During the 1950s, Gold Medal Books introduced authors like Jim Thompson, Chester Himes, and David Goodis to a mass readership eager for stories of lowlife and sordid crime. Today many of these writers are admired members of the literary canon, but one of the finest of them of all, Elliott Chaze, remains unjustly obscure. Now, for the first time in half a century, Chaze’s story of doomed love on … on the run returns to print in a trade paperback edition.
When Tim Sunblade escapes from prison, his sole possession is an infallible plan for the ultimate heist. Trouble is it’s a two-person job. So when he meets Virginia, a curiously well-spoken “ten-dollar tramp,” and discovers that the only thing she cares for is “drifts of money, lumps of it,” he knows he’s met his partner. What he doesn’t suspect is that this lavender-eyed angel might just prove to be his match.
Black Wings Has My Angel careens through a landscape of desperate passion and wild reversals. It is a journey you will never forget.
more
If you like noir crime fiction, you have to read this book. If you haven’t tried noir, you have to read this book.
What is noir? A genre of crime film or fiction characterized by cynicism, fatalism, and moral ambiguity. Mickey Spillane, Raymond Chandler, James Ellroy. And apparently, the late Elliott Chaze.
I had never heard of the author but saw a post or comment praising this book as a fantastic noir novel. I’m a fan of the genre, so naturally, I had to give it a try. It was only $0.99 on Kindle!
The book had me hooked from the first few pages. The author sets a scene, paints a picture, and draws you into a twisted plot as the beautifully crafted characters take you for a wild ride. The plot is intriguing, amazing really.
My only disappointment at all in this book was the ending. I have to be honest to say I didn’t love it and I felt it could have had something more, something else. Read it for yourself and see what you think. Regardless, don’t miss BLACK WINGS HAS MY ANGEL because this one will stay with you for a while.
Let’s start with the best way to describe this book; WOW!! And that about covers it.
Next on my list is My Life with Cary Grant by Dyan Cannon, and after this roller coaster, it is going to be one hell of a disappointment!
Okay, this is classic Noir, told almost like a nightmare rather than a dream. You get the feeling the story is told from a cell deep in hell itself, as he smokes and looks out as it replays again and again.
The story, a prison break, the last survivor has a plan to get rich, and he meets a hooker on the lamb to help him out with it. The interplay between them is rich and beautiful to read.
We are taken on the journey, the robbery, the fights, the love that blossoms like cancer between them and ultimately the balanced karma disaster that befalls them. I ain’t going to spoil this for you, but as a massive fan of Paul Cain and the rest of the classic authors of this ilk, this is as good if not better than anything they produced.
I got to the end and actually sympathised with this guy. The author has a way with words. When our anti-hero is beaten by the Police, I felt every cigarette burn. When they made love in the snow, I imagined her smiling face.
I have just finished it and the ending. Karma is such a bitch, and it made me wanna cry out in anger. NOOO! They deserved better than this, when in truth, they probably deserved worse.
They should make this into a film, exactly as written, no Hollywood changes, just the plain unvarnished beautiful truth.
I am in the process of writing a Sci-fi Noir novel, but after reading this, it has made me think I have to do a major re-write. This book has no limits, and yet I found myself imposing various literary limits on my work in line with the worlds current thinking. Well, Elliot has proven to me that it is in the darkness beyond that beauty dwells.
Last thing, I bought the latest imprint of this book from nyrb, and it has a great look and feel to it, quality, a smooth cover and a side image of the woman’s head. Very eye-catching, and that title ‘Black Wings has my Angel’ has got to be one of the best book titles I have ever heard.
Goodbye Tim and Virginia, I am going to miss you two.
It took me years to get around to reading this, and now I wonder what took me so long. This book is a reissued noir classic about Tim Sunblade, a man on the run after he breaks out of prison. He was serving a sentence for car theft, and after he took off, he worked in an oil rig. Then he met Virginia. The two share a love/hate relationship throughout the novel, and travel all over the U.S. as they run through his savings, and the money they steal from an armored truck. During the commission of that robbery, Tim guns down the elderly truck driver, and the two are on the run for real right up until the final pages. I was on the edge of my seat through the whole book, and while both main characters are contemptible, they are compelling.
Let’s start with the best way to describe this book; WOW!! And that about covers it.
Next on my list is My Life with Cary Grant by Dyan Cannon, and after this roller coaster, it is going to be one hell of a disappointment!
Okay, this is classic Noir, told almost like a nightmare rather than a dream. You get the feeling the story is told from a cell deep in hell itself, as he smokes and looks out as it replays again and again.
The story, a prison break, the last survivor has a plan to get rich, and he meets a hooker on the lamb to help him out with it. The interplay between them is rich and beautiful to read.
We are taken on the journey, the robbery, the fights, the love that blossoms like cancer between them and ultimately the balanced karma disaster that befalls them. I ain’t going to spoil this for you, but as a massive fan of Paul Cain and the rest of the classic authors of this ilk, this is as good if not better than anything they produced.
I got to the end and actually sympathised with this guy. The author has a way with words. When our anti-hero is beaten by the Police, I felt every cigarette burn. When they made love in the snow, I imagined her smiling face.
I have just finished it and the ending. Karma is such a bitch, and it made me wanna cry out in anger. NOOO! They deserved better than this, when in truth, they probably deserved worse.
They should make this into a film, exactly as written, no Hollywood changes, just the plain unvarnished beautiful truth.
I am in the process of writing a Sci-fi Noir novel, but after reading this, it has made me think I have to do a major re-write. This book has no limits, and yet I found myself imposing various literary limits on my work in line with the worlds current thinking. Well, Elliot has proven to me that it is in the darkness beyond that beauty dwells.
Last thing, I bought the latest imprint of this book from nyrb, and it has a great look and feel to it, quality, a smooth cover and a side image of the woman’s head. Very eye-catching, and that title ‘Black Wings has my Angel’ has got to be one of the best book titles I have ever heard.
Goodbye Tim and Virginia, I am going to miss you two.