Better Angel by Michael Green is a crime drama novel that follows the lives of the various inhabitants of Newtown, Australia. Finn Duffy, a solicitor, defends petty criminals before a court of law and has a lackluster attitude toward life. When George Mallard, a nefarious businessman, hires his services to procure real estate in the town, Finn accepts his offer, disregarding the advice of his mother and his close friends. After negotiating further with his client, Finn discerns that Mallard wants to renovate the Cambridge Hall and the local park into private real estate. Feeling suspicious of Mallard's reassurances, Finn finds himself torn between serving his client and supporting the people of his hometown as they stand together to defeat Mallard.

Author Michael Green uses multiple POV characters to showcase the varying personalities and factions involved in the narrative. The plot is paced deliberately slowly, and the author takes time to integrate the reader into the story. The cast is quite large as the personal lives of the different inhabitants of Newtown are explored with Mallard's plot thread running in the background. The characters are well-realized, and I found myself actively rooting for them in their fight to conserve their heritage. Finn, Ruby, Sana, Bruno, and Max were my personal favorites of the bunch. I was particularly invested in Finn's, Bruno's, and Max's storylines. The dialogue is realistic, and I was pleasantly surprised by the wit and humor spread throughout the book. If you love slice-of-life stories set in small towns, Better Angel is the book for you.

Better Angel by Michael Green compellingly absorbs the reader into the cosmopolitan folds of Newtown society, a thriving inner-city suburb of Sydney. Circulating within this rich environment are stories to amaze, places of history priceless beyond measure, individuals and families just as compelling, and plans for futures unfathomable to present minds. Finneas Duffy (Finn) is one of these residents, and his three-room office is ideally situated across the street from Newtown Court. In this place, Finn plies his trade regularly as a local solicitor. When a developer named George Mallard walks into Finn’s life with the promise of bounty unimaginable, a whole chain of events is triggered that will ultimately change the course of his life. Finn will be forced to deal with a world that is evolving at an ever-increasing pace and look hard at his own life and how he wants to spend the remaining time of this most precious gift of all.

Michael Green has deftly woven Better Angel into a palpable experience of life in the inner suburbs of a major Australian city; I speak from first-hand knowledge as I used to live not far from Newtown. The portrayal of the characters, how they spend their time, and their interactions are quite accurate. I also loved the way the story encompasses cultural elements, including a nice touch of humor and just the right amount of history. The relationships developed were very real, with Jessie being what a typical mum would be, and Louisa being what a typical secretary would be. As far as Sana is concerned, I can fully empathize with her patient expectations. This is a genuinely authentic taste of what life is like. If you appreciate easy-to-read drama with all the right ingredients, Better Angel is for you.