One of the best novels of 2024. Well written with host of memorable characters especially Garrett Nelson. The author description of the events make you feel that your in the story with them. This is a crime novel that makes you think. Thanks to Orion Publishing Group and Netgalley for this review ARC

Garrett Nelson is a quiet man. He lives on his own and has no contact with his mother, the only remaining member of his family. There is no wife or girlfriend. In fact there’s no sign of a friend of any type in his life. Acquaintances, perhaps, at work where he’s a Deputy Sheriff. He takes his work very seriously - you could even say he lives for it. So when, one day, things go south and he’s forced to leave his job it’s not easy for him to see a path forward.

As fortune would have it, he meets someone whilst he is recuperating from an injury sustained on his last day at work. That person might just change his life. A new job is found, working as a prison guard at a facility that includes a number of prisoners housed on Death Row. Their fate, their final seat, awaits them in an old part of the prison, in a place they call the Bell Tower. But Garrett is a man tormented by his past, in particular by memories of his bullying and manipulative father. His prison duties are tough, both physically and mentally. But particularly the latter. Can he work through the loss of a career that meant so much to him, cope with the multitude of challenges his new job throws at him whilst also attempting to build and sustain a relationship with someone who might be exactly what he’s been looking for all of his life? It’s going to be tough. It’s going to be a close call.

I’ve been a long-term fan of RJE’s writing – in fact, I think I’ve read all of his published novels. He’s an author I much admire, a number of his books being amongst the finest I’ve read. This story joins that list, at or at least very close to the very top. Ellory is an Englishman - a musician as well as a writer - who sets most if not all of his stories in America. For me, he hits all the right notes here. It’s a harrowing, claustrophobic tale of a man who whilst struggling to do the right thing has his mettle tested time and again by events and by people he comes into contact with. I must admit, I found it to be a truly emotional journey. It’s not an easy read: there are scenes here that I know will stick with me, haunt me, for a long time. But it’s reward is a truly memorable piece of literary fiction, which happens to include a mystery as an added bonus.

This is a well written piece of crime fiction, set in a Florida penitentiary in the 1970's. I loved the character of nelson, what a compassionate human being he is. The subject matter is difficult to read but it is cleverly crafted and well researched with lots of detail. It is definitely a thought provoking and emotional read. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

This was an eloquently written literary novel which held my attention from the very first page. It examined some deep questions including the nature of sacrifice as well as having a mystery at its heart.
Garrett Nelson works for the Sheriff’s department and enjoys his job. He has little home life and no friends or family, his work is what drives him. When disaster strikes and he is invalided out of the police, he is not sure what to do. However a burgeoning new relationship pushes him in the direction of working for the prison service. Hannah’s father and brother are wardens at Southern State and have made a good living there.
But this is 1970s Florida which has recently re established the death penalty and Garrett has to work on Death Row with the condemned men on occasion. Over the course of 18 months Garrett meets some truly awful people but he also gets to know a prisoner, about to be executed, who may not have committed the crime. Garrett’s cop sense kicks in and he starts to investigate.
This book looks at a subject which a lot of people would find difficult to stomach, including Garrett himself. It is not an easy read, particularly the scenes set in the Bell Tower where the prisoner’s are executed. It is not a subject English readers need to think about and it is hard to believe that this still happens in some states in the US, a so called modern country. There is no going back once the worst is happened, even if that person is innocent.
There is a major twist at the end which went some way to explaining what had happened in the course of the novel.
This is an excellent read which is beautifully written and cleverly plotted. The research which has gone into the book was also second to none. It is one of those novels that will probably stay with me in the weeks to come as I contemplate the events that took place in it.
I definitely recommend “The Bell Tower” as a five star read but be warned - it is difficult to stomach in places.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advance copy.

RJ Elliott quietly goes about writing exceptional thrillers and this is no exception as he paints a devastatingly bleak and accurate description of life and death in a high security prison and the horrendous effects of wardens coping with the stress of helping to administer death sentences.

The writing is lyrical and descriptive and the characters and plot draw you in.

I really enjoyed this thought provoking book and heartily recommend it.

There are some books that just stay with you forever. They may not be your favourites or the best written books but something about them just mean you never forget them.

One of those books, for me, is one of Ellory's previous novels - A Quiet Belief in Angels. Its hard to put my finger on why I loved it so much other than I think it was the first time I realised that crime fiction could also be literary. I think there can some snobbery around crime fiction that some writers, academics, literary judges think it is beneath them but A Quiet Belief in Angels taught me that such snobbery is completely misplaced.

Since then, I have followed RJ Ellory's career and was so pleased to be given the opportunity to remember why I fell in love with his writing all those years ago. The Bell Tower is part of a prison, more accurately an execution chamber, where Garrett Nelson finds himself working after being medically retired from the Sheriff's department.

Understandably, the darkness hanging over such a place soon casts a shadow over Garrett however with a new partner, he continues to seek out the light. However, when Garrett meets an inmate scheduled for death in the coming months, and realises there is far more to his story than meets the eye, he wonders whether an innocent man will soon be put to death.

As with his previous novels, the writing here is beautiful and poetic. The sense of darkness hanging over such a prison, and the brutal effect it has on staff and prisoners alike jumps off the page and casts a shadow over the reader. Only writers like Ellory could really do it justice.

Obviously, I can only provide a brief synopsis given that anything further would be a spoiler, however I would encourage anyone not familiar with his work to remedy that asap!

Thanks to Netgalley and Orion Publishing Group | Orion for an ARC in exchange for an honest review