Appeared in: A Suit of Diamonds
Year: 1990
Published by: Collins Crime (Crime Club)
Many heroes begin life in a short story, which is unsurprising, as it is a way of a new author cutting his or her teeth.
Angel, however, was established at this point, albeit in his early, pre-Amy years. Smeltdown is unusual, insofar as there is no 'Angel' in the title, but the basic storyline appeared later in Family of Angels. As I approached the short story after reading the novel, you could be forgiven for thinking that there was nothing new for me here.
In fact, I find short stories such as these fascinating: I read an early Chandler short story, which later became The Big Sleep (I think), and you feel like you're reading the early draft of something rather special, the notes as it were, of work in progress.
Family's Achilles Heel, as mentioned in my commentary, is the watering down of McCandy's villainy. In Smeltdown, the threats are real, rather than perceived. Taffy Duck is Welsh in Smeltdown, in Family he has an obscure and puzzling nickname. The girlfriend also changes: the one in the short does appear in the series, but married (to someone else) in Angel Confidential.
And, if you wondered about the time Angel mentioned that he had once driven a petrol tanker (albeit denied in Family), here's the story.
Angel Eyes
Appeared in: Fresh Blood III
Year: 1999
Published by: The Do Not Press
Angel Eyes was to be the original title of Angel Confidential, but for the rather boring matter of another book by the same name. However, the short and the novel both received the right title.
Eyes is a unique yarn, the storyline is not used in any other Angel novel, past or future. Told in the first person as usual, but through someone else's eyes: Veronica Blugden. Now, Angel would have chosen anyone else other than 'Ronnie' to describe him, but unfortunately, this is what makes it so interesting, oh, and funny. She makes him sound suspiciously like Sam West (unsurprising, considering he was 'pencilled' for the role back in the old days when someone was taking the TV rights seriously).
There isn't a lot more to say about this little ditty, other than saying that the crime stories it appears with have become favourites too. That must be an excuse to at least hunt down a copy. Isn't it?
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