Product Description

Joseph Vaughan's life has been dogged by tragedy. Growing up in the 1950s, he was at the centre of series of killings of young girls in his small rural community. The girls were taken, assaulted and left horribly mutilated. Barely a teenager himself, Joseph becomes determined to try to protect his community and classmates from the predations of the killer. Despite banding together with his friends as ' The Guardians', he was powerless to prevent more murders - and no one was ever caught. Only after a full ten years did the nightmare end when the one of his neighbours is found hanging from a rope, with articles from the dead girls around him. Thankfully, the killings finally ceased. But the past won't stay buried - for it seems that the real murderer still lives and is killing again. And the secret of his identity lies in Joseph's own history...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2471 in Books
• Published on: 2008-01-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 396 pages

My Weekly
"A meaty, involving drama which will catch you up in an emotional rollercoaster -- great reading"

Review
"A meaty, involving drama which will catch you up in an emotional rollercoaster -- great reading" (My Weekly )

"Very spine chilling... keeps you going right until the last page" (Amanda Ross )

From the Author
I would like to take this opportunity to communicate my thanks to all those who have read my book, and those who have taken the time and trouble to post a comment or review on Amazon. It is rare indeed, as an author, to actually receive any feedback, as writing a book is a somewhat individual and insular activity! To hear word back that a book has been enjoyed, or perhaps not enjoyed, means the world to me, and I am very grateful.

It is not my intention to confound or disappoint anyone with the books that I write. In the main, and evidenced by the very kind responses that have been posted, my work has been well-received. I am grateful indeed for the acknowledgement. But more important than anything, I wished always for my work to evoke and precipitate a response, to be something that people could either love or hate, embrace or discard as they decided. If it has accomplished any part of this, then I am happy.
I thank you for your time and attention, for the hours that you have devoted to reading what I have written, and I hope that we will continue from this point forward with a long and rewarding relationship as writer and reader.

My very best wishes,
R J Ellory.

Customer Reviews

A rollercoaster in more ways than one
Where to start. First the positive. It's a page turner, at times gripping, emotive and enthralling. I raced through it to find out how it would end.
Now the bad, by turns it had me in tears of emotion and others tears of laughter at the cliched, stereotypical and clunky characterisation. At the beginning it reminded me of the great Cormac McCarthy but later more a Mills and Boon bodice ripper! Being seduced and taken to bed by his teacher, who then becomes his lover. PLEASE! I could almost hear Bobby Goldsboro singing "Summer" The First Time!
I have to agree with another reviewer, that the killer was obvious about 200 pages before "Joseph Calvin Vaughan" worked it out.
Also the central core of the book, the child killings, is nonsense. The killing of all these children even in the 1950's would have been a huge national and international story. To suggest that no-one outside these small towns would have heard of them is just ludicrous. The FBI, national guard, and CIA! would have been mobilised to find the killer.
But hey, it's just a book right and it got me hooked to the end, which I suppose is the point.

A rollercoaster of losing interest and being gripped!
I would say I am 50/50 on this book whilst I wouldn't rave about it to a friend I would say its good for a holiday read.
I kept going through parts where I couldn't wait to read it and parts where I thought come on, I'm bored!
Its very well written but it could be half as long.

I gave up after 90 pages
I enjoy a literary thriller,but I felt this had pretensions way beyond it's abilities.Like another reviewer,I found the endless similes and metaphors overwhelming.I strongly believe that if you're going to write a first person narrative you have to stay absolutely true to the character and I don't think Ellory manages this at all, but falls prey to the temptation to write beautiful sentences at the expense of veracity. I absolutely did not believe the short story supposedly written by the narrator at the age of twelve.I don't think Tennesee Williams or Truman Capote were capable of such elegant prose at the age of 12, let alone some farm boy from the backwoods of Georgia.I tried to get past that, but the writing style left me cold and in the end I could not be bothered to continue,because this was neither good enough as a literary novel or as a whodunnit.
Having said that, I've no doubt I'll be lambasted by fans of the author for not liking this, as I was when I gave a bad review to Carlos Ruiz Zafon's Shadow of the Wind.But to those fans already sharpening their quills I'd just like to say that the way to show how sensitive and caring you are is not to call someone heartless because they don't share your taste.I don't care if you loved this book or think this author is brilliant - I don't,so please feel free to keep your comments to yourself.