Members Lucky Posted January 21, 2013 Members Posted January 21, 2013 R. J. Ellory is an author who appeals to me so much that I ordered his books from London when they were not available here. His first novel to be available here was A Quiet Belief in Angels, and was just a terrific crime story. A Simple Act of Violence and Saints of New York were just masterpieces of crime fiction. Ellory lives in England, yet places his stories in the US with such fine detail that you would think he was native to the area. I told all of my friends of his books. Now I learn, rather late, that he had to apologize for writing reviews under a pseudonym that disparaged competing authors. Why? Why would a man of this talent stoop so low? His novels are still brilliant and well-worth reading, but another man I admired has gone down into the dust. Yes, we keep getting reminded that everyone is human, but this one really bothered me. If you are looking for something good to read, A Quiet Belief in Angels is superb, as are any of his novels except his first, Candlemoth. The scandal: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/his-biggest-fan-was-himself/ Quote
Members TampaYankee Posted January 21, 2013 Members Posted January 21, 2013 Why? Why would a man of this talent stoop so low? Insecurity is the best explanation. I'll let others ponder alternatives. Quote
AdamSmith Posted January 21, 2013 Posted January 21, 2013 Such a thing by professionally published authors would never have occurred to me. But "Ellory is only the tip of the iceberg" in this practice, some appear to believe: http://m.guardiannews.com/books/2012/sep/03/rj-ellory-secret-amazon-reviews Quote
Guest hitoallusa Posted January 22, 2013 Posted January 22, 2013 What he did is a very common thing at my work even in my college and professional school years... I am not so surprised... Quote
