''Rage of Angels'' is a novel by

Sidney Sheldon Sidney Sheldon (February 11, 1917 – January 30, 2007) was an American writer. He was prominent in the 1930s, first working on Broadway plays, and then in motion pictures, notably writing the successful comedy '' The Bachelor and the Bobby-Sox ...

published in 1980. The novel revolves around young attorney Jennifer Parker; as she rises as a successful lawyer, she gets into a series of ongoings that lead to intrigue with the mob and a rival attorney that promises to break her life's dreams. As the story progresses, the protagonist is romantically torn between a famous politician, who helps her rise again, and the Mafia boss who framed her. The boss swears to destroy her after he finds out about her affair with the politician and the child resulting from the affair.

Plot summary

Jennifer Parker, a beautiful, inexperienced, newly sworn in

Assistant District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represe ...

for the

State of New York New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

, inadvertently participates in a plot by Michael Moretti, the rising star of one of the most powerful

organized crime Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...

families in

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, to escape a trial.

Manhattan District Attorney The New York County District Attorney, also known as the Manhattan District Attorney, is the elected district attorney for New York County, New York. The office is responsible for the prosecution of violations of New York state laws (federal la ...

Robert Di Silva, believing that Jennifer is truly responsible, fires her and vows to destroy her for her part in the fiasco with Moretti. Di Silva initiates disbarment procedures against Jennifer, and young lawyer Adam Warner is assigned to investigate Jennifer. Adam immediately realizes that she is not guilty at all, and falls for her. With Adam's help Jennifer begins to rise again; meanwhile Moretti, inspired by her determination to succeed, follows her career from a distance. Adam, despite being married and groomed for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

, cannot help falling in love with Jennifer. When he tells her that his wife Mary Beth has asked for a divorce, Jennifer meets with her. Being so close to the Senate election, the two women decide it is best for Adam to wait until after the election. But Mary Beth sleeps with Adam one last time, in the process tricking him into impregnating her. Adam learns that his wife is pregnant, wins the election and Jennifer ends their affair. Jennifer, having previously discovered that she too is pregnant and not wanting to be hurt by Adam, accepts but does not reveal to him that she is carrying his child. Jennifer gives birth and names her son Joshua Adam Parker. Only her assistant Ken Bailey knows of Joshua's existence. Jennifer returns to her practice and soon makes headlines as a successful lawyer. Meanwhile, Moretti constantly tries to spark friendship with Jennifer, which she rebuffs at every attempt, reminding him of his earlier trick that was devastating to her early career. Nevertheless, when her son is kidnapped by a criminal Jennifer is defending, she, in desperation, turns to Moretti for help. After helping her, he seduces her and Jennifer eventually becomes the Family

consigliere Consigliere ( , ; plural is a position within the leadership structure of the Sicilian, Calabrian, and Italian-American Mafia. The word was popularized in English by the novel ''The Godfather'' (1969) and its film adaptation. In the novel, a c ...

. Joshua dies following a water skiing accident. Jennifer and Moretti are soon being hunted down by the government; he shoots her, wrongly thinking she has betrayed him, and is killed himself in an

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

raid of his house. Adam is able to use his position to save Jennifer. Soon Jennifer watches on television as Adam is sworn in as President of the United States. Jennifer returns to her home town and a small law practice, with everyone she loved taken from her and all joy and happiness gone from her life.

Adaptations

The novel was adapted into a

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

in 1983, directed by

Buzz Kulik Seymour "Buzz" Kulik (July 23, 1922 – January 13, 1999) was an American film director and film producer, producer. He directed 72 films and television shows, including the landmark CBS television network anthology series ''Playhouse 90'' ...

and starring Jaclyn Smith, Armand Assante and

Ken Howard Kenneth Joseph Howard Jr. (March 28, 1944 – March 23, 2016) was an American actor. He was known for his roles as Thomas Jefferson in ''1776'' (1972) and as high school basketball coach and former Chicago Bulls player Ken Reeves in the televisi ...

. It was followed by a sequel, ''Rage of Angels: The Story Continues'' in 1986. The 1985 Hindi Movie Bepanaah and 1986 Malayalam movie '' Rajavinte Makan'' was loosely based on this novel. This movie was remade in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

as '' Makkal En Pakkam'', in

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

as '' Athiratha Maharatha'', in Telugu as ''Ahuthi'' and in Hindi as '' Kanwarlal''. The title was adopted by an American glam metal band formed in 1987 and a British metal band formed in 2011.

References

SidneySheldon.com , Bookshelf
{{Sheldon 1980 American novels Novels by Sidney Sheldon American thriller novels Novels set in New York City American novels adapted into films American novels adapted into television shows Adaptations of works by Sidney Sheldon