Customer Reviews

A Quiet Vendetta

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I have now read all five in the R J Ellory portfolio (his sixth is due Oct 2008) and not for the first time, I kissed this one as I closed the last page. This man, in my opinion, doesn't know how to write a bad or even mediocre novel. I have never given 5 stars to every book by the same author before, and that would include my personal favourites. I guess Ellory will inevitably slip up sooner or later, but until then I must say that all five of his novels published to date are absolutely top-notch pieces of writing and any one of them could be another reader's first preference. As for A QUIET VENDETTA, the third of the five published, I can only say buy it, borrow it or somehow get your hands on it because it is a captivating story that you just won't want to end.

Some feel that Ellory isn't a crime fiction writer, that his work cannot be pigeon-holed into any specific genre, and while I understand that argument, this story is probably the most criminal of them all. It takes a while before the reader can latch onto who the central character is; at first we assume it to be John Verlaine, a Homicide Detective in New Orleans - but it isn't. Then we figure it to be New York based Special Investigator Ray Hartmann - but again, it isn't. In fact it is more than one hundred pages into the story before we finally know who it's really all about: Ernesto Cabrera Perez, and the narrative switches from third-person to first person as the elderly Perez tells Hartmann his life story. And what a life it was.

Perez is a quite extraordinary man, a man of unquestioning loyalty and devotion to his family. But apart from his own family, at least the one he creates as opposed to his forebears, he is very deeply entrenched in a family of a very different kind. Despite his Cuban blood, Perez is a life-long 'troubleshooter' for the Italian Mafia in various cities across America. When there's trouble, he shoots - and he never misses. Yes, he is the absolutely reliable hit-man in a world of organised crime spanning five decades or more, and for once Ellory not only uses politically significant events in 20th-century American history as a time stamp, as a backdrop to the story; this time his key character is directly involved in it. Perez is responsible for one of the most notorious 'hits' in the chronicles of organised crime. Seeing as this particular murder was never solved in reality, there is an acceptable degree of credibility to this supposedly fictitious thread of the overall story. Despite this, it is actually only of minor relevance in itself, because the backbone of the tale is the kidnapping of the daughter of Louisiana Governor Charles Ducane, and Perez promises Hartmann to divulge her whereabouts once he has fully told his life story. Whether she is alive or dead, he cannot say. So begins a massive FBI-administered hunt for the abducted young girl, but she will not be found until Perez tells them where to look.

It would be easy to pick holes in the novel, and I have to confess that it was quite a while before I realised how special it is, so it does require a little patience to get fully into it. Once there, however, once I was really inside the mind and soul of Ernesto Perez, I never wanted it to end. True, it's the kind of story I favour best in being built around the world of the Mafia in their halcyon years, so I have to admit to being easily persuaded but then again it needs to have been written well and that it most certainly has been. But it is special, even among other Ellory novels, and without doubt it is one of the most engrossing books I have read in recent years. I am sorry to have finished it - you can't beat the first time, can you? - but it's one the very few books in my personal library that I know I will read again. It isn't about the destination, fascinating though that would prove to be, no - it is about the journey, the ruthlessly riveting world that was the life of Ernesto Perez.

Unconditionally recommended.

Absolutely superb! Having already read 'Ghostheart' and 'A Quiet Belief In Angels' this is the third book I've read by Roger Ellory and I have to say this is definitely in my opinion, the best so far.

The life story of a Mafia hitman unfolds before us as Ernesto Perez (The Cuban) relates it to Ray Hartmann who works for the organised crime task force in Washington DC. After handing himself in to the FBI following the kidnapping of the daughter of the Governor of Louisiana, Perez reveals he worked as a hit man for the Mob and only when Hartmann has listened to his life story will he tell him where the missing Catherine Ducane is.

As chapter by chapter his past is revealed from a Child in New Orleans of Cuban parentage to the heart of the American Mafia, I found it hard not to warm to the central character with his strong values of family life and gentle manner despite the atrocities he admits to being a part of.

Would make a terrific movie!

I bought this book for my father after having read it myself. It's a wonderful tale, loosely based on actual events, of one man's life and actions on the dark side of reality. The author is a fabulous, descriptive story-teller who succeeds in keeping the reader on the edge, leading him through the book, and finishing his story in a way that is satisfying to the reader who was in for the ride until the very end (this comment is not a spoiler!).

A Quite Vendetta is the story which revolves around one man known to all as the Cuban. His real name Ernesto Perez born in the 40's in Louisiana of Cuban/American parentage. Perez spends the early part of his life in Louisiana until his mothers unexpected death, then Ernesto Perez returns to Cuba, old Havana with his father. They begin a new life, Havana in the fifties was a struggle to make ends meet, but Perez has a sharp mind he uses acts of Violence to get ahead until one certain event leads him to sit on the edges of organized crime, his employers are the mafia. Ernesto Perez the Cuban is sent back to America, life really begins.

