Christy Award–winning author Downs (Plague Maker
) delivers a novel different in tone from his previous suspense thrillers. When famed actress Olivia Hayden ends up in intensive care after a car accident, her nurse, Kemp McAvoy, seizes the opportunity to exploit the comatose star for his own personal gain. But while he's playing “angel” to the infirm celebrity, his girlfriend's daughter, Leah Pelton, claims she truly does see divine spirits. As the novel intensifies, the manipulation of one manufactured mystery becomes mired in criminal missteps; meanwhile, the other, possibly hallucinatory one, proves more difficult to refute. While Downs attempts to maintain the edge of a crime novel in this energetic drama, McAvoy's loutish nature, foiled by Pelton's endearing sincerity, makes for overly simplified characters in a sometimes stilted narrative. Nevertheless, fans of his previous books may find it refreshing to read this author's fast-paced novel set not in the South but in the greedy world of Hollywood. (May
)
