea. Drea, of course, has no say in this at all.

What gave me problems with this is the too convenient "chemistry" between Drea and the assassin even though she doesn't even know his name and he is there essentially -- although of course he seduces her -- to rape her.

**PARTIAL SPOILER** While we do have a miracle and the leads re-thinking their positions and so forth near the end, I am not sure that is really enough especially for the assassin.

Exciting and touching if you don't mind the main leads morals.

Limited recommendation.

The first 100 pages had me on edge, I couldn't put the book down. The hero is BAD, the heroine feisty. I was very interested to keep reading and find out what happens to these 2 people. But, once the 'miracle' happens, the book changed to a different tone. The heroine becomes almost preachy and a bit psychic. The hero is the silent buy strong type, which I don't go for. I do like the minor characters. The author fleshed them out well, giving them personalities with minimal words, which I enjoy. I would definitely read other books by her.

Linda Howards' latest novel, Death Angel, concerns two characters darker than she has ever written before who find redemption and each other. I don't feel the characters were believable especially after the change half way through the book. I found it hard to suspend disbelief. I have always enjoyed her books upto Cry no more which is her best ever. After that she seems to have lost the plot. With this one, she is more on form, but not, in my opinion, is this one her best or comparable to Cry no more or After the Night. Despite having said that, it was a fast, and enjoyable read and Linda Howard fans will certainly enjoy it.

The first half of this book was astonishing. Somehow, I started caring about two people who were less than sterling - both lost souls. The second half of the book could have flowed from there with changes taking place in both people as they edged toward their better selves with help from each other.

The "miracle" in the middle of the book just did not fit. Does it really take something unbelievable for people to be redeemed? I hope not. The book would have been much better if the two halves of the book went together. It started falling apart at the miracle. I was glad of the happy ending.

It's taken me awhile to except that LH is not going to go back right now to the truly dominant males since her Sarah's Child,The Mckenzie's and before, but now that I've excepted that,I find it interesting that with each new book she finds a different way to redeem a flawed male who's not what the romance world would classify as fantasy material and weave him into her style of writing,making you catch your breath with such emotion, you'll be wanting more when the book is finished, but you'll be glad you read that particular story. You'll find yourself waiting in anticipation for her next work. With this style which I noticed first in "Kill and Tell" she is still the best romance author I have ever read.

I have developed a sort of love/hate relationship with Linda Howard. I tend to love her earlier works and hate what she has written the past 5 years or so, Cry No More being the exception to that rule. Death Angel was excellent and was more in line with the writing that makes Linda Howard one of the most talented authors on the planet!

This book starts out INTENSELY and EROTICALLY. I was hooked from the beginning page and read this book in one day. Drea Rosseau is a "trophy girlfriend" to a mob boss. She is "happy" with this life, hoping to "take what she can" until he tires of her. When his best "assassin" names sleeping with Drea as his price for service and Salinas agrees, Drea knows that she is a "whore at best" and vows to leave Salinas ASAP. What she doesn't bargain on are the feelings that the assassin brings out in her.

That's all I'm going to say about the plot. The rest you simply must read for yourself. I have been on a Anne Stuart kick lately because she does the "bad boy" hero better than anyone else.....but I had forgotten what a good Linda Howard book can do to itch the "bad boy' scratch. The assassin is one of the darkest men I've read about in a long time....I wish I knew him better by the end of the book, but it definitely adds to his intrigue. Drea was wonderful. She had flaws, but admits them and gets the chance to start again.

Don't miss this one.

One of the best books i've read for quite awhile. touching and romantic yet interesting. loved the whole "beyond this life" experience. that really spoke to me. wished i would have boughten this book instead of getting it from the library!

With the exception of Cry No More, the last few LH books have been clunkers. This is an off beat story, off beat protagonists, a little unbelievable at a crucial part, but Linda Howard carried it off.

The Heroine was flawed but gutsy. Very interesting to see her metamorphosis from high class Ho to a woman of her own. Simon was another scary hero (see Cry No More) but it worked for me.

Enjoyed this story and glad I bought the book. Whoever does the covers on LH books is amazing. Worth the read.

This book started out with such promise. The first half of the book is a solid 4 star, but the second half is 1 star.

