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Roger Jon Ellory is an author new to readers of crime fiction so there is a dearth of information about him available. He lives in England but nowhere is it noted if he is English or, perhaps, a transplanted American. Certainly his knowledge of American recent history is excellent as is his mastery of the American idiom (insofar as this Australian reviewer was able to ascertain.) I was somewhat bemused to note that Ellory has written about a time period an author with almost the same name - James Ellroy - has also fictionalised. Not only that, both authors are big on conspiracy theory. Comparisons between Candlemoth and The Green Mile as well as The Shawshank Redemption are inescapable. The protagonist, also the narrator, Daniel Ford, is in prison, on Death Row in fact, for a murder which he did not commit. The Green Mile has a heavily supernatural element, however, which Candlemoth certainly lacks, but various of the characters are similar. One would assume that in non-fictional life one would find the variety of people Ellory and King describe amongst the prison population. Both write about villainous and evil guards as well as about humane custodians and innocent prisoner victims. Ford narrates the events leading up to his incarceration, many years previously, to a priest, Father John Rousseau, at first unwillingly but later looking to the priest for company as the date of his execution draws closer. Daniel Ford and Nathan Verney became friends when they were six years old. This would not have been remarkable had the boys been of the same race but Daniel is white and Nathan black. Their friendship began in the years when there was strict segregation observed in the United States and persisted even when they were adult. Daniel, at various times, also faced discrimination because of his close friendship with a black. Despite the association, when Nathan was most horribly murdered, Daniel was found guilty of the killing of his best friend. Ellory narrates the sad period of American history from the viewpoint of the two boys as they grow up. They are stunned by the deaths of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King. They are also affected very intimately by the war in Vietnam. Nathan receives his callup papers and the two flee, Daniel to forestall receiving his own draft notice. This is a very powerful novel. Ellory portrays both the good and the bad of humanity without sparing the warts. The pace is not fast - certainly a big difference from the work of James Ellroy - but the attention to detail is meticulous and the depiction of American history fascinating. It will be very interesting to read any follow up fiction written by this excellent author.
Reviewed by Denise Wels, October 2003
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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