Turning Angel by Greg Iles

Turning Angel by Greg Iles

I don’t often pick up a paperback from the bestseller list, and this novel has reminded me why. ‘Turning Angel’ represents the worst in fiction, full of stereotyped caricatures, sensationalistic sex scenes, cartoon violence and an outlandish, nonsensical plot. The protagonist-narrator is an incredibly-smart, civic-minded, single-parent, ex-lawyer, best-selling author. He doesn’t quite has a big S tattooed on his undershirt, but close. Even worse, the narrator’s best friend is a jaw-dropping-handsome, athletic super-specimen. Oh, and he’s a doctor too.

Of course, the doctor has a secret. A nineteen, year-old mistress who’s still in high school but just been accepted at Harvard, who also has a nymphomaniac’s penchant for gravity-defying sex positions. In fact, a large portion of the novel’s dribbling prose becomes a rambling justification for a middle-aged doctor taking on a teenage girlfriend. The narrator himself barely fends off his young daughter’s amorous-minded babysitter. What a standup guy!

The plot is prototypically formulaic. The girlfriend is raped and murdered, then dumped in the river. The doctor is the obvious suspect. The narrator is a little torn, yet steadfastly loyal to his philandering friend.

The author throws in a few other suspects, drug dealers, both Black and Asian. There is some apologetic mumbling about the standard American prejudice against its minorities, but the writing panders to the stereotypes nonetheless. The actual murderer is exported from overseas, a victim of Serbian war crimes, a sop to the conscience-stricken reader.

The novel also includes a rant or three against a drug-addicted, rave-happy, sexually-promiscuous teenage generation. This is despite the fact that he portrays his own generation in virtually the same light.