Stone Angel

By: Carol O'Connell

Narrated by: Laural Merlington

Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's Summary

NYPD sergeant Kathleen Mallory is drawn to place far away from home. In a small town in Louisiana, she steps off the train. Within the hour, one man has been assaulted, another has had a heart attack, a third has been murdered, and Mallory is in jail, though she nothing to do with any of these three events. She is there for an entirely different purpose.

Seventeen years earlier, Mallory's mother died in this town, stoned to death by a mob, and the six-year-old Mallory had disappeared, to reappear on the streets of New York. Now she's back to find out who killed her mother, and what happened to the body, vanished as well, its only trace a winged angel in the local cemetery.

©1998 Carol O'Connell (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

The narrator makes or breaks a good story!

Although I really enjoyed this story in the Mallory series, I much prefer Barbara Rosenblat as the narrator. Unfortunately, Laural Merlington just does not have the voice range to make all of the character believable without distraction. The story is good and answers some questions about the main character that we've all been waiting to find out. The story is definitely a good one, but I would not recommend this narrator for this book series.

A waste of time

Any additional comments?

I, unfortunately, bought 2 of these books at the same time or I never would have listened to this one. Since I owned it, I thought I should give the series a second chance. In this book, we find out why Mallory is damaged and why she wants to be called Mallory. The whole book was such a bore I have already forgot why she wanted to be called Mallory…so much for suspense. These novels are so convoluted with intertwining stories of unbelievable characters and weak motives that by the end, you just don’t care and am only glad it’s over.

Pretty Good Mallory Story

Who was your favorite character and why?

Kathleen Mallory of course, though Charles came off pretty strong (and oblivious) at times.

Have you listened to any of Laural Merlington’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I can't remember, but she is quite talented. Listening to some decent narrators I've forgotten that others possess talents unrivaled. The ability to transform the story into a moving picture. Laural Merlington is one of them.

Any additional comments?

If you’re familiar with the Detective Mallory serious then you’ll be able to follow along. I read a previous review warning that Mallory takes more a supportive character role in this book and it’s somewhat true. It seemed like she was more of a cameo than the protagonist. The book is about her and the loss of her mother. The revenge seemed so unrealistic, like everything was staged. In previous novels and books events role seamlessly to the point the reader believes that the occurrences couldn’t be anything, but natural. It was like Mallory showed up the lights went out, and she disappeared. If the part of the book was about Mallory you expected her to do something and then disappear.

I’m a Kathleen Mallory supporter because she has this superhero quality about her. She doesn’t take crap from anyone and is willing to back it up with action. She’s intelligent and a quick-thinker. Her critical thinking and reasoning abilities create suspense and intellect. She defends the weak, confused, and sometimes stupid. She always gets her target. This is the Kathleen Mallory I enjoy reading about.

Thoroughly enjoyable

I really enjoyed all the clever quips and turns of phrase, which I hadn't noticed so much in the other two Mallory books that I've "read," possibly because Laural Merlington has just the right light touch in her reading to accentuate them, while those (Find Me and The Chalk Girl) were read by other people. Her portrayal of Mallory makes her a much more sympathetic character than she seemed in the other two books, though of course still pretty rough for a young woman. I've known girls who were almost that wild, though, so only had to stretch my "suspension of reality" a little. This is one book that I'll definitely listen to again sometime, probably even before I forget all the details. I thought it was fantastic.

Poor narrator

I found the narrator very annoying the echo effect of people's thoughts was very distracting