I’ve read almost all of R. J. Ellory’s 10 books so far (“Bad Signs” being the exception. Soon to be corrected :)).
Along with Science Fiction (SF), Crime Fiction excites, evokes emotion, stimulates mentally, engages, mystifies, perplexes, and pleases me greatly.
That’s what Science and Crime Fiction do for me. Good SF makes me think and Crime Fiction makes me experience dilemmas of ordinary people presented with extraordinary situations. Both genres challenge me. Most of the time, mainstream literature does not make me feel that. That’s why I tend to avoid it.
I just wish R.J. Ellory was more widely read than he is now, because he is a class act and shows the amateurs how it's really done. So far the books I’ve read are simply superbly written. Anyway you want to look at them, there’s almost nothing at fault with any of them. Every year that there’s a book by R.J. Ellory coming out, I just know it’s going to be one the best books of that year (as far as I’m concerned…)
What can I say about this book without revealing the plot? It’s about a policeman, who has a Dark and Broken Heart… From a very high-strung introduction, to a shattering conclusion, via a series of audacious but sublimely executed twists, this book never once lets up.
R.J. Ellory can melt breathtaking plotting with profound emotion and meticulous detail, and produce novels of a quality unattainable by even the most gifted of his contemporaries. A Dark and Broken Heart is, quite simply, another masterpiece.
