Robert J. Hughes of Smart Money considers A Quiet Belief in Angels by R.J. Ellory in the September issue:"This marvelous, evocative thriller, which is also an elegy to fractured youth and to the perils of literary fixation, marks the American debut of R.J. Ellory and was his breakout novel in Britain.
The arc of the story concerns Joseph Vaughn, whom we meet when he is a sensitive and observant boy in Augusta Falls, Ga., in the 1930s. He lives with his mother and discovers a gift for writing. Life is bucolic (up to a point) but quickly becomes fraught with evil when one of Joseph's classmates is raped and murdered. This horrific act is the start of a series of similar crimes in the area that will haunt, even implicate, Joseph through the years. Joseph is one of those people whom trouble follows. Readers will follow as well as they see Joseph's life and career unfold in rich detail over the decades. The mystery of who's been killing these young girls propels the thriller, but it's not at the heart of the novel. What is, though, is the character of Joseph and his indomitable spirit as he searches for truth, love and self-realization in the face of overwhelming odds. Ellory's language is precise and lyrical ‹ "the sound of cupped laughter, like the ghosts of trick-or-treat children" ‹ and he captures the petty grievances and the tatterdemalion charm of small towns as well as the onrush of sensations of big-city life.
The arc of the story concerns Joseph Vaughn, whom we meet when he is a sensitive and observant boy in Augusta Falls, Ga., in the 1930s. He lives with his mother and discovers a gift for writing. Life is bucolic (up to a point) but quickly becomes fraught with evil when one of Joseph's classmates is raped and murdered. This horrific act is the start of a series of similar crimes in the area that will haunt, even implicate, Joseph through the years. Joseph is one of those people whom trouble follows. Readers will follow as well as they see Joseph's life and career unfold in rich detail over the decades. The mystery of who's been killing these young girls propels the thriller, but it's not at the heart of the novel. What is, though, is the character of Joseph and his indomitable spirit as he searches for truth, love and self-realization in the face of overwhelming odds. Ellory's language is precise and lyrical ‹ "the sound of cupped laughter, like the ghosts of trick-or-treat children" ‹ and he captures the petty grievances and the tatterdemalion charm of small towns as well as the onrush of sensations of big-city life.
A Quiet Belief in Angels is a rare novel that is both meditative and suspenseful; it's a study of character, obsession, memory and of the converging paths of compassion, regret and revenge."
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