A short week. A short list. A short intro.
A Quiet Belief in Angels
by R.J. Ellory
R.J. Ellory once said in an interview:
"A critic once reviewed one of my books, and her review concluded with the view that the books I have written were neither ‘crime’ nor ‘thrillers’ nor ‘adventure stories’, but were more like human dramas where the characters continually found themselves challenged by viewpoints and realities that were both emotionally difficult and mentally untenable. They find themselves in places where they never intended to go, and do not wish to remain. Their purpose becomes to recover their own lives and identities, but failing that they recover what they can but never view life from the same perspective."
Many of these astute observations apply to the human drama that drives the suspense of British author Ellory's American debut, A Quiet Belief in Angels, set in rural World War II-era Georgia where 12-year-old Joseph Vaughan is growing up with the misfortune and loss of his father, his mother’s madness, 
and the seeming pervasiveness of a serial killer who is beating, raping and mutilating little girls. At first the emergence of a long white feather gives Joseph a quiet belief in angels, but later he realizes that the feathers actually portend death, beginning with the brutal assault and murder of a young girl, the first in a series of violent acts that will beleaguer the area over the next decade. Joseph and his friends, determined to protect the town from further bloodshed, forms "The Guardians" as a special-force community watch. But the murderer eludes them and they guard helplessly as one child after another is victimized. Even when the killings stop, the specter of un-feathered fear follows Joseph as he moves on with his life. Furthermore — while the past won't stay buried — Joseph must confront all that has darkened what has come before…
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