Rage of Angels || Critique Paper
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Critique Paper RAGE OF ANGELS by SIDNEY SHELDON
Stressful, meaning stress-inducing. Something that makes you feel worried or anxious. That is how I’d describe this book. Now, you’d probably think that maybe it was too much for me to handle, which, in a sense, is true but no. What I couldn’t handle was Jennifer’s utter stupidity regarding her actions. Here we see a classic innocent heroine who you’d feel sorry for in the beginning because things weren’t going her way, naturally gaining the hearts of the readers with all the unfortunate events to happen to her—much like a stray animal or an amputee—who, through hardships gains the victory she so deserves and that’s where stories usually end, no? Oh but what’s this? Through a series of alarming and nerve-wracking events, she suddenly turns into a woman we could no longer recognize. It was almost as if her innocence became tainted by the circumstance she dived into so foolishly and recklessly. Before I begin stating my opinions on the matter, why don’t I first indulge into a summary of the plot of this book?
Published in 1980, Rage of Angels is one of renowned author Sidney Sheldon’s most intriguing book yet. Many described his protagonist—Jennifer Parker—an extraordinary woman whose only goal was to practice the profession of law much like her deceased father did. Here she was, in New York working for the renowned District Attorney who was a shoe-in for politics if he only put a fearful man behind bars: Michael Moretti. But of course, this man was someone who got what he wanted no matter what the cost, even if that would cost an innocent, inexperienced lawyer career-suicide. And woe to Jennifer, she was simply the victim of his devious plan. Suddenly the whole world turns against her, much like a participant who hasn’t even gone to the starting line but was already disqualified. She faced many problems afterwards, disbarment, living expenses, shame and whatnot. Naturally, our hearts went out to her. What did she ever do wrong? We asked in our minds. What does the author have in store for her next? Will she just live this way?
But of course, in a book, there will be solutions. Much like life. She was still alive so surely there would be a solution to her predicament right? In comes Ken Bailey, practically her saviour when times were rough. But it wasn’t really enough for her. Her true calling was in the courtroom, where she practiced law with all she had. Eventually, through a funny twist of fate, she met Adam Warner, a role model of a lawyer who came to her at the command of Robert Di Silva, the District Attorney who wanted her disbarred.
Life worked in amusing ways, if I do say so myself. Who would’ve thought that Adam and Jennifer would find love between themselves? But we, the readers, knew that it was something alarming. This was when the seedling of nervousness was planted. Adam had a wife and this relationship was nothing short of adultery. But that didn’t matter to them, now did it? As long as they were happy, nothing could go wrong. Amidst this, Jennifer suddenly gained her pride back! Going from the media’s black sheep to the media’s golden child, her life had gained a complete 180 when she successfully gained a not guilty plea from the jury for prisoner Abraham Wilson, one who was accused of murder. We all thought she wouldn’t be able to survive this, even she didn’t think she would be able to survive this. Especially if she was up with Di Silva. It was almost like she was begging to be massacred all over again. But what a change of events. She managed to win and gain her reputation back. And she kept going and going until she reached the big leagues. She was then an asset to the profession and we, the readers, were happy for her, even considering her relationship with Adam as true love. It would be alright, right? They were going to have a divorce anyways! It would be fine.
We didn’t even mind the threat of Michael Moretti lurking around the corner. To us, he was probably just some annoyance to Jennifer. No significant value whatsoever. We were proven wrong. Oh, so wrong. Everything came tumbling down. Her pregnancy, Mary Beth’s pregnancy, Adam’s candidacy. Everything was suddenly twisting and turning. Slowly it was tainting Jennifer. She decided to take on the task of raising her child alone. The resemblance of the child to his father was uncanny, as what she obviously pointed out. It must’ve been hard for her to endure that. And we never could’ve guessed what happened next. Much like a Joker card, a trump, Jack Scanlon entered the scene and was the catalyst, the trigger for Jennifer’s worst decision yet. Asking Michael Moretti’s help. Suddenly, we readers were helpless as we read how she slowly destroyed her life, her pride just for a single man who would bring her no good. Right from the start we knew he wouldn’t be a good influence. Maybe we were swayed a bit when he did all of that for Jennifer, but in the end, all he really was, was scum. Jennifer knew that but she couldn’t do anything about it. He had targeted her most vulnerable point and slowly, she was consumed. We could only read on sadly, as more events happened, as Jennifer passed the point of no return. Even Ken Bailey bailed out on her. She wasn’t the same Jennifer we met.
And all this for just a couple of men! Perhaps it was her own fate that she ended up so unlucky. Perhaps she didn’t think of it as so. In all honesty, I can’t really judge her. She simply behaved in a way a human would. We hold not the reins to our destiny, no. Destiny is represented by strings that move us the way it wants us to. Sadly, this was hers.
How should I describe the ending? Sad? Unfair? Just? Lacking? I don’t really know. But it was definitely not what I was expecting. After that rollercoaster of emotions and reactions the ending just gave me a bittersweet feeling of emptiness. Much like the simple phrase of ‘Oh.’, I mean, how should I react? If the ending was different would I have reacted differently? Everything she entered when it came to love and men were obviously short-lived. Nothing would’ve turned out her way. We all knew that! It was inevitable! From this world, we kept screaming in our hearts, stop right now! Before you ruin your life! But what’s written in ink is what’s there. We can only accept the truth that the events happened and they are the simple truth.
I really can’t say I was happy with the events leading to the conclusion, but I can confidently say at some point in the beginning, there was that fresh naiveté in me that rooted for this woman to succeed in life.
To manage to ignite these feelings of deep frustration from within me, I have to say, Sheldon’s way of writing was magnificent. The writing style was sophisticated and precise. The portrayal of the characters were spectacular, especially the dialogue, taking into consideration the different contexts of the characters. The emotions were raw and heartfelt, that I can assure you. Many mysteries still haunt me though. As should any book. Like for example, why is it entitled Rage of Angels? What was the “rage” exactly? Jennifer’s rage? Our, the reader’s rage? What, what, what?! Why was the cover designed as such? Maybe I can’t answer this because I’m ignorant to what the story wanted to fully portray, or maybe I didn’t fully understand the story. But nevertheless, I’m going with what I initially thought. This story was very stressful. Ironically, as someone who aspires to become a lawyer, Jennifer, to me, is someone who portrays both the lawyer I would aspire to be and also the lawyer I should never aspire to be. Her innocence from the start was aspiring, her drive just to practice the profession was nothing short of incredible. It was only when she decided to get involved in the affairs of the mafia that I began to frown upon her actions.
She was seen as intelligent, witty and frankly, amazing. And she really was. All the negative aspects aside, she was an amazing lawyer indeed. Her personality was also an asset. So what exactly went wrong? I really can’t speak for the author or the character but I think that what happened was realistic, in the setting Sheldon painted. In the end, I don’t think that the end conclusion was to let Jennifer have a happy life. But she probably would have. If only she wasn’t entangled in Michael’s web. I think that all along, it was really The State VS Organized Crime. Jennifer was just an unfortunate soul who got caught up in everything.
If I were to critique the book, I’d probably say, it was heavily emotion-driven, a rollercoaster of true humanity. A bittersweet masterpiece. And I’ll probably give it 3.8 out of 5.