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| Ghostheart | 
 enlarge | Author: R.j. Ellory
Publisher: Orion
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy Used: £0.93
You Save: £7.06 (88%)
New (27) from £1.43
Avg. Customer Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 15608
Media: Paperback
Edition: New edition
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 1
ISBN: 0752864092
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780752864099
ASIN: 0752864092
Publication Date: January 17, 2005
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: USED PAPERBACK; VERY GOOD CONDITION; CLEAN TIGHT TEXT WITH NORMAL READING WEAR TO COVER
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| Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...
 Across 107th Street August 31, 2008
7 out of 10 found this review helpful
Along with many others I have been investing in R J Ellory's back-catalogue in response to his hugely successful fifth novel A Quiet Belief in Angels. Ghostheart is his second novel, and again it is clear that he has a broad and diverse talent, because he has the unusual ability to tell a tale in a different style to all of his others whilst retaining his own indelible signature and personal identity. And this is such an intelligently written story that I felt tempted to read it all over again as soon as I had finished.
Essentially there are three men in the life of central character Annie O'Neill: her friend and neighbour Jack, her new lover David, and her late father Frank O'Neill. And although a huge amount of time is allocated to the two living characters, it gradually emerges that it is her father who is the most influential and who, indirectly, this book is all about despite his having died more than twenty years earlier, when Annie was about seven years old. It's a book about writing; Annie runs a small bookshop in a little lane off West 107th Street, Manhattan, and part of the inventory includes antique and classical publications that are dear to her heart. Despite this being the early part of the 21st century, Annie feels - as one suspects the author does, too - that she doesn't belong in the modern era in a literary sense, feeling a closer connection to the likes of Fitzgerald, Steinbeck and Hemingway than writers of the current time. An elderly man visits her shop with a tale of his own to tell, one which involves gangsters of a bygone generation and a tale that is narrated in occasional pieces within the main body of the story. Soon after Annie starts reading the letters given to her each week by the elderly man, she meets David and is quickly swept off her feet by him and enters into a passionate and blissful love affair. Meanwhile, she shares her rapidly changing life with her trusted friend and neighbour Jack Sullivan, a heavy-drinking Vietnam veteran and journalist nearly twice her age.
Through the eyes, mind and heart of a woman with little in the way of previous experience in matters of love and commitment, and who knows a lot less about her late father than she would like, the reader is taken on an odyssey of emotional traumas that encompass both the present and the past, with issues such as love, honesty, trust, heritage and revenge just some of the tests of spirit and resolve that Annie has to endure. Key among these is the drama of discovering that the past life she thought she knew is shockingly different in reality, and that she has been deceived by those closest to her for her entire life until now.
The realisation of the truth is told in minute detail, a revelation that covers almost the entire length of the novel, and while the reader might second-guess the outcome, or some elements of it, before Annie does, the conclusion is moving and narrated with great skill and sensitivity. This is a story that I will remember long after closing the final page, a tale expertly and convincingly told despite the preconceived objections some have apparently had, that a British writer should tell a story entirely based in America, and a man writing through the emotions of a woman. The open-minded will soon realise, as they most likely had done previously with other Ellory novels, that this is a storyteller of exceptional talent and diversity, and also that he is no one-hit-wonder by any means. A Quiet Belief in Angels may have been the one that everybody has heard about and read, but the truth is that everything that went before - including Ghostheart - is every bit as good.
 Good editor needed! August 26, 2008
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
Was expecting something amazing from this much-praised author but while the story did eventually grab me, I felt the book could use a good editor. There are a few inconsistencies which distract from the flow of the story and several almost cringingly long-winded passages describing what is going on in Annie's head. Most of the book is well written which only makes the bad bits seem especially jarring.
A tale of human longing and cruelty June 12, 2008
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is a wonderful book and has literally so many ingredients (love, betrayal, stark violence, gangsterism, nazi death camps) you would be hard put to fit the story into a genre ; crime? historical saga? love story? One thing is sure, you cannot put it down. This is what the more learned amongst us call "Serious Popular Fiction", I suppose. I read about 52 books a year. My means of evaluating a books' worth is simple : I ask myself "Was it good?". Well, this one was excellent. As a fan of "serious" fiction, I am aware that "crime" fiction is often seen as the poor cousin of literature. Forget that snobbery, this is a brilliantly told story. It is moving, shocking, funny, sad and, above all, rivetting. I fell in love with Annie O'Neill (note to self : hide these comments from wife). I feel lucky. I've just bought all his books and this was my first one to read. I've still got four to go. Yoohoo!!!
5 stars simply aren't enough, it's a stunning read June 4, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Literally just closed this incredible book having reached the end and had to log on & recommend it to everyone before starting it again. It will be the first time I've ever wanted to re-read a book the minute I've finished it purely to enjoy it again but from a different perspective. Like so many of my fellow reviewers, once we'd experienced one of Ellory's books we immediately wanted more. GHOSTHEART is SUPERB .. .. and I thought A Quiet Belief and Candlemoth were both brilliant .. .. how on earth does he consistently dream up such completely absorbing, amazing stories? Like his central characters, especially Annie, I felt emotionally drained at times as I sat alongside them living the roller coaster rides that were their lives. I feel they will stay with me long after I finish Ghostheart for the second time .. .. for me this was so much more than reading a book, it was a stunning, unforgettable experience.
Another great book for RJ Ellory June 3, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is the third of this authors books that I've read and am having to force myself to read other authors books in between. This wonderful English author writes the most amazing American novels and this time with a woman as the central character. He brings his characters to life in the midst of historical events which are not undervalued. He is not afraid to comment on the history and makes he views very clear. It must be extremely difficult for a man to write a woman as his central character and this has been achieved beautifully. If you haven't read one of his books yet - you must.
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