I’ve read almost all of R. J. Ellory’s 10 books so far (“Bad Signs” being the exception. Soon to be corrected :)).

Along with Science Fiction (SF), Crime Fiction excites, evokes emotion, stimulates mentally, engages, mystifies, perplexes, and pleases me greatly.

That’s what Science and Crime Fiction do for me. Good SF makes me think and Crime Fiction makes me experience dilemmas of ordinary people presented with extraordinary situations. Both genres challenge me. Most of the time, mainstream literature does not make me feel that. That’s why I tend to avoid it.

I just wish R.J. Ellory was more widely read than he is now, because he is a class act and shows the amateurs how it's really done. So far the books I’ve read are simply superbly written. Anyway you want to look at them, there’s almost nothing at fault with any of them. Every year that there’s a book by R.J. Ellory coming out, I just know it’s going to be one the best books of that year (as far as I’m concerned…)

What can I say about this book without revealing the plot? It’s about a policeman, who has a Dark and Broken Heart… From a very high-strung introduction, to a shattering conclusion, via a series of audacious but sublimely executed twists, this book never once lets up.

R.J. Ellory can melt breathtaking plotting with profound emotion and meticulous detail, and produce novels of a quality unattainable by even the most gifted of his contemporaries. A Dark and Broken Heart is, quite simply, another masterpiece. ( )

Although I won this book, I never agreed to review it, but this book is an incredible read and one I certainly enjoyed! You can't help but the charming and effective Vincent Madigan ( )

This latest thriller by R.J.Ellory is a unrelenting tale of greed and betrayal. Vincent Madigan is a New York cop who has over the years become completely corrupted and soured. Over the years he has fallen under the evil influence of a crime boss by the name of Sandia,known as 'The Watermelon Man ' and this,together with his constant use of drugs and drink,have made his completely untrustworthy and unstable. He plans a robbery against Sandia which he hopes will free him from his ties and enable him to begin a new life.
This is one of those stories which is certainly thrilling in the extreme but as I have said many times before with other books,if the reader has little or no sympathy with any of the characters,then the story will ultimately fail. This is the case here and although I must give 4 stars for a real page-turner,I will have to deduct a star for the above reason. ( )

Any new book from R.J. Ellory is an event in these parts, and A DARK AND BROKEN HEART coming with the subtitle of "How Long Can A Man Escape Judgement?" was a particularly tantalising arrival.

Fans of Ellory will know that he writes flawed, complicated, considered stories often about consequences. He writes dark, and sad and desperate. He also writes glimpses of hope, humanity and future. Which makes his books amongst some of my all time favourites, and right up to and including the final sentence in A DARK AND BROKEN HEART this book is undoubtedly one of my favourites.

What is particularly interesting about this book is that it has, as the central character, a cop who is crooked. He makes very little apology for that, and for most of the book is completely obsessed with resolving the symptoms of a life gone horribly off the rails. Gambling, drug taking, working for the crooks, he's prepared to pull the "ultimate heist" to get his life back on track. And that's just the start of how far he's prepared to go to save his own skin.

I won't be at all surprised if some readers struggle a little with this book. Vincent Madigan is not an immediately likeable human being. His flaws, his driven disregard for everyone around him could make him appear completely ruthless, completely self-obsessed. He's manipulative, violent and very dangerous to know. Somewhere in the middle of all of that I could get a sense though that this was a very scared, imperfect human being, somebody who may not engender overt sympathy, but does have a conscience, does struggle with his decisions and the outcomes he now must deal with.

As is always the way with Ellory's books A DARK AND BROKEN HEART is no holds barred. Ellory is looking at themes that he often explores - what makes a person choose a certain path and what makes good people do bad things. The book does this concentrating almost totally on Madigan and his battle with his chosen path, with supporting appearances from a cast of characters that further explore that distinction between "good" and "bad" but more importantly why. Madigan and his associates - from both sides of the law - don't inhabit a happy place, and everyone who brushes up against them is affected by that contact. The story is fascinating, the writing tight yet descriptive, evocative yet sparse and very very pointed. And the ending is perfect.

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/dark-and-broken-heart-rj-ellory ( )