Safety first
ANGEL By Barbara Taylor Bradford (HarperCollins, $180) FINALLY, the secret of the successful Barbara Taylor Bradford novel - cum TV mini-series - is revealed. . . safety.
Envelop readers in a secure world of predictability. Cocoon them in the sure knowledge that nothing unexpected is ever going to happen.
In the world of BTB, supremely good characters are never besmirched by an unkind thought. Bad types always come to a suitably sticky end - or are banished to Hongkong as in one case in Angel. Best of all, the identities of the hero and heroine who will finally get together on the last page are always revealed in chapter one.
This makes things a lot easier on readers who are not then burdened with the weighty task of wading through the 390-odd pages in the middle.
And since those middle pages are blessed with lines like ''I'm going far, far away on a long journey,'' (uttered by dying woman); ''I wish we could lock 'em up and throw the keys away'' (by the good cop); and ''their old eyes exuded knowledge, wisdom andpower'', they are far better left unread anyway.
Bearing this in mind, Angel is a cross between Hollywood Wives and The Godfather . It involves a group of highly-successful beautiful people who became friends at the age of 17 joined by the common bond of all being orphans. There is a film superstar, an Oscar-winning film designer, a top publicity agent and an undercover cop.
They all love each other, just as friends, you understand, and it will take the intrusion of a Mafia crooner and a couple of failed marriages before they realise just how much they really care. Ahh...
