Nightmare, with Angel (Hardcover)

What makes Nightmare, With Angel so special is that the reader is never quite certain about the protagonist, Ryan O'Donnell. We first meet him saving the life of a young girl, Marianne Cadogan; but he is a reluctant hero at best. Marianne is drawn to him, but the reader knows him first as little more than a bum, then as a former mental patient, and finally as a convicted child killer. Whether the conviction was justified remains questionable almost to the end.

It is this complexity of characterization that makes the book so very good. Few of the characters are drawn in black or white; even Marianne's father and mother are ultimately revealed as deeply flawed people. As to the identity of the "Angel" of the title, O'Donnell, Marianne, and O'Donnell's psychotic vision are all cast at various times.

After reading Gallagher's Red, Red Robin (also out of print, but see my review here) I ordered this book, and Gallagher is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Look to him for something more than the standard American serial killer novels that have overwhelmed popular publishing today.

There are a few plot holes in the plot, and the pace is typically British "slow." However, one cannot deny the power of the characterizations. There are five outstanding examples.

*Marianne Cadogan - the eleven year old protagonist of the story is a complex mix of child and adult. You may at first be irritated with the way she entwines herself in the life of one Ryan O'Donnell, a convicted child molester who rescues her from a certain death in the first chapter. However, once you learn more about Marianne, you can't help but admire the child's tenacity, spunk, and ability to warm the hearts of even the coldest of people. As Marianne leads Ryan on a seemingly futile search for her estranged mother, she develops a maturity way beyond her years, and can only share her desperation and hope as she comes so close to a reunion. *Ryan O'Donnell - a remarkable study in social alienation and heroism. Ryan starts out avoiding Marianne's friendship, but in the end, he is persuaded to assist Marianne in her quest. As we learn more about Ryan, it becomes hard to view him as a hero. He DID commit the crime he was imprisoned for at the age of fifteen. But in journeying with him to Germany, we discover much more about him, and as he does everything he can to help Marianne, he becomes the true hero of the book, and the ending is gutwrenching in its poignancy and sadness. Three other characters well-fleshed out are the mother, Anneliese Cadogan, whose descent into madness and irreparable harm, is chilling; Patrick Cadogan, the father of Marianne, is also expertly drawn, and he too undergoes a metamorphosis that can only be deemed as inevitable, in light of what he must go through to re-unite with his daughter; and finally, the police detective Jennifer is also a sharp characterization, a mix of professional apathy and human sympathy, too.

All in all, this book is worth reading to simply experience the rich characterizations of Gallagher's pen.