Sympathy for the Devil: An Angela Bivens Thriller

by Christopher Chambers

Silently, a tiny yellow spider spins her fragile web. As a young boy stops to watch, she crawls along the delicate silken threads, sometimes hanging, sometimes spinning, sometimes staring back. Before... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0609608495
• ISBN13: 9780609608494
• Release Date: September 2001
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 306 Pages
• Weight: 1.37 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

True Thriller

There are many very good African American authors and/or mystery series on the market, but I think Chambers just shot to the head of the class . . . And what a class it is!! His Angela Bivens, FBI agent eclipes Eleanor Taylor Bland's police officer Marti MacAlister; Christopher Darden's Nikki Hill; Grace Edwards' Mali Anderson; Norman Kelley's Nina Halligan; Penny Mickelbury's Carol Ann Gibson; Gary Phillips'Martha Chainey; Valerie Wilson Wesley's Tamara Hayle and Paula Woods' Charlotte Justice. The elite list is even longer when you include Nikki Baker's Virginia Kelley; Charlotte Carter's Nanette Hayes; Nora DeLoach's Mama series; Penny Mickelbury's Gianna Magilione; Barbara Neely's Blanche; and Judith Smith-Levin's Starletta Duvall. All excellent mystery writers. However, Christopher Chambers has written not just a mystery, but a true thriller and an excellent, yet complex, read. Sympathy for the Devil is a white-knuckle, edge-of-your-seat, tightly written romp through the true Washington, DC, elite and underworld dens. Chambers flavors his knowledge of FBI procedure and hierarcy in the city with taste and appreciation for every other element (beyond the federal and city governments) that the Nation's Capitol has to offer. Chambers'insight is to Washington, DC, what Grace Edwards is to Harlem, New York. Beyond the rich texture, Chambers keeps us hanging by our collective finger nails through chapter by chapter trying to get a grip on the many twists and turns and then cold-cocks us with his finale. Don't pass this one up or you'll be way behind by the time the next installment is released in the bookstores!

No, I think this author nailed it

I don't usually get involved but I beg to differ with the previous reviewer, and side with the overwhelming majority. This novel was superb. Good for summer beach reads or a rainy Fall afternoon once the football games are over. I am not a young African-American nor am I from the District of Columbia, but I found the fact that it concentrated on characters and emotions refreshing and these things are universal to race or geography. Cleopatra Jones? That seems a bit inapt to me. One problem I will note, is that I am a retired law enforcement officer and avid mystery and suspense reader. I was not happy with some of the portrayals of police and the FBI in the novel, but I cannot, on the other hand, say the author was far off the mark when it came to the variety of cruel, racist or incompetent individuals and their agendas. As for feats, I must say that after 9/11/01 real life events, no feat of heroism or horror in fiction is too incredible. Bravo Mr. Chambers, and I hope you will continue your good work.

Complex, Compelling and Engrossing!

Sympathy for the Devil (SFTD) is a thrilling and intriguing mystery debut novel from Christopher Chambers. Chambers introduces us to Angela Bivens, the sharp, intelligent FBI Special Agent of this exciting new thriller.Two inner city teenage girls are killed on the mean streets of the nation's capitol. The police and politicians want to wrap up the case quickly without even investigating because they believe that it's just another case of black-on-black crime and a routine causality of a drug war among poor folks that no one will really miss. Agent Bivens has just won a class action discrimination suit against the FBI, to appease Agent Bivens, and to satisfy the requirement for field work, her superiors throw her a bone...help the DC police solve this case which really holds little interest for most Agents on the fast-track. Agent Bivens has a mission -after witnessing a tragic incident as a young girl- she swore that she would always be there to help the underdog. She tackles this case and gives it her all as she suspects there's more to the killings than just routine drug war mishaps. As Agent Bivens digs deeper, and the case begins to unravel, the evidence leads to her personal life. It seems that boyfriend, Trey Williams, a successful DC attorney has an identical twin brother called Pluto who might be a suspect. Pluto has a prior criminal record, is a heroin addict and dabbles in myth and the occult. Could he be the mastermind behind the serial killings?SFTD is a page-turner that will have youon the edge of your seat as you speed read to solve this legal thriller. It's a compelling read that will hold your attention until the very last page...although I must admit that I couldn't read fast enough and was often tempted to skip to the end to find out the outcome. I look forward to more Special Agent Angela Bivens storylines and mystery lovers of Legal Thrillers will enjoy this impressive debut novel from Christopher Chambers.Reviewed by Yasmin

Fantastic book!

I read this as an escape from the awful events Tuesday. Maybe the methodical scariness of the novel helped deal with the chaotic scariness of the World Trade Center. I found this an adeptly done first novel. Better than the things that the so-called big authors put out in assembly line fashion.

When will the sequel come out?

I can't wait! I got this today as a prospect for my bookclub and couldn't put it down. The characters and settings are rich, vivid and adeptly drawn. They seem to be real people, though I am not an African American, nor do I live in Washington, D.C., this opens a new world to me with ease, and it exposes people you don't otherwise see underneath the usual political intrigue. The plot doesn't have any of the trite twists or formulas the "big people" in suspense novels toss at us all the of the time, and I like that. It has a very literary feel to it, but scary (this is better than "Hannibal") and exciting (so my boyfriend, who doesn't read anything except Civil War books actually stole it from me). I highly recommend this to all readers, except higher-ups in the FBI!