As The Angel Gang begins, thoughtful, capable ex-private detective Tom Hickey is married to the delicate Wendy, whose unworldly innocence and faith in her "angels" provides her with a stronger shield against evil than even Hickey's devotion and the gun he carries. Hickey is drawn away from their idyllic retreat in Tahoe to come once more to the aid of Cynthia, the young singer who caused him so much trouble in The Venus Deal. But he is summoned back hastily when criminals employed by one of Hickey's several old enemies abduct the pregnant Wendy. The rush to rescue her becomes an almost unbearably taut drama whose climax is as surprising as it is heartrending.