The Fifth Angel

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After his teenage daughter is molested by a repeat sex offender, lawyer Jack Ruskin responds with unbridled rage. Even as he struggles to rein in his emotions, he plots his vengeance. A searing novel by the author of The Fourth Perimeter.

The Los Angeles Times

In The Fifth Angel, issues of right and wrong are clearer than they tend to be in real life; collateral damage is minimal and it is easy to root for the hero. Things are not usually so simple. But Green's eloquent thriller advances a gripping argument for wild justice. — Eugen Weber

Publishers Weekly

Like Green's previous thriller, The Fourth Perimeter, this book opens with an engaging premise that becomes less credible as the novel unfolds. Jack Ruskin, a senior partner in a prominent New York law firm, is beside himself with rage; his 15-year-old daughter is semicatatonic after being raped by a repeat sex offender, and the criminal has gotten off with a minimal sentence. Jack decides to take the law into his own hands. He hunts down and kills a randomly selected sex offender in upstate New York. Driven by bloodlust, Jack then embarks on a series of similar vigilante executions as he travels around the country on business for the firm. He falls in love with Beth, an empathetic young counselor at his daughter's hospital, but there's a close call when Beth nearly catches him surfing the Web for likely victims. He offs another criminal while the he and Beth are on an idyllic getaway in the Adirondacks. As the bodies pile up, FBI agent Amanda Lee is assigned to track down Jack. Amanda has her own interest in the case-her partner was recently killed by a child abuser resisting arrest. The briskly paced thriller culminates in a revealing showdown when Amanda traps Jack on Long Island. The action is engaging but between the lurid goings-on and the lurid prose ("His little girl was a shell with scars on her body and holes punched in her veins to feed her drugs"), the story verges on pulp. Most fans of Green's earlier novels will be satisfied with this one, but some may wish he had brought a bit more craft and restraint to his compelling premise. Agent, Esther Newberg. (Feb. 18) Forecast: Readers may recognize the multitasking Green from his jobs as Fox Sports commentator, USA Today columnist, CNN legal analyst and host of Comedy Central's Battlebots; major television and print advertising will further up his profile.

Library Journal

When Jack Ruskin's 15-year-old daughter is sexually attacked and consequently institutionalized, his frustration with legal efforts to arrest and prosecute sexual predators evolves into an obsession to stop these perverts by whatever means necessary, including murder. And, as a lawyer, he's got the knowledge, the legal resources, and the Internet savvy to track down his quarry and commit the perfect crime. FBI agent Amanda Lee is following the killings of sex offenders, which finally leads to a confrontation with Jack; the surprising ending shows her the absolute horror of these crimes. While neither this nor Green's other legal thrillers (The Fourth Perimeter; The Letter of the Law) are quite on par with those of such masters as John Grisham or John Lescroat, Green's writing has improved, and his intense, fast-paced plot will keep readers riveted. Strongly recommended for most popular fiction collections. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 10/15/02.]-Jetta Carol Culpepper, Murray State Univ. Libs., KY Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Slick, by-the-numbers thriller from the author of, among others, The Fourth Primer (2002). Long Island attorney Jack Ruskin starts to crumble after his teenaged daughter Janet is the victim of a serial sex offender. His wife divorces him, his work begins to suffer. Meantime, Janet languishes in a mental institution, and Jack’s visits to her regularly refuel his grief and rage. Then the lawyer prosecuting Janet’s attacker (ferretlike redneck Eugene Tupp) bobbles the case, Tupp goes free, and Jack snaps, turns vigilante, and goes on a cross-country killing spree of serial pedophiles. A passage from Revelations causes him to think of himself as the Fifth Angel, who brings "a vial of pain and death to the throne of Satan." In a similar vein, FBI agent Amanda Lee loses her faith in the system while tracking a serial pedophile known as Oswald. Despite clumsy interference by local law enforcement, Amanda and her rugged partner Marco track the perp to an abandoned building. Oswald disarms Marco and, as Amanda watches, slits his throat. Amanda shoots Oswald in the face. She takes a leave of absence, mulling her options: return to the bureau or stay at home with husband Parker (hardly the most selfless of spouses) and their two young children. Jack, meanwhile, tries to build a new relationship with the empathetic Beth Phillips. But his secrecy about his murderous sideline keeps her at a distance and ultimately drives her away. While stalking a pedophile in Vermont, Jack catches his target in the middle of a crime; Jack rescues the victim, in the process risking exposure. The two plots converge when Amanda’s first assignment back on the job is the pursuit of Jack. Green has a great ear for dialogue,writes with admirable economy, and steers clear of grisly elements of plot. But he seems uninterested in the moral dimension; as fast as the story moves, readers will still be ahead of every development.