Angels Don't Die by Soren Paul Petrek

 Review of Cold Lonely Courage (in which Madeleine's story begins) can be found here

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When an American agent is taken hostage, famed WWII assassin, Madeleine Toche resurfaces to rescue him, taking on the PLO and all comers in the middle of Israel’s Yom Kippur War. Toche, feared as the Angel of Death, must send the PLO a bloody message, release the agent or die. With the help of the Mossad, Toche unleashes her fury, leaving a path of destruction everywhere she goes.
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I really enjoyed Cold Lonely Courage, but Angels Don't Die didn't live up to my expectations of a sequel. Where CLC takes place during WWII and in many ways feels very authentic and possible, ADD was set at a very slow pace and it felt more like a Hollywood sequel than a story that can hold its own.

I never felt a connection to the characters, they're all somewhere in their 50's, and in true Hollywood style when the agent (who happens to be Madeleine's god son) gets kidnapped (let's just call a spade a spade here, okay?) she, her husband and the agent's parents set out to get him back calling in favours from all over (because they all happen to know just about anyone needed when performing a rescue mission).

It took me ages to finish it, because I could never really work up interest to read on. It's a real shame too, because I loved Madeleine in the first book. But now (with stories of the past being told as we go along, just to prove how incredible she is) we are constantly being told that she's basically invisible and she can pretty much take on an army on her own, if need be. Why bother reading on, when you already know it can't possibly end any other way, than happy ever after?

published in 2012

 Review by Iben Jakobsen, BoB, 2012