My favorite Mallory is as odd as a magnolia tree in the Bronx. O'Connell is nothing if not a risk taker. Her Southern Gothic Mallory was a big risk, and the result is the finest book in the series, at once a thriller, a surreal comedy, and a brooding tragedy worthy of Faulkner or McCullers. Like the stone angels, the story takes flight.

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Product Description

NYPD Detective Kathleen Mallory is back--to face her most terrifying obsession--the murder of her own mother...

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #67818 in Books
• Published on: 1998-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780515122985
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
At the end of Killing Critics, the third book in Carol O'Connell's addictive series about Mallory, a strikingly original New York City cop, Mallory is traveling south on a train. "She carried no stitch of formal identification that would tie her to a name or a place. This was the way she had come to New York as a child, with only her wits and a bit of a mother's blood on her hands ..." Stone Angel shows us both the beginning and end of that journey, solving mysteries set up in O'Connell's first two books in the series--Mallory's Oracle and The Man Who Cast Two Shadows--as well as raising the inevitable question of what she can do for an encore. Even if the Mallory books end here, O'Connell's future seems secure: these dark and powerful myths are sure to be read and reread for a long time.

From School Library Journal
YA?Much darker than the previous three novels starring Mallory, Stone Angel examines the shadows that haunt this unique detective, bringing to light the horrors that drive her. Here she is seeking retribution with single-minded obsession for her mother's grisly death by stoning. The small Louisiana town she fled as a child and to which she now returns is polluted with enough moral corruption to make Faulkner proud. Fans of the earlier books will be gratified to know that old friends have followed Mallory to Louisiana. Charles has spent months tracking her, dogging her steps with a fiercely loyal determination. Detective Riker has found her as well, and the relationship among these three continues to develop as the men try to keep her from destroying herself while seeking revenge. O'Connell is at her best when she is characterizing the almost animalistic Mallory, and she has outdone herself here, deftly weaving together threads of character and subplots from all four novels to reveal Mallory's true motives. While readers should not deprive themselves of Mallory's Oracle, The Man Who Cast Two Shadows, and Killing Critics, Stone Angel can stand alone and will leave readers spellbound. It may be one of the most chillingly horrible, darkly brooding, masterful mysteries of recent times.?Robin Deffendall, Prince William Public Library System, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
O'Connell has built an impressive following thanks to such well-received novels as Killing Critics (Putnam, 1996). Here, series star Kathleen Mallory returns to the scene of her mother's murder 17 years earlier.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Customer Reviews

Well-Written accomplishment as usual for O'Connell
I think that Carol O'Connell has perfected her Character, Kathleen Mallory by this time to seem like the cold, unfeeling perfectionist on the outside but really does hold some aspects of human emotion.

Mallory is on a quest for information...information on the death of her mother and her illegal "partner" chases after her in an attempt to try and win her affections.

Ah, I know what you're thinking...but alas, this is not one of those sappy romances with a mystery weaved into it. No, the mystery is definitely dominant and the romance is just a subtle tap on the shoulder...enough to keep you wondering about the outcome of this one-sided relationship, but your brain working furiously to solve the mystery.

I'll admit that the identity of the killer was not difficult to figure out, but for some reason, I still couldn't close the book...I just kept on reading.

I highly reccomend this book and all other books written by Carol O'Connell. However, it is in your best intrest to read the Mallory series starting from the beginning so you know the whole story, beginning with "Mallory's Oracle".

Mallory is an intriguing, original and disturbing creation
Against a richly realised Southern Gothic background, a strange and exotic story works itself out. By the end of this novel, I was breathless with excitement, moved almost to tears by Mallory's tragedy and the damage that has resulted from it, and emotionally drained. You won't read another crime novel quite like this all year.

One of the best books written in forever...
O'Connell has created a book that is both original and incredibly fascinating. I read this book in under four hours at one sitting simply because I couldn't put it down. Mallory (main character) might be on the verge of being a sociopath, but at the same time evolves as a character by not outright killing the bad guys in the end (at least most of them). But the uniqueness of this book doesn't lie in just the creation of a deeply flawed and borderline sociopath lead-all the characters are some of the most complex and colorful people to be written about in any book, period.

O'Connell is a master at using seemingly insignificant details and phrases to describe places and people that make them unforgettable. She has a way of writing whole paragraphs that should lead up to a predictable conclusion-but then in the last sentence floors the reader with a different perspective. (Usually Mallory's rather illegal or sociopath views) This makes for some of the most humorous and thought provoking material that I've read in a long time. O'Connell is simply at the top of her game here, making this book, in my opinion, much better than the previous three books in the Mallory series due to tighter editing, a more emotionally involved plot, and an insane setting.

The detail of Mallory's name at the end of the book completely shocked me. It showed that O'Connell has either planned out this book from the very beginning of the series, or simply is a master writer. Everything about this book is incredible-from the autistic piano player with broken hands and the old dog waiting for his owner to the haunting stone angels in the cemetery and a mischievous old lady who lets her mansion go to ruin. In short, a masterpiece.