Being a Linda Howard fan, I couldn't wait for this book to arrive from Amazon. The 1 word I can use to describe this book is DISAPPOINTING. I don't want to give too much of the story away so I won't go too much into the details but I just have to say that I'm surprised that some people gave it such high ratings. I understand this book is about redeeming love but some of what happens in this book is just not believable. The book's synopsis made the story sound much more interesting but yet more than 3/4 of the way through the book, she still hadn't gotten with the FBI. It felt like the author decided to just throw all of it together at the end.

I am a big Linda Howard fan. However, some of her books I like more than others. While I don't like this one as much as some of her other stories like "Dream Man", it is still a good story. This book is pretty interesting, with a "hero" and "heroine" that are not your usual romance characters. If you like your romance with some unusual twists, you'll like this book.

After being underwhelmed by Howard's recent efforts, I got this one from the library and was pleasantly surprised. Starts with a bang, and I actually found the characters both interesting and likeable - which took some pretty talented writing, given that they're both "bad" people in need of redemption. They way in which they find their redemption was a little over-the-top to me, and the pacing is a bit slow, but otherwise a solid effort. Not giving it 5 stars only because she has definitely written better books - and I'm not putting her back on my "must buy it the day it comes out list" yet - but still it's a huge improvement over other recent titles by Howard.

I remember reading "Cover of Night" and thinking that one of the bad guys - a hitman - was the only interesting part of the story, and that she'd set him up pretty solidly for his own book. I was tempted to go check that one out from the library again and re-read it to see if this is, in fact, the same character - but "Cover of Night" was pretty dreadful, and I just can't make myself do it. Anyone who's read that more recently - does it seem like the same guy? (You can't tell by the names, because this guy uses a lot of aliases.)

Sex, death, love and redemption. What more could you want from a book? Waiting patiently for the next book from Linda Howard...

I just had to add my two cents on this new book by Linda Howard. I use to love reading her older novels like "Mackenzies Mountain" for example and the other romances she is known for. However during the last several years Linda has tried to become a mystery/murder author...it is not working.
The only reason I gave this story two stars was because the first part of the book was good and then it started to go down hill from there.
I have to say if you are looking for a Linda Howard romance, it is not happening in this book! There is hardly any romance at all. What a disappointment.

Linda Howard shows us her versatility once again with her newest Death Angel novel. Howard's typical trademarks are apparent early with the love/hate relationship with the main characters and it takes a while to fully come to understand which angle they're coming from, but once you read past the first chapter every piece falls nicely into place. But while Death Angel is a romance it really lacks the intimacy of earlier works and focuses mainly on hot and steamy love scenes. Drea is a misstress who uses feminine guile to get all the material possesions she lacked growing up a poor child of a broken home. Advancing to the top of a Salinas' familia she meets an assassin who changes her life. This is very typical Linda Howard writing and one you should not wait to read.

Editor of the novel: Fates by Georgiou, Tino Fates (2nd Edition)

Linda Howard is an author who has not previously disappointed me, but she's jumped on the paranormal bandstand to change a prostitute and a hitman into normal people with one little poof of the writer's magic wand.
Not credible.

When mob moll Drea Rousseau discovers that her lover has betrayed her and given her to a hit man as payment, she knows her days with drug lord Salinas are numbered. What she doesn't count on is an intense connection to Simon the hit man. Simon feels it to, but ever the loner, he sends her packing. With no where to go, she disappears, stealing $2 million from Salinas, who immediately hires Simon to kill her. Having a crisis of conscience, Simon inadvertently causes tragic events to happen and watches her die, only to discover that she survived. After an out of body experience, Drea reinvents herself as Andie and goes on the straight and narrow but the reemergence of Simon in her life as well as the untouched drug money has her wondering if she should put Salinas away for good.

Finally Howard has penned a novel that kept me riveted from cover to cover. While the story was by no means profound, it proved that she's still got "it" - now if she'd just flaunt it more often, since her last several novels have been pretty lackluster. The characters are richly drawn and are reminiscent of some of her more endearing novels. Readers familiar with her work may recognize similarities between Simon and James Diaz, the mercenary with a heart from "Cry No More" and Drea/Andie kind of reminded me of Lily the assassin from "Kiss Me While I Sleep." Howard manages to take a couple pretty flawed characters and make readers care about them despite their unsavory pasts. Now if only Sandra Brown can redeem herself after that last atrocious novel...

Since Linda Howard started writing mystery I've loved every book. This was an exception. Read Now You See Her, Mr Perfect, To Die For. Anything but this one. I want to be fair. Let's just say this one went beyond the imagination and into ridiculous. The so-called Hero is an assasin with no conscience, no joke. And finally, two users getting together is not my idea of a happy ending. Linda Howard's sense of humor, daring and fun was not included.

