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Books : A Quiet Vendetta
Rating: 
- Unputdownable!
This book took over my life for two weeks reading as I was, some pages here, some pages there, as time allowed. Had I been on a long haul flight I would only have stopped for eating and calls of nature. If you love fast moving heady mafia tales of assasination, loyalty, intrigue, deception, plotting - if you love the heady melting pot of New Orleans, New York, LA, Havana and Chicago - if you like your mobsters, Italian, Irish, Creole and if you appreciate masterly storytelling, massive characters, tracking a history spanning the last 5 decades then buy this book and prepare for utmost enjoyment. It is work of art: wordy, pounding, sensitive, beautifully written, shocking and believable. It dosen't let up for a page and although fictonal names come and are soon forgotten but you might remember Ernesto Perez for quite a while. Also read ' A Quiet Belief in Angels', of equal power and Ellory genius. Don't be put off that it was a 'Richard and Judy Book Club Selection'.
Rating: - Another Masterpiece!
After reading A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS by Ellory, I was struck rigid by its intensity and fine storytelling.
And here, yet again, I'm left absolutely dumbfounded by Ellory's masterful Mafia story, which drags you in on a non-stop turbo-charged maelstrom of action from beginning to end.
Not for the feint-hearted, as significant and insignificant characters are ruthlessly dispatched with the maximum of violence, that on occasions makes you wince as the full description sifts through to your brain.
But this is no ordinary tale to be simply dismissed as a mafia tale - this is a full-on no-holds barred confession of a man with a real axe to grind.
The ending is worth the entrance fee alone, and cleverly lifts the roof off of the 500 pages that preceded it.
Read this book and do it NOW!
I'm off ....looking for another Ellory masterclass ....
Rating: - A noisy recommendation!
I have now read all five in the R J Ellory portfolio (his sixth is due next month) and not for the first time, I kissed this one as I closed the last page. This man, in my opinion, doesn't know how to write a bad or even mediocre novel. I have never given 5 stars to every book by the same author before, and that would include my personal favourites. I guess Ellory will inevitably slip up sooner or later, but until then I must say that all five of his novels published to date are absolutely top-notch pieces of writing and any one of them could be another reader's first preference. As for A QUIET VENDETTA, the third of the five published, I can only say buy it, borrow it or somehow get your hands on it because it is a captivating story that you just won't want to end.
Some feel that Ellory isn't a crime fiction writer, that his work cannot be pigeon-holed into any specific genre, and while I understand that argument, this story is probably the most criminal of them all. It takes a while before the reader can latch onto who the central character is; at first we assume it to be John Verlaine, a Homicide Detective in New Orleans - but it isn't. Then we figure it to be New York based Special Investigator Ray Hartmann - but again, it isn't. In fact it is more than one hundred pages into the story before we finally know who it's really all about: Ernesto Cabrera Perez, and the narrative switches from third-person to first person as the elderly Perez tells Hartmann his life story. And what a life it was.
Perez is a quite extraordinary man, a man of unquestioning loyalty and devotion to his family. But apart from his own family, at least the one he creates as opposed to his forebears, he is very deeply entrenched in a family of a very different kind. Despite his Cuban blood, Perez is a life-long 'troubleshooter' for the Italian Mafia in various cities across America. When there's trouble, he shoots - and he never misses. Yes, he is the absolutely reliable hit-man in a world of organised crime spanning five decades or more, and for once Ellory not only uses politically significant events in 20th-century American history as a time stamp, as a backdrop to the story; this time his key character is directly involved in it. Perez is responsible for one of the most notorious 'hits' in the chronicles of organised crime. Seeing as this particular murder was never solved in reality, there is an acceptable degree of credibility to this supposedly fictitious thread of the overall story. Despite this, it is actually only of minor relevance in itself, because the backbone of the tale is the kidnapping of the daughter of Louisiana Governor Charles Ducane, and Perez promises Hartmann to divulge her whereabouts once he has fully told his life story. Whether she is alive or dead, he cannot say. So begins a massive FBI-administered hunt for the abducted young girl, but she will not be found until Perez tells them where to look.
