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A Quiet Belief in Angels | 
| Author: R.j. Ellory
Publisher: Orion
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy New: £3.47
You Save: £4.52 (57%)
New (32) Used (49) from £1.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  238 reviews
Sales Rank: 15
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
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews: Read 233 more reviews...
 Trying too hard... July 1, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I, like many others, bought this book as a result of the hype and great reviews on Amazon. I recall viewer said it "changed their life" which was enough to sell it to me. I guess after such build up there is always the risk of disappointment and this was really that. I felt the author was trying so hard to write a great novel, but it was so obvious that I kept thinking about the fact the author writing it instead of the actual story. Every time a character was introduced, and usually one that would only be in the story for a few pages, there was a lengthly description of him/her using cheesy similes and metaphors. Here are a few examples:
"Billick was a man out of place. Narrow eyes, wire-rimmed spectacles, face awkwardly adjusting to the discomfort of his surroundings"
"The forman, face like a Hallowe'en pumpkin, eyes incapable of looking at me even though he knew I was there..."
and my personal favourite:
"Sergeant Frank Lansford. Face like a panel of raw steel, eyes like bullets, punched through, off kilter. Mouth a ragged-edge tear in the cloth of his features. Moved awkwardly in his clothes, hem too short, sleeves too long, as if some unique shape never witnessed by tailors. Nostrils uncommonly large, perhaps for the scent of blood...Ears flat against his skull, glue applied and held till firm..."
...and it goes on. I was having enough trouble trying to imagine a steel face with a cloth features, let alone the rest. I think he went a bit overboard on these descriptions, totally losing my interest and focus...
 Powerful and sombre July 1, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This was a beautifully and methodically written crime story that didn't have to resort to plentiful gory references to set the tone. There was a real quiet intensity about it and the author really took his time in telling the story, building the tension and then finally unfolding the mystery. It was wonderfully but frustratingly wide open in terms of identifying the culprit, with so many twists and turns that I didn't see coming. I did find it creepy and oppressive at times but again that is simply a testament to the author's skill in defining the nature of this book. Definitely one to add to your reading list this year.
 A voyage into hell. June 29, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is the narrative of a journey, or rather journeys, into America, into despicable crime, into loss and gain and loss again, into dreams, ambition, love, hatred and fear. The narrator, Joseph Vaughan, takes us from his childhood in a superbly evoked Georgia to the bustling streets of Brooklyn via the hellhole of the American penal system. The story, spanning from a pre-WWII America emerging from the Depression to the shattered ideals of that nation at the end of the sixties, relates Vaughan's obessive hunt for the serial-killer of tens of children, a killer who has brought violence and pain into the Joseph's own home and family. We watch him grow, become a man haunted by his own ghosts (a major Ellory theme), and marvel at his desperate quest to both unmask the killer and retain his own sanity.
Lovers of long narratives that take their time weaving their webs, of intricate crime-stories, of rigourous yet entertaining writing, this one's for you. RJ Ellory breathes life into his descriptions of time, place and people that are quite staggering (considering he's English and his theatre of operations is America). It's a sometime's frightening story, filled with so much drama but one which leaves you with faith, inspired by the unhappy Vaughan, in human nature.
As good as it gets ! June 25, 2008
3 out of 3 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.
A Quiet Belief in Angels June 25, 2008
4 out of 4 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.
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