Rate this book

Un Semplice Atto Di Violenza (2008)

by R.J. Ellory(Favorite Author)

3.72 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

8862510500 (ISBN13: 9788862510509)

languge

English

genre

Mystery & Thriller

publisher

Giano

review 1: I recently reviewed Ellory’s A Dark and Broken Heart. I said I was less than thrilled because: it’s too much like a movie I've seen too many times before; and because of the protagonist’s limited range, despite the many thousands of words given to his inter-chapter inner monologues. Now I have read A Simple Act of Violence, Ellory’s huge bestseller about a Washington DC homicide cop’s frustrating, soul-sapping battle against shadowy DC “intelligence community” forces blocking his way to a clear view in solving the brutal serial killing of five women. I enjoyed this book more. BUT.A Simple Act deals with murders in the near present relating back to the Reagan era and the “war” to contain the supposed Communist threat arising in Central America, most specif... moreically in Nicaragua. Miller is the DC homicide detective, bamboozled, manipulated, scared, finally educated by Robey, an ex-CIA operative whose conscience finally got the better of him. Read it – it will make you sad, if not sick to your stomach. The more so if you happen to be one of those who believe Ronald Reagan was a saint.Ellory uses the same structural technique as in A Dark and Broken Heart. He gives us a chapter of ‘action’ narrative, then a chapter, in italics, of counterpoint ‘inner’ reportage: a character speaking to us via his thoughts. Then the narrative continues, the next sequence of events unfold; then another chapter of inner monologue. Eventually the two threads come together.In A Dark and Broken Heart both the inner and outer threads are built around Madigan, the corrupted NYC cop. In A Simple Act of Violence, this back-and-forth is between Miller’s acts and interactions as a police procedural builds around the mystery, and Robey’s doleful ‘thinking’ about where he has come from, what he has done for his country, and what it means. The technique works better in A Simple Act because: there is more mystery; and we learn about something more interesting than one rotten cop’s rotten soul.Another technique common to both books is the way Ellory’s main characters OBSESS and OBSESS until their confusion and pain become unbearable. Obviously millions of readers love this. To me, it is melodramatic overkill. It also makes those characters come across as a wee bit dense – which may well be the point, yes; but for my part, after so much obsessing it’s hard to care.3 stars for A Simple Act of Violence. Much energy (though repetitive); great research in describing, if not exposing, another incident of American mega-folly in service of its messianic sense of carrying out God’s best work around the world; but not the most original cop story.Suggested Cultural Exercise: After reading A Simple Act of Violence, see or rent Zero Dark Thirty (about the hunt for Osama bin Laden). Then think about American obsessions with geopolitical righteousness and the wages (bodies; dollars) of the inevitable accompanying sins.
review 2: R.J. Ellory��s new mystery, A Simple Act of Violence gives the reader a fictional (but all too believable) insight into the political workings of the D.C. justice system. Detective Robert Miller is pulled into what looks like a typical serial murder case �� four women have been brutally murdered, and their killer has tied a ribbon around each of their necks. However, Miller discovers that all of these women had false identities, and the more he discovers, the more he��s pulled into a conspiracy involving the CIA and a team of hired political assassins.Even though I don��t usually go for stories with a political edge, this story had me hooked from the first page �� well written, plenty of suspense, and full of plot twists to keep even the most experienced mystery reader guessing. This is a highly entertaining intellectual exercise, and a book that I��m very much looking forward to rereading. less

Download links for: Un semplice atto di violenza

Advertising