fairandfast1
Price: £0.01
In stock
136 used & new from £0.01
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
The Second Angel
 
 

See 1 customer image
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book

The Second Angel (Paperback)

by Philip Kerr (Author)
3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


8 new from £0.01 126 used from £0.01 2 collectible from £0.01
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover (1st U.S. edition) 20 used & new from £0.81
Paperback (1st printing) 12 used & new from £0.01
Mass Market Paperback 17 used & new from £0.01
Unbound 2 used & new from £3.40

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Shot

The Shot

by Philip Kerr
3.9 out of 5 stars (13) 
The Gridiron

The Gridiron

by Philip Kerr
3.3 out of 5 stars (15) 
Berlin Noir ('March Violets', 'The Pale Criminal' and 'A German Requiem') (Penguin Crime/Mystery)

Berlin Noir ('March Violets', 'The Pale Criminal' and 'A German Requiem') (Penguin Crime/Mystery)

by Philip Kerr
4.0 out of 5 stars (21)  £10.65
Hitler's Peace: A Novel of the Second World War

Hitler's Peace: A Novel of the Second World War

by Philip Kerr
3.2 out of 5 stars (6)  £6.46
Esau

Esau

by Philip Kerr
4.0 out of 5 stars (2) 
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 464 pages
  • Publisher: Orion; New edition edition (5 Aug 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0752826867
  • ISBN-13: 978-0752826868
  • Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 10.8 x 3.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 357,592 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

In The Second Angel, Philip Kerr's "hero", Dallas, is running for his life in a world where blood is the single most valuable commodity. Determined to avenge the deaths of his wife and child, he devises a plot to burgle the moon's top-security blood bank, gathering together a crew of lost souls, renegades and reprobates to assist him.

Kerr's blinding attention to detail (he includes a complicated series of footnotes explaining how mankind reached this soulless point), and his own lack of feeling for the characters he has created, is initially disconcerting. But as the story develops, the reader is compelled to live through this all-consuming thriller, coming to terms with the idea that Kerr's vision of the future may be more than just science fiction.

As the crew head to the moon to commit the crime of the century, the reader enters a miserable, bitter world (set just far enough in the future to be believable), where it is ever more difficult to discern what is good and what is evil, and where mankind is paying for mistakes that are all too familiar. --Susan Harrison --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.



Product Description

It is 2069 and mankind is on the brink of extinction thanks to a virus that will wipe out four fifths of the population within ten years. In a world where blood is more valuable than gold, a man, whose daughter needs regular blood transfusions, must do all he can to get at the supplies. From the author of MARCH VIOLETS and DEAD MEAT.
Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
(8)
(4)
(3)
(2)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

15 Reviews
5 star:
 (5)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (3)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.3 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Poor plot, pompous narration, irritating foot notes, 22 April 2002
By A Customer
I was vastly irritated by this book, only carrying on with it to find out if any clever twists were waiting (they weren't.) Anyone who thinks they are learning a lot from the narration should try reading something more elegant by a non-fiction author.

Sci Fi with too much (pseudo)'Sci' and not enough Fi.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars average Kerr offering, 27 Jul 2004
By sam (UK) - See all my reviews
  
Kerr has found an excellent premise for this novel in the spread of a virus that makes blood the most valuable substance on earth but, as normal, he lets himself down by not being as clever as he thinks he is. The rest of the ideas aren't that clever and his 'exploration' of AI is pitiful.

He also ignores some significant points in his own situation that leave some rather odd plot holes. For instance, why does no-one invent a synthetic blood? Or even more obvious, why doesn't a person who has 'clean' blood donate enough to cure one other person on the understanding that they will also donate blood to 'clean' other people' thus forming the worlds best pyramid scam!

The last few chapters of the book are just crazy and the ending is deeply bizarre and unsatisfying. I didn't appreciate it at the time but the whole thing is a vast nod, to the point of plagarism, to 'The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress' by Robert Heinlein. even down to the one-armed man.

My advice: read the first half then write your own ending, Kerr's just won't do.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Was this his first draft ?, 25 May 2001
By A Customer
Hmm. Usually, I am willing to give Kerr some benefit of the doubt when it comes to his output, but since he decided to reinvent himself as some kind of British 'Michael Crichton' I have begun to become ever more disappointed in him. Esau was desperately written but I was prepared to overlook its more obvious failings, but this effort is just as bad if not worse. Firstly, the endless footnotes break up the narrative flow to a detrimental degree - IMHO they should have been collected as an appendix. Secondly - and perhaps more damning - is the shaky plot development. Characters come and go with little explanation as to their reasons and motivation, with little thought given to fleshing them out as characters. In short, they're two dimensional. And as for the ending !!!... Forget this genre Philip. Do yourself and your career a favour and go back to 'tec novels before it's too late.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Mind Blowing
This being my first book of Kerrs I was pleasantly surprised as soon as I had finished the first few pages. Read more
Published on 13 May 2007 by Mr. C. L. Coath

4.0 out of 5 stars The Second Reading
An inventive and interesting story, which reading some of the previous reviews I suspect was not fully understood. Read more
Published on 7 Dec 2002 by Steve B

5.0 out of 5 stars Our future is already written!
Philip Kerr has foreseen mankind's future! It's an uncomparable book. I see it as the best science fiction/action book since Isaac Asimov's genious works. Read more
Published on 30 Jul 2001 by paulinhosilva@portugalmail.com

4.0 out of 5 stars Unusual and thought provoking
I thought this was a fascinating and, in truth, largely believable story. Alright so the ending was a little weak, but this should not overshadow the main body of the work. Read more
Published on 21 Jun 2001 by scottlevy20@hotmail.com

3.0 out of 5 stars Characterisation? What characterisation?
Generally concur with the views below, although I'm not quite so critical. I think if Phillip Kerr had teamed up with someone who could do characterisation, i.e. Read more
Published on 13 Mar 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply brilliant!
I bought this as something to read at the airport and what an excellent accidental choice! Sci-fi at its best. Read more
Published on 2 Oct 2000

1.0 out of 5 stars A dull thriller and worse science fiction
Mainstream authors shouldn't try their hand at writing science fiction; either they succeed and manage a rather average work of science fiction (e.g. E.M. Read more
Published on 1 Aug 2000 by mike@heliograph.fsnet.co.uk

3.0 out of 5 stars Quite a surprising book !!
The 'Second Angel' is a book that will teach you a lottt of things, but may also annoy you with footnotes you either don't care about or already know ... Read more
Published on 17 Nov 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Possibly the best book I have ever purchased
I'm not one for writing reviews but;

If you like your books with plenty of substance and a large splattering of fact, this is the book for you. Read more

Published on 12 Sep 1999

3.0 out of 5 stars Imaginitive , entertaining ; excessive footnotes irritating
This chap has a vivid scientific imagination and he weaves a good story which is basically about a gang of worthies who rob a {blood} bank I enjoyed it but found that the... Read more
Published on 18 May 1999

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject










i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.