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An exceptionally perceptive well written debut, 25 Feb 2004
I really can't understand how the Fleming Dagger committee selected their nominees for the best in thriller writing. CANDLEMOTH is anything but a thriller. It would be an excellent nominee for the Creasey Award for best first novel or even the Ellis Peters Award for historical mysteries. It is most definitely not a thriller by any definition of that sub genre. It is, rather, an exceptionally perceptive and well written debut. It brings to mind TRUE CRIME by Andrew Klaven and the historical dramas of Thomas H. Cook.
It is 1982. Daniel Ford is on death row in North Carolina for the murder of his best friend twelve years ago. We learn early on that Nathan Verney, a black man was found decapitated and Ford was convicted of that crime. In a confession to a priest, Ford takes us through his life story and how he reaches this point of his life at the age of thirty-six. The story, albeit on a microcosmic level, takes us through the 1950s when Nathan and Daniel first met as six year olds and became fast friends. Through their relationship we go through the years of civil rights in the south, the Kennedy Presidency, Vietnam, and the time of free love and protests of the 1960s. With this backdrop, the relationship of these two men remain rock stable almost as brothers. Throughout the narrative the question always lingers as to how and why Ford would up on death row and slated to die in a matter of a few weeks.
The technique of going back in time to tell a story explaining a current predicament can be highly effective. Thomas H. Cook used this technique in his masterpiece BREAKHEART HILL and the Edgar Award winning THE CHATHAM SCHOOL AFFAIR. Having a protagonist in prison on death row adds a certain sense of desperation as time slowly runs out. Roger Jon Ellroy also uses this means quite effectively. The story is ever so slowly drawn out as all is revealed. What is most impressive about the debut is the narrative drive which skillfully gets every possible drop of suspense possible before unloading the goods at the end. I liked his characters of Nathan and Daniel finding them both realistic and sympathetic. The ending is a bit of a disappointment but getting there is way more than half the fun so little is lost. A very strong debut which really tells a lot about the United States in a very volatile time and most ironically written by a highly talented Brit.
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 Candlemoth 0752859145
Roger Jon Ellory
Orion Books Ltd
Candlemoth
Welcome
An exceptionally perceptive well written debut
I really can't understand how the Fleming Dagger committee selected their nominees for the best in thriller writing. CANDLEMOTH is anything but a thriller. It would be an excellent nominee for the Creasey Award for best first novel or even the Ellis Peters Award for historical mysteries. It is most definitely not a thriller by any definition of that sub genre. It is, rather, an exceptionally perceptive and well written debut. It brings to mind TRUE CRIME by Andrew Klaven and the historical dramas of Thomas H. Cook.
It is 1982. Daniel Ford is on death row in North Carolina for the murder of his best friend twelve years ago. We learn early on that Nathan Verney, a black man was found decapitated and Ford was convicted of that crime. In a confession to a priest, Ford takes us through his life story and how he reaches this point of his life at the age of thirty-six. The story, albeit on a microcosmic level, takes us through the 1950s when Nathan and Daniel first met as six year olds and became fast friends. Through their relationship we go through the years of civil rights in the south, the Kennedy Presidency, Vietnam, and the time of free love and protests of the 1960s. With this backdrop, the relationship of these two men remain rock stable almost as brothers. Throughout the narrative the question always lingers as to how and why Ford would up on death row and slated to die in a matter of a few weeks.
The technique of going back in time to tell a story explaining a current predicament can be highly effective. Thomas H. Cook used this technique in his masterpiece BREAKHEART HILL and the Edgar Award winning THE CHATHAM SCHOOL AFFAIR. Having a protagonist in prison on death row adds a certain sense of desperation as time slowly runs out. Roger Jon Ellroy also uses this means quite effectively. The story is ever so slowly drawn out as all is revealed. What is most impressive about the debut is the narrative drive which skillfully gets every possible drop of suspense possible before unloading the goods at the end. I liked his characters of Nathan and Daniel finding them both realistic and sympathetic. The ending is a bit of a disappointment but getting there is way more than half the fun so little is lost. A very strong debut which really tells a lot about the United States in a very volatile time and most ironically written by a highly talented Brit.
Larry Gandle
25 Feb 2004
- Overall: 5
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Location: Tampa, Florida
Reviewer Rank: 22,490
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