Reviewed by Jenny Banks
Away from the glare of the
camera, or the threat of assassination, Limehouse Wharf is home to those
looking for a hideaway and a change of face.
Melody is a young,
beautiful, up and coming actress. But the dream part that was set to propel her
into Hollywood fame turned into a horror that has left her cooped up inside
Limehouse. Her career is faltering, her relationship over and her looks changed
beyond recognition. Can she get everything back the way it was and become
Melody again?
Aniela is working every hour
she can as a nurse, looking after her patients in Limehouse Wharf to support
her ungrateful family and lousy boyfriend, Lubo. But as Aniela knocks on the
door of her newest patient, the life she is leading is set to alter irrevocably
in the form of Jon, a mysterious man hiding behind the bruises Aniela tends to.
Scandal runs riot behind
every door at Limehouse Wharf, not least behind Grigor’s, the Russian Oligarch,
hosting an unforgettable Christmas party that will bring the residents of
Limehouse together under the veil of murder, sex and lies.
All of the characters in the
novel are portrayed through vivid description. From Melody, Aniela, Jon and
Grigor as the staple characters of the book, to minor but no less important
players such as Andy and Dasha, the book weaves together a rich tapestry of
personalities, shown to full humorous effect through the astonished eyes of a
patient in a raucous final chapter.
Each character is detailed
and wildly different, well introduced to the reader through alternating
chapters, although I would definitely have enjoyed reading more about Melody,
and her possible relationship with James. I also
found Grigor a bit of a puzzle – an exiled Russian Oligarch who hosts legendary
parties full of drugs, alcohol and call girls but reverts back to being a child
at the mention of Christmas. This however, is a symptom of the novel; it is often tongue in cheek and doesn’t
take itself too seriously.
The characters are really
the plot of the novel. They lend themselves to the title, Bad Angels, and shape
how the story will pan out, affecting and influencing each other’s lives. It is
not only character detail which shows in the book. Rebecca Chance must have
done a lot of research into a multitude of areas, which serves to ground the
more eccentric sides of the characters in authenticity.
Rebecca Chance’s novel was a
fun and steamy bonkbuster ride into the lives of the rich and famous Bad Angels
of Limehouse Wharf.
7/10
Bad Angels is out on the 8th November