It would be easy to pick holes in the novel, and I have to confess that it was quite a while before I realised how special it is, so it does require a little patience to get fully into it. Once there, however, once I was really inside the mind and soul of Ernesto Perez, I never wanted it to end. True, it's the kind of story I favour best in being built around the world of the Mafia in their halcyon years, so I have to admit to being easily persuaded but then again it needs to have been written well and that it most certainly has been. But it is special, even among other Ellory novels, and without doubt it is one of the most engrossing books I have read in recent years. I am sorry to have finished it - you can't beat the first time, can you? - but it's one the very few books in my personal library that I know I will read again. It isn't about the destination, fascinating though that would prove to be, no - it is about the journey, the ruthlessly riveting world that was the life of Ernesto Perez.
Unconditionally recommended.
Rating:
- Gripping after a stuttering start
Someone needs to take Ellory on one side and tell him to do something about the openings to his novels. I almost gave up on A Quiet Belief in Angels because the opening chapters were nothing but description and horribly 'poetic'.
This one has a series of false starts: after the murder/kidnap a local New Orleans detective is brought in and you naturally assume he's the chief protagonist, which is a problem, as he isn't at all interesting; only then the FBI arrive and take the case away from him; only then it's passed on again, finally, to the real lead character, Ray Hartmann. Does Ellory not realise how annoying this is?
After the book finally gets going, it's utterly gripping. But the start makes me mark it down to four stars; that and the fact that much of the detail is so sordid. In particular there are gruesome rape scenes which will make any female reader wince. I didn't like it and the strong story doesn't need it.
Rating: - Even Mafia Henchmen Have Feelings
I took this book with me on holidays to the Pyrenees and after tramping around mountains during the day, RJ Ellory kept me up until 2am each night, savoring and turning the pages. He could have called this "Even Mafia Henchmen Have Feelings". His main characters are intricate, complex creations. This is where his storytelling talent lies, along with the superbly handled pace he applies and the masterful prose in which he writes his always interesting stories. This is a chilling tale but also speaks of love, lost and found. I unequivocally recommend it (careful though if you need to get up early to walk around mountains, it will disturb your beauty sleep).
- Unputdownable!This book took over my life for two weeks reading as I was, some pages here, some pages there, as time allowed. Had I been on a long haul flight I would only have stopped for eating and calls of nature. If you love fast moving heady mafia tales of assasination, loyalty, intrigue, deception, plotting - if you love the heady melting pot of New Orleans, New York, LA, Havana and Chicago - if you like your mobsters, Italian, Irish, Creole and if you appreciate masterly storytelling, massive characters, tracking a history spanning the last 5 decades then buy this book and prepare for utmost enjoyment. It is work of art: wordy, pounding, sensitive, beautifully written, shocking and believable. It dosen't let up for a page and although fictonal names come and are soon forgotten but you might remember Ernesto Perez for quite a while. Also read ' A Quiet Belief in Angels', of equal power and Ellory genius. Don't be put off that it was a 'Richard and Judy Book Club Selection'.
Rating:
- Another Masterpiece!After reading A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS by Ellory, I was struck rigid by its intensity and fine storytelling.
And here, yet again, I'm left absolutely dumbfounded by Ellory's masterful Mafia story, which drags you in on a non-stop turbo-charged maelstrom of action from beginning to end.
Not for the feint-hearted, as significant and insignificant characters are ruthlessly dispatched with the maximum of violence, that on occasions makes you wince as the full description sifts through to your brain.
But this is no ordinary tale to be simply dismissed as a mafia tale - this is a full-on no-holds barred confession of a man with a real axe to grind.
The ending is worth the entrance fee alone, and cleverly lifts the roof off of the 500 pages that preceded it.
Read this book and do it NOW!
I'm off ....looking for another Ellory masterclass ....
Rating:
- A noisy recommendation!I have now read all five in the R J Ellory portfolio (his sixth is due next month) and not for the first time, I kissed this one as I closed the last page. This man, in my opinion, doesn't know how to write a bad or even mediocre novel. I have never given 5 stars to every book by the same author before, and that would include my personal favourites. I guess Ellory will inevitably slip up sooner or later, but until then I must say that all five of his novels published to date are absolutely top-notch pieces of writing and any one of them could be another reader's first preference. As for A QUIET VENDETTA, the third of the five published, I can only say buy it, borrow it or somehow get your hands on it because it is a captivating story that you just won't want to end.
