Mike Ripley - Family of Angels
HarperCollins (0 00 232587 X) £14.99
In Family of Angels, we meet
Angel's family. You can quite see why he's kept them so well hidden for so long. No one
with any street cred (or even sense) would want to own up to a politician of a father
whose idea of family is to run off with a younger woman and then convince everyone to hush
it up because it'd be bad for his image (sound familiar?); a mother who couldn't care less
anyway, who's gone all arty and is carrying on (to be polite) with a young sailor (`tho
she does do a good line in T-shirts); and an incompetent brother who's supposed to be
running what's left of the family farm, but appears to have got himself up to his neck in
some sort of shady dealing. Finbar has disappeared. Which is where Angel comes in - he's
expected to sort it all out and keep the peace at the same time. Why does he help?
Blackmail - emotional - and money of course! Throw in our old friend Springsteen the wonderful but manic and dangerous black cat, Armstrong the taxi (so sad!), a marauding Vietnamese Pot Bellied pig, and Chuck Berry (I'll let you find out for yourself), and you're in for a whale (cat or pig) of a time. As always, Mike Ripley manages to combine (forgive the pun!) topical issues with irrepressible humour. His books are always a laugh a minute and Family of Angels is no exception. You'll find out what really goes on when farmers are paid not to grow crops. Especially what happens when the farmers are as gormless as Finbar. You'll discover how to nick a high-wing small aircraft (a Cessna 150 Aerobat to be precise). And exactly why tanker loads of petrol are going missing off the A12. Not the tankers themselves, just the petrol!
And Angel, admittedly under some duress, not to mention stress, joins the One Mile Down Club (don't ask!) on the trip over to Brussels via the Channel Tunnel. Somewhat embarrassing to say the least! All in all a wonderful read. Angel at his best! (EAL)
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