A Quiet Belief in Angels - R.J. Ellory

Advantages: Gripping, excellently written.
Disadvantages: Richard and Judy like it, pretty tragic story

...I'm going to find out a bit more about him! RJ Ellory R J Ellory has an excellent website at - www.rogerjonellory.com To summarise…Born in Birmingham in 1965 Ellory seems to have had a pretty difficult childhood. He began writing in 1987, and trying to get his books published proved to be impossible since he is English but his books are set in the US. Disillusioned, Ellory stopped writing until 2001 when he began again. His first published ...
...A Quiet Belief in Angels is Ellory's 5th book, published in August 2007 and seems to have taken the UK (and other countries) by storm, being selected for the Richard and Judy book club - whoopee! He has another 2 books due for release, and it seems that Ellory's career is going from strength to strength - he is evidently quite a prolific writer. Before going on to talk about the book itself, I will just share a bit from the website: "On numerous ... Read review

Advantages: many
Disadvantages: few

...open the book and find a dedication to Truman Capote, on the next page a quotation on childhood by an author I don't know, then comes a half-page long prologue on gunshots in New York which no one heard or cared for. So we are in New York? The following one and a half page in italicised print have no headline but don't take up the theme of the prologue, instead a first person narrator looks back at his life and promises to tell us all about it, obviously ...
...at the body of a dead man before me, and I know that in some small way justice has been seen to be done." On the following page the first chapter starts. I HATE THIS! First the pompous beginning with dedication, quotation and prologue, then the italicised insert (there will be more throughout the book), in my opinion the cheapest way of creating suspense. Either the story is thrilling or it isn't, if the author has to point out repeatedly that something ... Read review

Advantages: None
Disadvantages: Suspense was overrated

...Southern states of America, where a long line of murders sends the main protagonist into a whirlwind of suspicion and deception, in his pursuit to avenge their murders. It felt like this character's motives were very hard to understand, particularly his obsession (very early on in the book) with avenging the murdered girls' death from an early age. This made it hard to relate to the story at hand. Whilst the writer is clearly accomplished in his ...
...overstated and unnecessary particularly through the use of the italicised interspersed sections. Moreover, the suspense is not even successful as I had guessed the outcome half way through the book. The lead up to that outcome was very rushed, considering Ellory had laboriously dragged on some sections of the book to the point of boredom. ... Read review

Advantages: great read
Disadvantages: Non

...heard that it was about a serial killer and imagined blood and guts all over the pages. He handles the deaths subtly and yet manages to convey to you the shock and its effects on one man's life and the town. As for Joseph, it feels like you are sitting in on a man's private thoughts. A story of a life that would have been boring, is told in such a way that it makes him interesting despite his mundane life. It is a great insight in to human nature. ... Read review