I wasn't really expecting too much from this book because I really haven't liked her past few books, but I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. Death Angel had me hooked from the beginning and I had a hard time putting it down (even when I was supposed to be doing other things). I just couldn't help but want the best for the two main characters even though they don't start out as very likable folks. I really liked how Drea was able to turn her life around and Simon used her miracle to make his own changes. I think that past and present Linda Howard fans will enjoy Death Angel

I've been disappointed by Linda Howard's recent books so I was pleasantly surprised to find this one so compelling. Enjoy!

This book is what I would have wanted and expected from Linda and she met my anticipation with flying colours. Her writing talent has moved another step and I really can't wait for her future books in this trend of writing.

[Spoilers Alert] I have read many complaints re lack of interaction between the heroine, Drea/Andie and the dark hero, Simon. In my humble opinion, Linda has them all, in spades. Simon's thoughts speak louder than any real spoken words. Simon's feelings for Drea revealed when he was called by Salina to get rid of Drea. His respect for her has increased significantly and he'd truly reaffirmed his assessment toward her concealed intelligence earlier. Then it was a cat-and-mouse chase but Simon the Cat had never enjoyed it more than any job he'd ever taken. I'd never thought for a moment that he'd be able to kill her, he thought too much about her and even cheered when she had nearly dropped him behind the chase. Assassins don't think too much about their preys, a job is a job and getting it done is their priority. Simon had proved this in the past and he'd again proved it once more in his last job.

Obsession is much more intense than passion. And Simon has totally obsessed with Drea. I love the part when he thought about getting her the best of care if she was brain-dead, bringing flowers to her grave if she'd died. I have then realised that the more Simon thought about Drea, the more human he'd transformed. And for Drea, her transformation started when she had recovered from her death. Drea started to look at people around her and learnt how to care for them (telling the nurse not to use the stairs, the Doc not to cheat on his wife).

The characters did not end up become any admirable figures in the society but rather just ordinary human beings. The second chance had awakened their conscience and they were thankful that they still had each other. I had tears in my eyes when I read the reluctance and determination in Simon's mind when he went ahead with his last job. For Drea, she had no idea her new found scruples had forced Simon to commit to kill again. She had tried to do the right thing but it had turned completely wrong. Only one solution, Simon's last hit. Afterward, they felt so guilty that they even avoided each other for several days. The last few paragraphs are emotional and revealed how they have changed and loved each other.

I love this book, I have finished reading it more than a week ago and still find myself going back to reread some bits and pieces. It's perfect for me, Linda Howard has done it again and I thank her for sharing such writing talent to readers. Borrowing Drea's last words, I really hope good book like Death Angel will have more in the future, "years and years to come".

This is a typical Linda Howard, absolutely excellent! loved it, I always come back for more.

Every time I've read a Linda Howard book in the last few years, I tell myself its not going to be as good as the last. Every time I've been wrong. If anything "Death Angel" surpasses "Up Close and Dangerous" by miles with both complicated characters and interesting plot.
Howard manages to take two characters who are not normally the kind you cheer for and make you care about them. Drea/Andie is a con woman who steals, albeit from a druglord, and tries to run off with the money. The assasin character is a killer who has one sexual encounter with Drea and leaves her, then is tapped to take her out by the druglord.
Both of these characters sound irredeemable, and yet I found myself wanting them to make it out okay and live happily ever after. Howard makes you care when other authors can't seem to get there. I read this book in an afternoon, and didn't even notice I'd been reading for 3 hours without looking up once. That's how engrossing it is.

Unlike the majority of reviewers here, I very much disliked this book. I would have liked to give it no stars, but the site would not allow me to do that. I am in no way a bra burning feminist, but I really found this book degrading to women. I am extremely sorry I spent my hard earned money on it, and will definately take the time to sit in the book store and read a chapter or two of her next book before purchasing it. By the way, I am normally an avid Howard fan.

I loved this book. At first I wasn't sure I would. There seemed to be too much description and too little dialogue, but the story was fast paced and kept me hooked. I liked that Drea seemed flaky but was really an independent woman who could outsmart Rafael and keep Simon on his toes.
I read some of the other reviews because I couldn't believe people rated it poorly. The main complaint was the spirituality in the second half of the story and not being able to "relate" to the characters. Spirituality does not play that big a role in the story. As for relating to the characters, the story is about a mob boss and an assasin. These are not the kind of people that you come across in everyday life, so the story is clearly a fantasy. We are not supposed to relate to the life of a mob boss or an assasin.