Some feel that Ellory isn't a crime fiction writer, that his work cannot be pigeon-holed into any specific genre, and while I understand that argument, this story is probably the most criminal of them all. It takes a while before the reader can latch onto who the central character is; at first we assume it to be John Verlaine, a Homicide Detective in New Orleans - but it isn't. Then we figure it to be New York based Special Investigator Ray Hartmann - but again, it isn't. In fact it is more than one hundred pages into the story before we finally know who it's really all about: Ernesto Cabrera Perez, and the narrative switches from third-person to first person as the elderly Perez tells Hartmann his life story. And what a life it was.
Perez is a quite extraordinary man, a man of unquestioning loyalty and devotion to his family. But apart from his own family, at least the one he creates as opposed to his forebears, he is very deeply entrenched in a family of a very different kind. Despite his Cuban blood, Perez is a life-long 'troubleshooter' for the Italian Mafia in various cities across America. When there's trouble, he shoots - and he never misses. Yes, he is the absolutely reliable hit-man in a world of organised crime spanning five decades or more, and for once Ellory not only uses politically significant events in 20th-century American history as a time stamp, as a backdrop to the story; this time his key character is directly involved in it. Perez is responsible for one of the most notorious 'hits' in the chronicles of organised crime. Seeing as this particular murder was never solved in reality, there is an acceptable degree of credibility to this supposedly fictitious thread of the overall story. Despite this, it is actually only of minor relevance in itself, because the backbone of the tale is the kidnapping of the daughter of Louisiana Governor Charles Ducane, and Perez promises Hartmann to divulge her whereabouts once he has fully told his life story. Whether she is alive or dead, he cannot say. So begins a massive FBI-administered hunt for the abducted young girl, but she will not be found until Perez tells them where to look.
It would be easy to pick holes in the novel, and I have to confess that it was quite a while before I realised how special it is, so it does require a little patience to get fully into it. Once there, however, once I was really inside the mind and soul of Ernesto Perez, I never wanted it to end. True, it's the kind of story I favour best in being built around the world of the Mafia in their halcyon years, so I have to admit to being easily persuaded but then again it needs to have been written well and that it most certainly has been. But it is special, even among other Ellory novels, and without doubt it is one of the most engrossing books I have read in recent years. I am sorry to have finished it - you can't beat the first time, can you? - but it's one the very few books in my personal library that I know I will read again. It isn't about the destination, fascinating though that would prove to be, no - it is about the journey, the ruthlessly riveting world that was the life of Ernesto Perez.
Unconditionally recommended.
Rating:
- Gripping after a stuttering startSomeone needs to take Ellory on one side and tell him to do something about the openings to his novels. I almost gave up on A Quiet Belief in Angels because the opening chapters were nothing but description and horribly 'poetic'.
This one has a series of false starts: after the murder/kidnap a local New Orleans detective is brought in and you naturally assume he's the chief protagonist, which is a problem, as he isn't at all interesting; only then the FBI arrive and take the case away from him; only then it's passed on again, finally, to the real lead character, Ray Hartmann. Does Ellory not realise how annoying this is?
After the book finally gets going, it's utterly gripping. But the start makes me mark it down to four stars; that and the fact that much of the detail is so sordid. In particular there are gruesome rape scenes which will make any female reader wince. I didn't like it and the strong story doesn't need it.
Rating:
- Even Mafia Henchmen Have FeelingsI took this book with me on holidays to the Pyrenees and after tramping around mountains during the day, RJ Ellory kept me up until 2am each night, savoring and turning the pages. He could have called this "Even Mafia Henchmen Have Feelings". His main characters are intricate, complex creations. This is where his storytelling talent lies, along with the superbly handled pace he applies and the masterful prose in which he writes his always interesting stories. This is a chilling tale but also speaks of love, lost and found. I unequivocally recommend it (careful though if you need to get up early to walk around mountains, it will disturb your beauty sleep).