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A Quiet Belief in Angels

Author: R.j. Ellory
Publisher: Orion
Category: Book

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

233 reviews
Sales Rank: 33

Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 396
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 1.3

ISBN: 0752882635
EAN: 9780752882635
ASIN: 0752882635

Publication Date: January 2, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Customer Reviews:

Showing reviews 6-10 of 233

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As good as it gets ! June 25, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Once in a while a book comes along that carries you to a place where you do not want be disturbed, interupted, fed or watered, you just want to be left alone to read. This is such a book, It is a book that immerses you and literally makes you forget to breathe. The last book to make me feel like this was A Secret History by Donna Tartt. It is beautifully written and expertly paced. Each character is wonderfully drawn out and the story line never falters. This is a book that will resonate with you for a long time.

5 out of 5 stars

A Quiet Belief in Angels June 25, 2008
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

Not a traditional thriller, this book is in a category of its own. The sense of place and social commentary create a background of small town living that makes the horror to come even worse.
Did I want to know who the murderer was? It certainly did not seem the most important part of this novel. Although I was glad that there was a resolution for the main character. His journey is a very bumpy one and he and the killer seem to almost be as one.
I particularly liked the whole innocent idea that as a small boy he could keep his community safe with the help of his friends. His own personal need to safeguard his next door neighbour makes the inevitable events even more shocking.
The delicacy of the writing and the way that you can see into the thoughts and feelings of the characters as they are slowly revealed makes this a very compulsive read. I highly recommend this.

5 out of 5 stars

if I could, I would give it 6 stars.. June 24, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

This is a book that grabs your attention, for several reasons. The story is engrossing,a crime novel, that is much more than a whodunnit.
It is beautifully written, and wonderfully descriptive of the American way of life in small town Georgia.
The character, whilst having unbelievable events occur in his his life, is totally believable. His story inspired me, and his losses left me feeling morose.
Half way through, I knew I would be upset to have to finish the book, as I would be finished with something wonderful in my life.

I normally would not buy crime novels, but I am delighted I bought this one. A brilliant read, that makes the hair on your neck stand up.

5 out of 5 stars

If you only buy one book this year, make sure it's this one June 24, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

With well over 200 reviews of this novel already posted, I wonder if anyone will so much as read yet another one, but such is the impact it has had on me that I just have to add my own personal feelings about it.

For me, this is how tales should be told; written in such a way that the reader feels almost at one with the story thanks to relentlessly colourful imagery of people and places, beautiful and poetic prose, richness of metaphor, the deepest of character building and the accurate portrayals of love, friendship, trauma, guilt, redemption and loss. To summarise in a single word this is a whodunit, but it is immeasurably more than that. To expand on that slightly, the story describes what eventually becomes one man's mission in life to find out the truth behind a series of truly horrific murders in south-east America that spans thirty years either side of World War 2. So yes, it's a serial killer piece of crime-fiction but so lucid in texture and high in emotion that it stands comparison to In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, to whom the novel is dedicated. The many victims - almost all little girls - are murdered in ways that manage to shock despite our relatively sanitised attitude to violence on screen and in writing. There is nothing gratuitous about it, merely brief, economical and all the more disturbing for it. Yet somehow, what is in any case a rivetting story to the last page almost takes second place to the style of the writing itself, and it is in this area where the author really stands tall among all peers. I have always enjoyed the works of Irishman John Connolly, who like Ellory is a 'foreigner' who devotes his literary creations to the east side of the USA, because he has a great talent for prose and imagery too. But Ellory, quite simply, is better; he squeezes every emotion out of the reader be it tragic or uplifting, and such is the feast, the banquet, the lavish abundance of the imagination served up for our senses that we are able to indulge in that very rare combination of a wonderfully moving and well-constructed tale that has clearly been put to page with love, dedication and extraordinary detail.

4 out of 5 stars

Time for a change? June 21, 2008
2 out of 5 found this review helpful

If this was the first Ellory book I had read I would have given it 5 stars without a problem. However, having read the early reviews for this book I decided to buy his previous books & read them before this one & I wish I hadn't.

To those people who have not read any of his work I envy you & know you will be gripped by his storytelling abilities & his descriptive powers.

However, to those who are not first time readers and have read 'Candlemoth' I would feel remiss unless I suggested that this book may feel very familiar.

This author is quality & should now move on as I am sure he has new stories to tell us.