Present day: A federal investigation is taking place involving a kidnapping of the daughter of the Governor of Louisiana. Ernesto Perez now aged late 60's hands himself into the authorities and is quiet forth coming to advise all he was directly involved with this crime. Perez would be an unknown to the FBI all they can do is abide by his wishes, humour him give him what he wants for the time being and within reason, in exchange for information of the Governor's daughter whereabouts dead or alive. Ernesto Perez just feels old and what he really wishes would be to tell his life story spanning fifty years, the authorities are given no choice in the matter but to sit and listen. As Perez's life unfolds the federal agents understand why this certain girl had been taken.

This book for me was incredible, an epic gripping read. Centered around one man's life, Ernesto Perez the planner, the thinker, the story is told from Perez's view of life he talks about his own fight with his inner conflicts, the passionate and brutality of life he has faced. He talks in contradictions which seems quite natural to him, his day's violent work and then returns home to his wife and children to play a loving husband and father. The fictional characterisation which I love are quiet incredible, you lose yourself not only in these clear characters but the storyline is bigger and so much, much more than just mafia or crime connected, extremely well planned and beautiful written.

We are taken on a tour of cities that are all finely detailed. This book reaches out with it's direct language, it's intensity and violent nature, insightfulness and suspensful to the last page. The history and politics in this novel spans seventy years, Organized Crime, Fidel Castro, Jimmy Hoffa, The Kennedy's all entwined for a compelling read.

Roger Jon Ellory would be a writer to look out for, a brillant piece of literature writing not to ignored, congratulation to Ellory for a highly engrossing and wonderful twisted crime thriller the best I've read in a long long time highly recommended. City of Lies, Ellory's latest novel is currently on release this will certainly be my next purchase.

Andrea Bowhill

In New Orleans, someone kidnaps nineteen year old Catherine Ducane; the teen's bodyguard is brutally murdered. The NOPD reacts quickly as the victim is the teenage daughter of the state's Governor Charles Ducane.

The kidnapper Ernesto Perez fails to ask for money or governor-level request. Instead he notifies the FBI he wants to meet with Ray Hartmann, a minor bureaucrat in the New York district attorney's office. In exchange for this meeting, he will inform the Feds where Ducane is hidden. Perez informs Hartmann that he has been a mob hit-man for decades; he has been involved in at least 19 hits and recounts ties to Kennedy and Nixon. The FBI, the governor and the media wonder what Perez's secret agenda is and why he is picking to chat with a nonentity like Hartmann.

This is a great thriller that uses five decades of Mafia history in the Bronx, Manhattan, Vegas, Cuba and elsewhere as the background to a fascinating tale. Readers will be hooked from the moment Perez makes his demand known and will keep on reading until they learn what his agenda is and why. Perez and Hartmann are fully developed superb antagonists as this time the truth will set both of them free. A Quiet Vendetta is a superb and enthralling story.

Harriet Klausner

Although one is fiction and the other is not, I found great similarities between «A Quiet Vendetta« and «I heard you paint Houses». The leading protagonists of both books, Ernesto «the Cuban» Perez and Frank «the Irishman» Sheeran are non-italian hitmen working for the Cosa nostra. Both are ruthless killers, aging men who tell the story of their lives. Both books are fascinating, but «I heard you paint Houses» is the stronger book if you want to learn more about the inside story of the Mafia and especially about the events leading to the death of Jimmy Hoffa. I thought R.J. Ellory's epilogue was very apropos. In it, Perez remorselessly tells of a particular vicious and unfair murder he was a part of. While we may feel empathy at times for hitmen like this Mr. Perez, we must never forget that they are not nice guys.

A mystery novel that revolves around the lives of two men: Ernesto Perez, a Louisanian born of Cuban descent who finds violence a means of becoming "some one", and Ray Hartmann, a member of a Crime Task Force, fighting his battle with alcohol in order to find himself.
Narrated by Perez through most of the story, his life takes us through the history of Cuba as well as the history of America as he finds his niche working as a mafia hitman, using the talent he hates the most to make a name for himself.
Over the years- through grief and happiness, loss and life- Perez realizes the value of family holds more wealth than all the glory and riches a name can bring. And, in his own way, Perez teaches this lesson to Hartmann in a series of conversatiions during one hot week in Louisiana.

The author uses historical facts and a deep knowledge of both mob crime and the cultures of Cuba and New Orleans to write a story that grabs you from the first chapter, fills you up, and leaves you completely satisfied by the last sentence of the book.

From the Governor's mansion in Lousiana to the mob-run streets of Chicago and New York to the firey revolution of Castro's Cuba "A Quiet Vendetta" leads you on a full-filling journey that never stops moving and, in the end, leaves every story resolved, with a very clever twist.

