Falling Angel

Johnny Favorite, a popular crooner before and during the Second World War, has not been seen or heard of since he was critically wounded during a 1943 Luftwaffe raid on Allied forces in Tunisia. In 1959, private investigator Harry Angel is hired to locate him on behalf of a mysterious client who calls himself Louis Cyphre. During his investigation, Angel finds himself enmeshed in a disturbing occult milieu.

The book was adapted into a 1987 mystery-thriller film entitled Angel Heart starring Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, and Lisa Bonet.[1] It was also adapted into an opera by J. Mark Scearce to a libretto by Lucy Thurber.[2] Titled Falling Angel, it premiered at the Brevard Music Center on June 30, 2016,[3][4] after having initially been commissioned by the Center for Contemporary Opera in New York.[2]

Angel’s Inferno, the long-awaited sequel to Angel Heart, was published after Hjortsberg's death by No Exit Press (UK) in 2020 and Open Road Media (USA) in 2021 to mixed reviews.

Press material for the book said of Angel’s Inferno: "A 1950s amnesiac and hard-boiled detective sets out for revenge in this blend of mystery, supernatural horror, and metaphysical fiction. Private investigator Harry Angel is in a jam. Handcuffed in his apartment along with the cops and a corpse, he stands accused of violently murdering three people. The good news is he knows who did it. But in order to exonerate himself, Harry must first make his escape—and figure out his own identity. With the authorities hot on his heels, Harry travels from New York and Boston to Paris and the Vatican in search of an elusive stage magician. Eventually piecing together his mysterious past, he descends into the dark world of the occult. And very soon he will have vengeance upon the devil himself."