More About the Author
Robert Ellis is the national bestselling author of "Access to Power", "The Dead Room", and the critically acclaimed L.A. Times bestseller "City of Fire" and "The Lost Witness" - selected as top reads by Booklist, Publishers Weekly, National Public Radio, The Chicago Tribune, People Magazine, USA Today, and The New York Times. His novels have been translated into more than ten languages and are available in audio and all digital formats. Born in Philadelphia, Robert moved to Los Angeles where he worked as a writer, producer, and director in film, television, and advertising. Robert studied writing with Walter Tevis, author of "The Hustler" and "The Man Who Fell to Earth." His books have garnered praise from authors as diverse as Janet Evanovich and Michael Connelly. His fifth thriller, "Murder Season", will be published December 2011 by St. Martin's Press. Visit him online at www.robertellis.net.
PRAISE FOR "THE LOST WITNESS"
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, STARRED REVIEW
"Scorching. Deliciously twisted. Nothing is what it appears to be. Ellis succeeds masterfully in both playing fair and pulling surprise after surprise in a story that feels like a runaway car plunging down a mountain road full of switchbacks."
BOOKLIST, STARRED REVIEW
"Fans of Michael Connelly and T. Jefferson Parker will relish Ellis' second crackling thriller featuring Hollywood robbery-homicide detective Lena Gamble. Ellis (City of Fire, 2007) serves up a killer crime tale with riveting characters and relentless twists."
LIBRARY JOURNAL
"Certain powerful and corrupt individuals, some of them with the LAPD, arrange an efficient murder. Then, curiously, the department assigns the case to a detective whom they think will mess up the investigation. Two problems emerge: Robbery-Homicide Detective Lena Gamble (City of Fire) has no intention of failing, and there is an unknown witness helping her. Doggedly, Lena cuts through all the corruption, defies her superiors' orders, and, of course, puts herself in danger repeatedly. Ellis's elaborate puzzle is a nail-biter to the final page. Great LA settings enhance this high-speed thriller. Recommended for all popular collections."
ST. LOUIS DISPATCH
"Ellis writes well and has a good sense of pace and timing. Once you start "The Lost Witness," you'll stay with it through those zigs and zags. And even when you finish the book, it'll spring up like a side effect each time you see those pharmaceutical commercials on the network evening news."
THE GUARDIAN (UK)
"Ellis piles on the Hollywood atmosphere and procedural detail, and the end revelation is expertly timed and genuinely shocking."
THE EVENING TELEGRAPH (UK)
"The Lost Witness is a tough thriller that makes Ellis a name to watch."
TORONTO SUN
"The Lost Witness is another gripping story by a writer who knows the seamy L.A. underworld well."
THE KINGSTON OBSERVER
"City of Fire, the first in the Lena Gamble series, was good, but this second installment, The Lost Witness, is better. Nothing is as it seems in this unputdownable thriller which stars a woman of uncommon courage."
JOE DRABYAK
"Our staff is very much in agreement that THE LOST WITNESS may very well be one of the best thrillers that you will read in 2009."
NEW MYSTERY READER
"One of the first things noticed when reading Ellis´s latest (The Lost Witness), much like his first, is the realistic and fantastic job he does with his approach to this high octane tale from a female´s perspective. With not too much, and not too little, his creation of a female heroine comes off with just the right amount of bravado and sensitivity to convince even the most discerning of readers. And to top that off, while the story starts off with an even and steady tone, its steady but ever-increasing pace heads towards the explosive ending like a firecracker; one that explodes with more force and surprises than ever expected. And it´s in reaching this unexpected ending and finding out finally who done what and why that makes this read top-notch; there´s much more here than meets the eye. Filled with greed, big money, family loyalty, and things best left to the reader to discover on their own, this is one that comes highly recommended."
PRAISE FOR "CITY OF FIRE"
JANET MASLIN, THE NEW YORK TIMES, "HOT LIST" PICK
"Los Angeles, under a cloud of acrid smoke ... Robert Ellis´s City of Fire is a gripping, spooky crime novel."
MICHAEL CONNELLY
"City of Fire is my kind of crime novel. Gritty, tight and assured. Riding with Detective Lena Gamble through the hills of Los Angeles is something I could get used to. She's tough, smart and, most of all, she's real."
JANET EVANOVICH, FOR PEOPLE MAGAZINE
"I just discovered this guy. This book is terrific."
PAUL GOAT ALLEN, CHICAGO TRIBUNE
"City of Fire by Robert Ellis is a no-holds-barred, barnburner of a thriller that blends Los Angeles-style crime fiction a la Michael Connelly with pulse-pounding Dean Koontzian psychological suspense. With a Southern California increasingly threatened by Santa Ana-fueled wildfires as backdrop, the emotionally supercharged story line centers on a killer who terrorizes west Los Angeles ... like Connelly's gritty Bosch saga, City of Fire features a tough but deeply flawed protagonist, a tantalizingly complex plot, fully realized -- and realistic -- characters and, most of all, a palpable intensity. And if that weren't enough, the bombshell plot twist at the novel's conclusion makes this an absolute must read for thriller aficionados."
SARAH WEINMAN, BALTIMORE SUN
"Ellis nicely depicts how the unsolved murder of Lena's musician brother casts a specter over her life and work. But City of Fire is ... about its propulsive plot: the ins and outs of police investigation and how the growing horror of a mad multiple murderer loose on the fiery streets of Los Angeles leads to unexpected decisions, layers of betrayal and a scorcher of an ending."
OLINE H. COGDILL, SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL, BEST MYSTERIES OF THE YEAR
"Robert Ellis' brisk, complex City of Fire is hot stuff. Ellis excels at vivid writing and the expert plotting keeps the reader off-kilter. Ellis takes the police procedural and makes it a tale of personal corruption and desire, where right and wrong overlap. Here, the answers aren't easy as Lena wonders about 'blowback ... what the truth could do to a soul.' L.A., which is written about so often, seems fresh in the hands of an original storyteller such as Ellis."
BOOKLIST
"Ellis vividly evokes Hollywood as a place of burning desires, where the boundaries between good and evil are blurred beyond distinction. Ellis's prose is crisp, and his plot moves at a good clip. His characters are credible and complex."
LIBRARY JOURNAL
"This potboiler dishes it out. This book is fast. Ellis makes it easy to be terrified. Recommended for popular collections."
KIRKUS REVIEWS
"An LAPD detective goes out on an emotional limb chasing a violent serial killer. Lena Gamble and her new partner, Hank Novak, are called to an early morning crime scene in a small house near the Pacific Coast Highway ... A complex portrait of the flawed but righteous Lena by Ellis (The Dead Room, 2002, etc.) makes this sure-footed police procedural something special."
MYSTERY SCENE MAGAZINE
"City of Fire begins like a roller coaster, building tension, anxiety and fear. Then it plunges at full speed, spiraling and twisting through scenes that will have hearts pounding and fingers flying through the pages. But there is no smooth braking to a stop in this book. It careens to the end and then flies off the rail with a shocking twist that will leave readers stunned. Robert Ellis is a master of suspense."
