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
