A Quiet Belief in Angels

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Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz....... - Rated
Why all the 5 star reviews? I almost gave up on this because its so depressing. Its written in such a wistful, melancholic way and its so repetitive that it became a real chore.

One of the main problems is the first person perspective. Every 20 or so pages, when another body is discovered, we get the same limited, second hand account from Joseph i.e. the girl was mutilated, the sheriffs had a meeting, there are no clues. Joseph feels upset, helpless, guilty etc. This is repeated 10 times (literally) in the first 200 pages and by this time there are still no clues. Not a single one. No proper suspects. No evidence. Nothing. Joseph doesn't know anything and therefore neither does the reader. He doesn't witness anything so there is absolutely no action. Instead all we get are the details of his utterly tragic private life recounted over and over again. It's a miserable sequence of events and there is not one ounce of humour to lighten mood in the whole book. Not once did it make me smile.

While the book is generally well written, the author's habit of dropping the first word of almost every sentence is annoying and intrusive, like he's trying to force some informality into his flowery prose. Ellory can obviously write but I have to say I found his style pretentious. He also repeats the same phrases and imagery again and again, for example he constantly says things like "later, many years later.... with hindsight my cruellest advisor" and "death came walking down our road, through the trees, across the fields..." This repetition starts to grate quickly and adds to the feeling that this is a pretty thin story.

Just to give some perspective to my review, I liked Ellory's last book, A Quiet Vendetta. That was a convincing stab at the mafia genre, with some serial killer stuff thrown in for good measure. It also had a superb central character, a villain who will remain long in the memory. A Quiet Belief in Angels has no such appeal and I doubt I'll remember the story for long. I'm giving it 2 stars because its well written (despite the annoyances) and I finished it, which means something kept me reading. A lot of people seem to love it (best book ever written?? Come off it!), but I'm not alone when I say I found it boring and unremarkable. If you're interested in this author read A Quiet Vendetta instead, its much better.

A superb novel-it worries itself back into the mind - Rated
I thought A Quiet Belief In Angels was a suberb, atmospheric and gripping novel. Told in the first person by Joseph Vaughan, we see him grow up from a talented but tortured childhood into an even more troubled adulthood. Although one can view the book as a whodunnit, it offers far more than that genre can, and concerns the effects of the series of murders on many other characters' lives. I could not put this novel down and yet I didn't want it to end!

Disappointed - Rated
Im still trying to finish this book. I read all the great reviews and thought it sounded excellent, but I just cant get into this book. I am determined to finish it, hoping that it will be worth it.

A True Belief in RJ Ellory! - Rated
This is one of the most beautifully tragic novels I have ever read. The author took me to another world, from which it was hard to return. The haunting prose and magnificent imagery stayed with me for days afterwards.
This is not a typical murder mystery but a tale of a life, from childhood to adulthood, and the affect the murders had on that life. Reminiscent of Truman Capote and Harper Lee and the worlds they created, RJ Ellory is a master of his craft, and anyone would enjoy reading this novel.

Simply, the best book i have ever read - Rated
The best book I have ever read. I won't go in to why.

Just buy it. And be amazed.