And it is unusually good: a harsh public-service message built into a clever, suspenseful thriller.
But this is also where the novel falls apart, losing sight of what might have been a clever thriller and allowing Frank's personal life and character development to become the focus of the story.
Sensual and intellectual, "Angelology" is a terrifically clever thriller - more Eco than Brown, without the cloudy sentimentalism of New Age encomiums or Catholic treatises.
Janet Maslin called it "a taut, clever thriller throughout, with Mr. Apted's direction establishing its intensity immediately and sustaining it well.
It's the kind of connection that's often found in taut, clever conspiracy-theory thrillers, of which the new Australian film "Ground Zero" is a prime example.
The Observer found it at once a "clever psychological thriller" and a deeper reflection on guilt, memory, truth, and other issues.
You ought to be able to: you write awfully clever thrillers.
The series finishes with a clever thriller by Bernard Slade.
A clever thriller about a lawyer and a brain researcher.