Roger Jon Ellory

This book tells the story of Joseph Vaughn, who lost his father in when he was twelve, living on a farm near a small town in Georgia at the very beginning of the Second World War. Later that year, the first girl is murdered. A Quiet Belief in Angels spans over three decades, some in more detail than others, telling the story of Joseph's difficult life and the way the murders haunt him. R.J. Ellory writes in an elaborate style that suits the time period and the narrator's own complex and show more confused view of events. This is an event-packed novel, including a monstrous serial killer, a coming of age story, a vivid description of a place and time, madness, false imprisonment, fame, love and retribution, it nonetheless loses its forward momentum a few times along the way. show less

Daniel Ford sits on death row, all appeals have failed, the date is about to be set. The crime he is convicted for: killing his best friend. These last months he is accompanied by a priest, who gets him to tell his story. And so we learn about Daniel and Nathan, one white, the other black, growing up in small town South Carolina in the 50s and 60s, how they become aware of racial tensions and the Vietnam war and what it would mean for both their lives. And finally how Daniel came to be where show more he is.

Superbly written, it brings alive a time that feels much further away than it actually is. The characters are flawed and feel so very real. Loved this book. show less

A Quiet Belief in Angels starts in the late 1930's in a small town in Georgia. Little girls are disappearing and their raped, mutilated and murdered bodies reappear, evoking profound angst in the mind of the book's protagonist, a young boy named Joseph Vaughn. Through successful decades, the murders haunt, obsess and firmly take root in Joseph's psyche, informing his world view and his writing. As Joseph tries to escape his past in the literary Bohemia of Brooklyn, it becomes all the more show more evident that the past will destroy him unless he confronts it and understands it.

The writing in this novel is rich with metaphor. Long discursive passages captivate the listener, evoking strong imagery of places, of people, moods, even dreams. Sentences wander back and forth between the real and the imagined, the present and the past, creating a hypnotic rhythm that ensnares the listener in a story that is equally enthralling and disturbing, beautiful and horrifying. It's unrelenting brutality finally starts to break a little more than halfway through the book, giving cause for accusations that the writer is pulling punches; but A Quiet Belief in Angels is such a taut psychological thriller that the relief is needed in order to continue. That said, the final passages are anti-climatic in that it doesn't feel like the true ending; but rather one that finally lets the reader off the hook.

Mark Bramhall delivers the text in a slow, entrancing Southern cadence that make the material easier going down; though his voice too is unable to sustain the tension and the affection throughout the entirety of the novel. Somewhere between the ninth and tenth finished hour, we lose the character and hear more of Mark Bramhall. If the narrator had been able to sustain his character throughout or backed off from the character early on, the change wouldn't have been as noticeable. The first nine/ten hours though? Mark Bramhall is on par with Will Patton. Yeah, that good.

By virtue of selecting a fictional story to listen to, we are asking the author to deceive us, to take us out of ourselves and see the world from a different perspective and, to do so in artful and impactful ways. We are asking to be manipulated and, authors comply, often evoking certain tropes that they know will effect the reader in a certain way. Some authors use dogs to make you cry and some others, use child killers to incense you. Ellory has chosen the latter, providing the reader with an antagonist that cannot be understood or championed under any circumstance than sheer madness. And, both Ellory and Bramhall have delivered the villain in hard-hitting, purpling punches. It hurts, and a little piece of you dies every day you listen; because try as you might, no understanding actually arrives.

Redacted from the original blog review at dog eared copy, A Quiet Belief in Angels. 05/09/2011 show less

Annie O'Neill has it all - a cosy Manhattan apartment, a beautiful bookshop and a network of supportive friends. But at the heart of her life is a hole - a place vacated by her father when he died in her childhood. So when a mysterious man named Forrester enters the shop and claims to be her father's oldest friend she jumps at the chance to find out more of her own past. But he's not being free with the answers she needs. He's much more interested in telling her a story about a ruthless show more ganglord and a fifty year old betrayal. A betrayal that she will realise far too slowly, has something very much to do with her...

My Thoughts:

I had read this book before and looking back on my notes I can remember that I enjoyed it. I have been given it again to read for book group as we had a visit from R J Ellory as part of World Book Night.

Reading it a second time was no problem either as I felt I was enjoying it as if I had not read it before. I could remember that it was going to have a sad ending for Annie where David was concerned. First time around I can remember not been able to guess what was going to happen but second time around I couldn’t quite remember, I just knew there would be heartache.

I did love Sullivan, the guy from next door and felt his character held the book together. Annie I loved and wanted to put my arms around her and David I felt sorry for. Simply because I felt he didn’t have his own mind and I felt he did care for Annie deep down and should have followed his heart.

What I have found with R J’s books is either that they are very good or very bad. This one was very good and I would highly recommend it. show less