Just like each of his previous novels, with "A Quiet Vendetta", Mr. Ellroy brings the reader into the lives of characters that remain with the reader long after the story is done.

I have read every book that has been written by the wonderful Mr. Ellory, and would strongly recommend his work to anyone who enjoys the best that a good thriller can be. For a native born Englishman to be able to write so convincingly of things American, is quite remarkable. I understand that his work tends to be far more popular on the continent than in the US or UK. I can perhaps understand the Americans not embracing his output, for his style and flair puts many of their own novelists to shame, but why his fellow Brits aren't more receptive I cannot understand. Mr. Ellory is fully deserving of all the support that the reading public can give. I would ask all readers who are into this type of novel to give this man's portfolio a go. I promise that you will not be disappointed

A "vendetta" is defined as a feud between clans that arises out of a slaying and is perpetuated by retaliatory acts of revenge. Its Latin origins specify Sicilian families in which relatives of a murdered person seek vengeance by killing the murderer or some member of his family.

R.J. Ellory has been referred to as the Stephen King of crime fiction for good reason: "This is criminal psychology you're talking here." With each new novel comes a cast of memorable characters and a theme that haunts like Halloween. This is a goosebump-inducing crime novel told by Ernesto Cabrera Perez, the killer of (amongst others) Jimmy Hoffa. Primarily, it is an epic tale of Perez's life in the Italian Mafia in America and obsessive revenge. Subplots include loyalty, trust and the conflict a detective has with his personal and professional lives.

When Catherine, the teen daughter of Louisiana Governor Charles Ducane, is kidnapped, there's no doubt her life is in peril. Her bodyguard turns up as a dead body stuffed into the trunk of a priceless vintage car, his heart carved out and put back in place. Crime boss Antoine Feraud is known simply as Daddy Always. His Mafia-style enterprises began with "rotgut that would strip paint off a car." Those dubious businesses progressed to influence peddling and tentacles that reach into the governor's mansion. But he is not enlisted to aid in the investigation. One "doesn't get to be a governor without greasing some palms and silencing some tongues."

Originally from New Orleans, a New York detective is summoned back to the Big Easy by Perez, who claims to be the kidnapper. "Bring Ray Hartmann down to New Orleans or Catherine Ducane is irretrievably dead." Not simple guesswork, as news of the abduction has not been broadcast. Typical of the award-winning author's style is a flashback that constructs the detective's psychological profile. Hartmann has an ongoing battle with booze and is now estranged from his wife and teen daughter.

Perez's profile is a twist --- and twisted. Borne of a Cuban father in New Orleans, his first kill occurs at age 15. Circumstances lead him to Cuba, then Miami, Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas and Chicago. Though each notch on his gun moves the hit man up a notch in his adoptive Mafia family, Perez remains an outsider. When tragedy strikes his wife and daughter, sparing only his son, his Mafia family does not seek Sicilian vengeance, but he remains loyal.

Perez is judged by Hartmann as "more animal than human," but tells Hartmann each chapter of five decades of his life "in small, measured emotional phrases." And Perez plays each person like a card. He details each murder he's committed, knowing that he'll never leave FBI custody. So what's the motive? "Motive is a personal thing, can never be truly appreciated by another." Hartmann tells FBI profilers, "This is about Perez's life, the things he's done and the people who told him to do them. He's an old man who's spent the whole of his life killing people." In the dénouement, Perez "had earned Hartmann's respect. Hartmann knew that something that could have been no worse had suddenly deteriorated into a nightmare."

R.J. Ellory is the author of nine intense crime thrillers published in more than 20 languages. His previous U.S. release was A SIMPLE ACT OF VIOLENCE, winner of Theakston's Crime Novel of the Year Award. Combining fact and fiction, he weaves a complex plot with his trademark whydunit, detailing psychological motivations of the killer --- and those who solve the crimes. This richly researched and incredibly believable novel has more tributaries than the Muddy Mississippi, and causes Ellory to ascend the throne as the king of crime fiction.

Reviewed by L. Dean Murphy

After reading A Quiet Belief in Angels, I discovered that the author's other novels were not available in the States. It seemed so surprising that he was not living right here as his stories take place in the U.s. and he seems utterly familiar with each locale that he writes about. So, I ordered all of the novels from London. Now I don't have A Quiet Vendetta to look forward to, but you do. It's very hard to rank my favorite Ellory novel, but AQBA is first, then A Simple Act of Violence, then City of Lies. So what if this one is fourth, I still give it five stars. I was able to keep reading from start to finish without stopping, enjoying the Louisiana background and keeping pace with Ellory's fascination with crime and criminals. He's an author worth reading.