Reminiscent of Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting, this debut novel, The Elephant Tree challenges the reader’s sense of morality with shocking plot twists and vivid characters.Mark Fallon is an overworked detective investigating a spate of attacks at a string of high profile city centre nightclubs. Scott is a dejected 24 year old struggling to make ends meet working for his brother and supplementing … his income with a small-scale drug dealing operation. Angela is an attractive 23 year old, raised by her father, a career criminal and small time drug dealer who supplies Scott with cannabis.This is a chilling tale spanning a few months in the lives of Scott and Angela, where realizations about the present combine with shocking revelations from the past leading to an apocalyptic climax where they no longer know whom they can trust.
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Dark crime fiction at its very best. Low-life characters that become accessible, then likeable, then you find yourself rooting for them right to the end.
Fast paced, heart pounding, dark and angsty writing that had me turning pages quicker than ever! I loved the themes in this book, it has so many aspects that I can relate to (rightly or wrongly) in my everyday life that it sat comfortably with me. I wanted to hang out with the characters and share a beer with them. It’s not, however, what you …
There are lots of dark/transgressive/crime novels out these days and most of them and much of a muchness, you know what I mean? Same tired old clichés we’ve seen a million times before that equate to watered down Palahniuk or Welsh. I didn’t have particularly high hopes when I picked this one out but I’m really glad that I did as the depth covered …
Loving reading Transgressive Fiction and this is a modern day classic!
The Elephant Tree by R.D. Ronald
Scott gets through the day working for his older brother’s company, Zebra Design. By night , he has an extracurricular activity, scouring the bars and nightclubs with his sidekick, Neil, selling various drugs. This could have been the scenario for the rest of his foreseeable future, but is that all Scott wants? …
A friend of mine first recommended The Elephant Tree after he received a copy as a gift. He told me he thought I’d enjoy it but that he considered it something of a niche read. Well, I think he was right on the first point, I totally loved this book, but I disagree on the second. This dark tale of criminality, I think, will have a more widespread …
The Elephant Tree isn’t so much one of those crime-thriller books where everything blows up in endless fight scenes, it feels like a lot more thought and depth and planning has gone into the construction, and upon finishing it I felt a lot more satisfied because of it. Perhaps because this is the first book I’ve read by R D Ronald I loved it, but …
As a big fan of Bret Easton Ellis I found a lot of similarities in style and content that I could relate to, not so much setting, but the dark character types and arcs in this book. A brooding class of disillusioned young people where the bad elements from our own society have been left unchecked and spiral down shadowy roads ending up in the …
I think The Elephant Tree would make a great introductory book for someone not particularly into dark crime books as I found the writing and concepts going on pretty easy to get to grips with. It all runs along at a nice pace and has enough intrigue early on to hook you into the story. One of those books where you’re reading and when you look up …
Dark and hard hitting thriller. Different from the mainstream but I reckon all the better for it.
A different kind of thriller and I loved it.
This was a fantastic read and very well written. I am really into crime fiction, so I’ve got high standards, but this book was awesome. I have a soft spot for the underdogs and so Scott was my favorite character. Another thing I liked about the book was that the meaning of the title is revealed at the end. I bought the book because I was intrigued …
Stepped into the first novel by RD Ronald a bit dubiously, unsure of what to expect with it being a hard genre to win people over in, but I must say I was impressed! The characters are ones which I felt I could easily relate to and would love to read more about, really couldn’t get enough of them! This book was recommended to me by a friend and I …
I saw this trending on Goodreads so I bought a copy and loved it. Dark and dangerous and awesome.
Your standard crime novel often takes the perspective of the ‘good guys’, but R.D. Ronald gives us something different, by offering the perspective of the criminals themselves. With Scott, the main character and petty drug dealer, his motives are not what you would expect – when you learn about his dark past, you can’t really blame him for his …
After reading the synopsis I was really eager to get into The Elephant Tree. The premise is a criminal and drug underworld where the protagonist, Scott, surfs around the edges before taking a step too far changing his destiny forever. We witness his struggle to deal with events as they occur, where Scott questions everything he had previously …
R. D. Ronald begins with Scott, a struggling drug dealer, whose dream is to return to his family’s country. In reality, Scott is tied down to a mortgage payment on his deceased uncle’s country home. Angela is special to Scott, but he made a promise her father, Putty, not to date her. Putty wants more for his daughter than to marry a drug dealer …
An unexpected first from RD Ronald and has definitely got me intrigued, definitely one to keep an eye on! I have also read his second novel The Zombie Room and The Elephant Tree definitely helps to ease you into the world of crime, drugs and suspense which Ronald has created here. Each character has their endearing qualities which makes you want …
Easy to compare this book to the likes of Trainspotting but in my eyes there is nothing wrong with that. You can see where the author has derived some of his inspiration but has made his own mark in the genre anyway and props to him for this. The story was a suspenseful one and I love how it is set in a world where you don’t have a location so you …
The Elephant Tree was something of an interesting find, and I wasn’t really sure what to make of it as the book went along. It was sort of a mystery / thriller, but with darker more brooding undertones like you’d find in a book by Bret Easton Ellis. One thing I will say though, I loved it!