Teen Fiction

Dark Angel

Name: Dark Angel
Author: David Klass
ISBN: 9781466806108

by David Klass

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Overview

A taut psychological thriller for teens Seventeen-year-old Jeff thought he would never again have to deal with his older brother, a convicted murderer serving a life sentence. But after six years, Troy’s sentence has been overturned on a technicality and he is released from prison. He returns to a family deeply divided about having him back home. Jeff can’t forget how his life was disrupted by his brother, how his family had to move to another state and start over. Still, his parents believe things will be different now. But Troy’s return makes a mess of Jeff ’s life – at home, at school, and with his girlfriend. When Jeff ’s rival on the soccer field turns up missing, Jeff suspects Troy is involved, and he sets out to prove it. But nothing could prepare Jeff for what happens as he gets closer to the truth.
With unexpected flashes of humor, David Klass once again gives readers a gripping, multilayered novel about good and evil and the powerful bonds of family. Dark Angel is a 2006 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

When his older brother is released from prison, seventeen-year-old Jeff's family secret is revealed, causing upheaval in his home, school and love life.

About the Author, David Klass

David Klass is the author of many young adult novels, including Dark Angel and You Don’t Know Me. He is also a Hollywood screenwriter, having written more than twenty-five action screenplays, including Kiss the Girls, starring Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd, Walking Tall, starring The Rock, and Desperate Measures, starring Michael Keaton and Andy Garcia. Klass grew up in a family that loved literature and theater—his parents were both college professors and writers—but he was a reluctant reader, preferring sports to books. But he started loving the adventure stories his parents would bring home from the library—particularly Jack London, Robert Louis Stevenson and Alexandre Dumas. After his sister twice won a story contest in Seventeen magazine, Klass decided he would win it too, and when he was a senior in high school, he did, publishing his first story, “Ringtoss,” in the magazine. He studied at Yale University, where he won the Veech Award for Best Imaginative Writing. He taught English in Japan, and wrote his first novel, The Atami Dragons, about that experience. He now lives in New York with his wife and two small children.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

When Jeff's older brother-a convicted murderer-is unexpectedly pardoned from his life sentence, he comes to live with his family in a small New Jersey town. Jeff is suspicious of his brother from the beginning, even though Troy seems like "a model of rehabilitation," acting overly polite to his parents and landing a job at a local supermarket. Jeff is afraid of what will happen when word spreads, too, and does not even tell his best friend about Troy's return. But when a local golden boy goes missing after fighting with Troy, the family secret gets out. Readers will find the premise fascinating, and will empathize immediately with Jeff, whose girlfriend's father forbids her to talk to him and whose own family is being torn apart by suspicion, pain and guilt (his mother is even hospitalized). Jeff tackles a school paper on evil and human behavior, and struggles with complicated emotions towards his brother (Troy likewise admits his pain at being abandoned in prison). The family drama gives way to a true murder mystery; this plot line gains momentum and culminates in a thrilling, if predictable, final face-off. Overall, this is a dark, gripping novel, even if it leaves some questions unanswered. Ages 12-up. (Dec.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature

When his older brother is released from prison, Jeff's family secret is revealed, causing upheaval in his home, school and love life. After six years, Troy's sentence has been overturned on a technicality. 17-year-old Jeff thought he would never again have to deal with his brother, a convicted murderer serving a life sentence. First, Jeff's girlfriend's father keeps her away from him because of his brother. Then there is an incident with Jeff and one of the school jocks and a terrible scene with Troy getting involved. Troy takes a job with the father of Jeff's best friend, which causes a great deal of anxiety. The book keeps the reader on edge because it could go either way. It is a somewhat tragic story, yet realistic in how things can turn one's life upside down. It is a well-developed story that keeps the reader involved. This is a book for boys. The cover could be a draw for young-adult readers or it could be a turn-off. Some will want to read it because of the author's other books. 2005, Frances Foster Books/Farrar Straus and Giroux, Ages 14 to 18.
—Naomi Butler