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R. J. Ellory

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Roger Jon Ellory
Ellory in 2010
Ellory in 2010
Born(1965-06-20)20 June 1965(age 59)
Birmingham,England
OccupationWriter
LanguageEnglish
NationalityBritish
GenreThriller
Website
www.rjellory.com

Roger Jon Ellory(born 20 June 1965) is an Englishthrillerwriter.[1][2]

Personal life[edit]

Ellory lives in Birmingham, England.[2]He citesArthur Conan Doyle,Michael Moorcock,J. R. R. TolkienandStephen Kingas people who influenced his writing.[1]He is an avid fan ofBookCrossingand apart from his work as an author, he is interested in music. He is currently a singer andguitarplayer with a band called The Whiskey Poets.[1]

Ellory's father is unknown to him, having left the household before Ellory was born. He was raised by his mother and maternal grandmother, his maternal grandfather having drowned in 1957 in Wales. Ellory's mother died as a result of a pneumonic haemorrhage in late 1971, the victim of apneumoniaepidemicthat killed a number of people in theWest Midlands.Ellory was then sent to a number of different schools, and finally completed his education at Kingham Hill School in Oxfordshire, a school established by the Barings-Young banking family as a facility for "wayward and orphaned children".[1]

Leaving this school at 16, Ellory returned to Birmingham, where he pursued a diploma in graphic art and design atBournville College of Art.After one year, Ellory's maternal grandmother died in April 1982 and Ellory dropped out of college, failing to secure any qualifications.[1]

In 2012, Ellory admitted having used a pseudonymous account name to write a positive review for each his own novels, and additionally a negative review for two other authors. He made a public statement of apology, and the aforementioned reviews were withdrawn from Amazon. The Crime Writers' Association, for which Ellory formerly served as a board member, expressed concern about this "unfair" practice, and confirmed it had launched a review.[3][4]

Writing[edit]

His first novel to be accepted for publication,Candlemoth,was published in 2003 and was shortlisted for theCWA Ian Fleming Steel DaggerAward that year.[5]Ghostheartwas published in 2004 andA Quiet Vendettain 2005. His fourth novel,City of Lies(2006), was shortlisted for the CWA Steel Dagger for Best Thriller.[6]A Quiet Belief in Angelswas selected as one of the titles in theRichard & JudyBookclub 2008.[7]A Quiet Belief in Angelshas sold more than 1,000,000 copies, and has also been purchased for translation into a total of twenty-three languages. It was ranked third in theSunday Timesbestselling book list in the week of its review on TV. It was shortlisted for theBarry Awardfor best British crime fiction 2008,[8]the 7th Prix Du Polar Européen 2008 of the weekly French magazineLe Point,Le Nouvel Observateur's Crime Writing Prize 2008, and the Quebec Booksellers' Prize 2008.[2]It won the Strand Magazine Thriller of the Year.[9]It wonLe Nouvel Observateur's inaugural Prix du Roman Noir in 2009.[10][11]In October 2008A Simple Act of Violencewon Theakston's Crime Novel of the Year 2010.[12]

Between March and April 2012, Ellory released a trilogy of novellas making up the ebook-exclusiveThree Days in Chicagoland,focusing on the brutal murder of a young girl inChicagoin 1956, as told from three different viewpoints:The Sister,The CopandThe Killer.

Awards[edit]

In 2003, Ellory's debut novel,Candlemoth,was shortlisted for the CWA Steel Dagger for Best Thriller.[5]His fourth book,City of Lies,was shortlisted for the same award in 2007.[6]

Papillon de Nuit,the French translation ofCandlemoth,won both the Balai d'Or Award 2017 and the Grand Prix des Lecteurs 2017.

A Quiet Belief in Angels,his fifth title, was shortlisted for the Barry Award for Best British Crime Fiction 2008.[8]The novel was also shortlisted for the Association 813 Trophy, the 7th Prix Du Polar Europeen Du Point, and the Mystery Booksellers of America Dilys Award. It went on to win the Inaugural Roman Noir Nouvel Observateur Prize in 2009,[10]the Best Thriller 2009 by New York'sStrand Magazine,along with the Prix des Libraires Du Quebec Laureat 2009, the Livre De Poche Award, the Southern Independent Booksellers' Award 2010, the Quebec Booksellers' Prize, and the USA National Indie Excellence Award 2010 for Best Mystery.[13]

In 2010,A Quiet Vendettawon the Prix Des Libraires Du Quebec Laureat.[14]Additionally, it won the Villeneuve les Avignon Literary Festival Readers' Prize in 2010 and the St. Maur Prix Polar in 2011.

