ISBN: 978-0-595-47750-0

Publisher: iUniverse

Some Kind of Angel is a thriller written by Melvin M. Harter, a retired doctor with many years of experience in the medical-legal arena. Recently widowed, Harter has two sons and four grandchildren and lives in Palm Springs, California where he can be found writing his next book.

This novel tells the tale of mass murders, which leaves the United States government feeling threatened - especially as they are held to ransom. Help seems to be at hand when forensic doctor, Gilbert "Sneetz" Schnetele and journalist, Albert Muldoon, are told to track down and put a stop to the impending threats.

Yet something about these murdered victims becomes apparent - they appear to be mummified victims. This seems to be the method the terrorists use in covering up their crimes and giving no clue as to how these people died. Sneetz is puzzled and has no clue to many of the questions that are forth-coming.  

One thing is becoming clearer however, and that is Sneetz and her companion Muldoon are in a terrifying race against time to save the country from disaster as the deadline approaches.

The characters are quite believable and I think from this point of view, Harter has done a great job. Some authors have characters that are rather like cardboard cut-outs - wooden and quite fixed. These however are brought to life and I found myself actually feeling for them. 

As for the storyline, I found it in some places very boring. The dialogue seemed to drag on and not much action happened - or simply not enough for me anyway. I found most of the story went from Los Angeles and San Francisco, back and forth back and forth. While I criticize this part of it, I do find Harter has a lovely way with words.

Sentences seemed to pop out at me and flowed at a nice pace. One of my favourites is: “The sea sucked up the city’s daylight in exchange for chilly shadows of fog. The dank mist smelled as musty as a cellar”. This author certainly has a keen eye for detail. I think if you’ve not read many forensic thrillers or even go for them, this one could be worth reading.  

I wouldn’t so much say this is a “cliff-hanging pursuit” as the blurb promises, but it still might be worth a shot or two.