Synopses & Reviews
The First Two Books of Ken Kuhlken's series set during World War II were far more than just hardboiled, action-filled stories about a private detective in San Diego - although they were certainly that as well. They transcended the genre to become complex, engrossing literary works that hold their own against the best of today's novels, with marvelously multidimensional characters and an extraordinary feeling for the period. The Angel Gang, the third and final episode, crowns Kuhlken's character Tom Hickey with a human drama that shines with spirituality as well as excitement. As the book begins, the thoughtful, capable ex-private detective is married to the waif he rescued in The Loud Adios, the delicate Wendy, whose unworldly innocence and faith in her ""angels"" provides her with a stronger shield against evil than even Hickey's devotion and the gun he carries. Hickey is drawn away from their idyllic retreat in Tahoe, where Wendy is conspicuously pregnant, to come once more to the aid of Cynthia, the young singer who caused him so much trouble in The Venus Deal. But he is summoned back hastily when criminals employed by one of Hickey's several old enemies abduct Wendy. The rush to rescue her becomes an almost unbearably taut drama whose climax is as surprising as it is heartrending.
Review
The final book of Kuhlken's WW II trilogy, begun with The Loud Adios, which won the publisher's Best First PI Novel Award in 1991, is set in the 1951 world of hot jazz, hard-boiled fiction and black-and-white television. PI Tom Hickey, who plays jazz saxophone and clarinet, has set off from his Tahoe, Nev., cabin and his sweet, slightly slow, pregnant wife Wendy to investigate the murder charge against Cynthia Tucker Jones, an old girlfriend, in San Diego. Hickey's involvement sets off a chain of kidnappings which endanger the lives of his Tahoe neighbor, a casino owner; his former partner, 70-year-old Leo Weiss; Wendy; their unborn child; and a collection of ne'er-do-wells. During Hickey's travels from snowbound Tahoe to sunny San Diego and back, Weiss has his nails plucked out, his kneecaps cracked and eyelids slashed, while Wendy is dragged through the woods by two thugs. The angels of the title intercede to save most, but not all, of the worthy characters in this gritty, brutal tale, which is tenderized by the PI's near palpable devotion to his wife. --Publishers Weekly
“Tom Hickey is one of detective fiction’s most original and intriguing creations.” —San Francisco Chronicle
Synopsis
It is the winter of 1949: Tom and Wendy Hickey are at peace in their Lake Tahoe cabin awaiting the birth of their first child. Wendy is young and delicate and her unworldly innocence and faith in her angels provide her with a stronger shield against evil than Toms devotion and the gun he sometimes carries.
Synopsis
As The Angel Gang begins, thoughtful, capable ex-private detective Tom Hickey is married to the delicate Wendy, whose unworldly innocence and faith in her "angels" provides her with a stronger shield against evil than even Hickey's devotion and the gun he carries. Hickey is drawn away from their idyllic retreat in Tahoe to come once more to the aid of Cynthia, the young singer who caused him so much trouble in The Venus Deal. But he is summoned back hastily when criminals employed by one of Hickey's several old enemies abduct the pregnant Wendy. The rush to rescue her becomes an almost unbearably taut drama whose climax is as surprising as it is heartrending.
About the Author
Ken Kuhlken is a compulsive storyteller who drifted from his home in the southwest to the University of Iowa to study in its Writers' Workshop. When he finished with that place and soon published a story in ESQUIRE, he believed he was golden. But the world proved to be a rougher arena than he'd foreseen, and he began teaching writing at colleges. He drifted through eight of them, and at last founded one. Meantime, he fathered three amazing children, did three years as a newspaper columnist, and never stopped writing stories and novels.