Explore our new BookBrowse Community Forum!

Book Summary and Reviews of A Quiet Belief in Angels by R.J. Ellory

A Quiet Belief in Angels by R.J. Ellory

A Quiet Belief in Angels

by R.J. Ellory

  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Readers' Rating:
  • Published:
  • Sep 2009, 396 pages
  • Rate this book

  • Buy This Book

About this book

Book Summary

1939. In the small, rural community of Augusta Falls, Georgia, twelve-year-old Joseph Vaughan learns of the brutal assault and murder of a young girl, the first in a series of killings that will plague the community over the next decade. Joseph and his friends are determined to protect the town from the evil in their midst and they form "The Guardians" to watch over the community. But the murderer evades them and they watch helplessly as one child after another is taken. Even when the killings cease, a shadow of fear follows Joseph for the rest of his life. The past won't stay buried and, fifty years later, Joseph must confront the nightmare that has overshadowed his entire life...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

"An intriguing but overstuffed saga...the sheer number of characters and subplots dilute the quiet power of his prose, particularly evident in scenes of Vaughn's childhood." - Publishers Weekly

"This isn't your standard shock and bore serial killer novel. It's an impassioned story of a man's life told in Ellory's distinctive voice, and it confirms his place in the top flight of crime writing." - The Sunday Telegraph (UK)

"Ellory harnessed me and drove me headlong through his extraordinary, elegant and powerfully elegiac prose. This is compelling, un-put-downable thriller writing of the very highest order." - The Guardian

"There aren't nearly enough beautifully written novels, that are also great mysteries. Like The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Smilla's Sense of Snow, A Quiet Belief in Angels is one of them." -James Patterson

"A Quiet Belief in Angels is a beautiful and haunting book. This is a tour de force from R.J. Ellory." -Michael Connelly

"A Quiet Belief in Angels is a rich, powerful, evocative novel of great psychological depth." -Jonathan Kellerman

"R.J. Ellory is a uniquely gifted, passionate, and powerful writer, and the quality of his prose-every word, every sentence-lifts A Quiet Belief in Angels far above genre." - Alan Furst

"A mesmerizing tale whose intrigue will pull you from one page to the next without pause ...R.J. Ellory's remarkable talent for probing the unknown establishes him as the master of the genre. The perfect author to read late into the night." - Clive Cussler

This information about A Quiet Belief in Angels was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

Vanessa Dee Bishop

captivating
One of the best books I've read in a while. Kept my attention from beginning to end. My mother who is an avid reader, reading at least one book a week read it twice because she enjoyed it so much.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

More Information

Orphaned at the age of seven and sent to prison for poaching when he was seventeen, R. J. Ellory immersed himself in literature and set about learning the craft of writing fiction. Ellory divides his time between writing and volunteer programs in the areas of drug rehabilitation and youth literacy. He is married with one son.

More Author Information

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

More Recommendations

Readers Also Browsed . . .

more literary fiction...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Our Evenings
    Our Evenings
    by Alan Hollinghurst
    Alan Hollinghurst's novel Our Evenings is the fictional autobiography of Dave Win, a British ...
  • Book Jacket: Graveyard Shift
    Graveyard Shift
    by M. L. Rio
    Following the success of her debut novel, If We Were Villains, M. L. Rio's latest book is the quasi-...
  • Book Jacket: The Sisters K
    The Sisters K
    by Maureen Sun
    The Kim sisters—Minah, Sarah, and Esther—have just learned their father is dying of ...
  • Book Jacket: Linguaphile
    Linguaphile
    by Julie Sedivy
    From an infant's first attempts to connect with the world around them to the final words shared with...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Pony Confidential
    by Christina Lynch

    In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.

Who Said...

When all think alike, no one thinks very much

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

F the M

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.