Roger Jon Ellory

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Roger Jon Ellory is a British thriller writer. He was born in June 1965

His first novel, Candlemoth, was published in 2003 and was shortlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Silver Dagger Award in the same year. Ghostheart was published in 2004 and A Quiet Vendetta was published in 2005.

He continues to work full-time with people affected by long-term drug abuse. He has been married for fifteen years and lives in the West Midlands with his wife and son.

His next publication is entitled 'City of Lies' and is due for release by Orion Books in August 2006. Though British, his novels are set in the USA. He has received tremendous reviews from numerous UK newspapers including The Telegraph and The Guardian.

UPDATE

In August of 2006, Ellory's fourth novel was released. Entitled City of Lies, it has garnered admirable praise from the major UK journal newspapers - the Independent, the Guardian et al. Ellory is demonstrating an ability to cross genres, incorporating elements of history, politics and cultural comment within his crime thrillers.

In the early part of 2007, City of Lies was shortlisted for the CWA Steel Dagger for Best Thriller. This is the second time Ellory has been shortlisted for this award, the first time being for his debut novel, Candlemoth.

August 22nd 2007 marks the release date for Ellory's fifth novel 'A Quiet Belief In Angels'. Hailed as an epic accomplishment, 'Quiet Belief' garnered a quote from acclaimed crime fiction author Michael Connelly ('The Lincoln Lawyer' et al):

"A Quiet Belief In Angels is a beautiful and haunting book. This is a tour-de-force from RJ Ellory".

In trade magazine articles A Quiet Belief In Angels has been likened in prose style to such authors as Steinbeck, Styron and E. Annie Proulx whilst still being very much an Ellory thriller. 'The most unusual serial killer novel you will ever read' has been unofficially touted as the shout line for this work. If the August 2007 release of his new book proves to be as popular as the previous novels he has penned, Ellory will have carved a niche that is rare and unusual in this very commercially-oriented marketplace.

UPDATE AS OF JANUARY 6th, 2008

As is more than likely common knowledge now, Ellory's "A Quiet Belief In Angels" was selected as one of the titles in the Richard & Judy Bookclub 2008. This was officially announced on December 27th, 2007, and Ellory's book will be reviewed on the Channel 4 Richard & Judy Show on January 30th, 2008. As is always the case with the phenomenally successful R&J Bookclub format, Ellory's work will now be introduced to a far wider audience as a result of the tremendous quantity of advertising and promotion that is attendant to such a prestigious selection. As an aside, it has been reported that in the summer of 2008 the Richard & Judy Bookclub will appear for the very last time as the presenters have decided not to renew their contract with Channel 4.

UPDATE AS OF MARCH 9th, 2008

Exceeding all expectations, A Quiet Belief In Angels has sold in excess of 100,000 copies since it's release on December 27th 2007. It had also been purchased for translation into French, Japanese, Norwegian, Lithuanian and Brazilian. It achieved Number 3 in the Sunday Times bestseller List in the week of its TV review, and on Amazon UK it has remained in the Top 5 Bestseller List for more than ten weeks straight and shows no signs of lagging in position. Ellory, according to reports from his website, is releasing another book in September 2008, the much-anticipated CIA thriller he spoke of in 2007.