I enjoyed this, but the overall storyline is darker than most of Linda Howard's novels.

I've always had a soft spot for Linda Howard and her new darker direction doesn't lack for anything. I especially love the intensity with which the characters are so completely flawed. Both the main characters walk a tight rope and falling in love with each other is their only redeeming qualities. If you're looking for a straight and easy book, than this is not the one for you. It certainly isn't a storyline for everyone. But if you're looking for a book beyond the norm and just a little bit on the darker side of life than Death Angel certainly does the job well.

Drea Rousseau is sick of being a drug lord's plaything. Sure, it's nice not having to do anything more than watch the home shopping network and look pretty, but the whole playing dumb thing gets old kind of fast. Drea's boyfriend, Rafael Salinas, is a drug dealer, a criminal, and an unrepentant sinner whose method of solving problems runs more toward hitmen than mediation. And for a while Drea was content to sit by his side and play the part of the gangster's moll. For two years she played her part flawlessly, biding her time until she could leave him with her jewelry and dignity intact. She knows that Rafael doesn't love her, but she thought he at least cared about her some. But when he trades her body for a hitman's services, she learns that she was wrong. And though the hours she spends in the arms of a cold-blooded killer shouldn't matter to a girl whose boyfriend sells drugs for a living, Drea expected more. And when she doesn't get it, she chooses revenge instead. Siphoning two million dollars from Rafael's accounts, Drea runs for her life. She plans to start all over again in middle America where Rafael can't find her. Only she doesn't expect that he'll send the one man after her who she can't escape--the hitman whose touch she craves even as she runs from it.

I've heard a lot of talk on romance boards over the past few years saying that Linda Howard has lost her touch and that her newer books aren't as good as the old ones. Well, with Death Angel, she's proving her critics wrong. This book was fantastic, and quite possibly my favorite of all her works (though After the Night is still pretty high on my list). The hitman (Simon, whose name I neglected to mention because you don't find it out until later in the story) is a quintessential Howard hero. He's all militaristic stealth and alpha male aggression combined with protective lover and guardian of the innocent. In other words, everything you could want in a hero. At times he seems remote, distant, and unsure of himself, and you don't know if this is the sort of hero you can root for. But when he goes after Drea it isn't with any malice and at the same time he's hunting her he's cheering her on for giving Salinas a taste of his own medicine. And Drea is of the nouveau class of Howard heroines. At one time they were dumb as doornails (think Mary in Mackenzie's Mountain), but now it's like Howard has realized it's okay for a girl to have both beauty and brains. And Drea has them both in spades. This is a girl who plays dumb for two years while she secretly stores account numbers and exchanges real diamonds for fake ones. Drea doesn't delude herself into thinking she has an infinite amount of time with Rafael. In fact, she knows the moment someone prettier and younger catches his eye that she'll be out the door. Which is why she has her contingency plan. In fact, the only reason she takes Rafael to the cleaners is that he proves to her that she means nothing to him, so she decides to take what she thinks she's worth. And I was cheering for her even as I hoped Simon wouldn't catch her.

And all of this is without even mentioning the chemistry between these two characters, which virtually sizzles off the pages. From the moment they touch, the temperature went up in my apartment, and it didn't go down at any point when the two of them were together. I can't remember the last time I've been so emotionally invested and intently engaged by a book--particularly romantic suspense. Linda Howard is the reigning queen of the genre and Death Angel is just another weapon in her arsenal that proves why she got the title.

Linda Howard did it again. Another great book could not put it down.
It got me from page one. Fast paced and couldn't wait to see what
happened next. I have not read a Linda Howard I did not like. She is
one of my favorite authors.

Death Angel by Linda Howard is thrilling it certainly keeps one glued to the book I think Linda Howard is one of the Best writers around

If you are a Howard fan, this book is definitely well worth reading. Although some of the character traits are a bit disturbing, such as a hit-man for the hero, the overall story is entertaining.

Some might be a bit taken aback by the "offworld" direction the author shoots into the story at one point, but Howard has never been afraid to mingle the real world with fantasy and frankly, who's to say that angels are NOT part of the real world anyway?

I do miss some of the character development from the Howard of old, and their could be a bit more intimacy between the H/H, but if you are looking for a good read, this is it.