A Simple Act of Violencewas shortlisted for theBarry Awardfor Best British Crime Fiction 2009[8]and won theTheakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Awardfor 2010.[12]

Les Assassins(The Anniversary Man) won the Plume d'Or 2016 for Thriller Internationale.

Chant de l'Assassinwon the Grand Prix des Blogueurs Littéraires 2021.

Works[edit]

  • Candlemoth(2003)ISBN0-7528-5666-9
  • Ghostheart(2004)ISBN0-7528-6059-3
  • A Quiet Vendetta(2005)ISBN0-7528-6060-7
  • City of Lies(2006)ISBN0-7528-7366-0
  • A Quiet Belief in Angels(2007)ISBN978-0-7528-7369-5
  • A Simple Act of Violence(2008)ISBN978-0-7528-9190-3
  • The Anniversary Man(2009)ISBN0-7528-9874-4
  • Saints of New York(2010)ISBN978-1-4091-0474-2
  • Bad Signs(2011)ISBN978-1-4091-0476-6
  • A Dark and Broken Heart(2012)ISBN978-1-4091-2414-6
  • The Devil and the River(2013)ISBN978-1-4091-2417-7
  • Carnival of Shadows(2014)ISBN978-1-4091-2420-7
  • Mockingbird Songs(2015)ISBN978-1-409-1-2423-8
  • Chicagoland(2015) avec Fabrice Colin & Sacha GoergISBN978-2-756-0-6310-2
  • Kings of America(2017)ISBN978-1-4091-6862-1
  • Three Bullets(2019)ISBN978-1-4091-8778-3
  • The Actor's Playbook(2020)ISBN978-1-5272-5914-0
  • The Man Who Ate The World(2020)ISBN979-8-6423-9791-6(All proceeds to charity)
  • Proof of Life(2021)ISBN978-1-4091-9856-7
  • Seul le Silence(2021)ISBN978-2-4914-6711-1(Graphic Novel w. Fabrice Colin and Richard Guérineau)
  • The Darkest Season(2022)ISBN978-1-4091-9860-4
  • The Actor's Playbook(Second Edition) (2022)ISBN978-1-3999-2370-5
  • The Last Highway(2023)ISBN978-1-3987-1034-4
  • The Bell Tower(2024)ISBN978-1-3987-1038-2

References[edit]

  1. ^abcdeStaff (2008)."R.J. Ellory – Biography".R.J. Ellory Publications Ltd. Archived fromthe originalon 28 August 2008.Retrieved19 September2012.
  2. ^abcStaff."Ellory, R.J. – Orion Books".Orion Publishing Group.Archived fromthe originalon 20 May 2012.Retrieved19 September2012.
  3. ^Hough, Andrew (2 September 2012)."RJ Ellory: detected, crime writer who faked his own glowing reviews".The Daily Telegraph.London.Retrieved19 September2012.
  4. ^Streitfeld, David (4 September 2012)."His Biggest Fan Was Himself".The New York Times.Retrieved19 September2012.
  5. ^abStaff (2003)."The CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger 2003".Crime Writers Association.Archived fromthe originalon 4 September 2012.Retrieved19 September2012.
  6. ^abStaff (2007)."The CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger 2007".Crime Writers Association.Archived fromthe originalon 27 April 2012.Retrieved19 September2012.
  7. ^Crown, Sarah (27 December 2007)."Richard and Judy unveil their 2008 Book Club".The Guardian.Retrieved19 September2012.
  8. ^abcGardner, Barry."Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine: Barry Awards".Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine. Archived fromthe originalon 23 April 2012.Retrieved19 September2012.
  9. ^"R.J. Ellory | Bookreporter.com".bookreporter.com.2013.Retrieved3 January2013.
  10. ^abStaff (31 March 2009)."Prix du roman noir Nouvel Obs/BibliObs: Férey et Ellory lauréats"(in French). Paperblog: Magazine Culture.Retrieved19 September2012.
  11. ^Staff (1 April 2009)."R.J. Ellory:" Je suis anglais... je suis désolé "(with acceptance speech)"(in French).Le nouvel Observateur.Retrieved19 September2012.
  12. ^abFlood, Alison (23 July 2010)."RJ Ellory wins crime novel of the year award".The Guardian.Retrieved19 September2012.
  13. ^Staff (2010)."Indie Excellence Awards 2010 Book Award Winners".National Indie Excellence Awards. Archived fromthe originalon 26 February 2015.Retrieved19 September2012.
  14. ^Staff."Book awards: Libraires du Québec (Lauréat Roman québécois, 2010)".LibraryThing.Retrieved19 September2012.

External links[edit]

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