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Robert Ellis

Goodreads Author

Born

Pennsylvania, The United States

Website

https://www.robertellis.net/

Genre

Thriller, Mystery, Suspense

Member Since

June 2014

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Robert Ellis is the bestselling author of Access to Power and The Dead Room, as well as two critically acclaimed series--the Lena Gamble novels, City of Fire, The Lost Witness, and Murder Season, and the Detective Matt Jones Thriller Series, City of Echoes, The Love Killings, The Girl Buried in the Woods, and City of Stones.

Born in Philadelphia, Robert moved to Los Angeles and worked as a writer, producer, and director in film, television, and advertising. After ghostwriting the final draft of Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, Robert wrote his first novel, Access to Power, a national bestseller. His books have been translated into more than ten languages and won praise from authors as diverse as Janet Evanovich and Michael Conne

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Popular Answered Questions

Hi Robert! Why do some writers talk about how difficult it is to write that second novel? Thanks!

Robert Ellis Hi Laura!

I added this to my blog when another reader, Tracy M., asked a similar question. Please don't take it as anything more than my opinion based …moreHi Laura!

I added this to my blog when another reader, Tracy M., asked a similar question. Please don't take it as anything more than my opinion based on my own experiences writing more than one novel!

I think that what gets in the way between books 1 and 2 is sort of the shock that your voice as a writer follows you from one book to the next. Here you are working on a new story with a new cast of characters and your voice as a writer hasn't changed one bit. The truth is that a writer's voice is the one aspect about writing that can't be taught, learned, modified or changed. It's something very unique that we're all born with. It's also the great identifier to your readers that you in fact wrote the novel they're reading. Even more, it's the big tell if a writer isn't doing their own work anymore, but putting their name on the cover! If the voiced changed, that means the writer did too!

Hope this adds a bit of something to the conversation! And thanks for the kind words about Matt Jones and City of Stones. Hope you'll hang around for what comes next!

All best,
Robert(less)

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Second question, Robert, and it's related to what you posted. Do you think that it's possible for a film director to have the same unique voice of an author?

Robert Ellis Hi, Laura! Sorry it’s taken me so long to respond, but I really had to think this one over! And please understand that my answer only covers films, no…moreHi, Laura! Sorry it’s taken me so long to respond, but I really had to think this one over! And please understand that my answer only covers films, not television or cable series, and that what I’m saying is again, only my take on the situation.

At one level, I think I’m like most people in that I follow directors and actors, and that’s why I’m watching a movie. I can remember how popular the debate was in film school with Truffaut, Goddard, and others, claiming that the director is the author of the film. But does that mean a film director has the unique voice of someone who writes novels?

My answer is … not very often!

A director with a unique voice is an exception. Especially after Spielberg and Lucas turned movies into a spectacle that could be enjoyed by a larger, worldwide audience that didn’t necessarily speak English.

Sure. There are exceptions. I never needed to see the credits in films made by Hitchcock, Kubrick, Bertolucci, or Kurosawa to know by their style and “voice” that they directed the film. You may be able to list a handful of others, but still, it would be a small list. Most directors have no personal style at all and shoot coverage.

One of my favorite stories is the making of The Maltese Falcon. The film was directed by John Houston. Instead of laboring over the project, he handed his assistant a copy of the novel by Dashiell Hammett, told her to transcribe the text to screenplay format, then went fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. If you ever get a chance to see the screenplay, you’ll realize that she did just that. The screenplay is the novel word or word, the chapter breaks replaced with scenes.

Which brings us back to your question, and my new answer. Does a film director have a unique voice like an author?

And my reaction, for the most part, no, but that’s okay. The reason I go to a movie might be based on who directed the film and who’s acting in it, but what keeps me in the seat is the screenplay. The story. The man or woman who wrote the film. A film could be poorly photographed, the actors could be mediocre, the director’s touch nonexistent, but the film could still be good, even great, if the story’s great. And just the reverse is true as well. If the story stinks, a great director, great cast, and great cinematography could never save the day or keep us in our seats. It would always be seen as a bad movie!

Hope this helps a little and much thanks for asking such a fascinating question. By the way, if you want more on this kind of thing, I really suggest reading The Anatomy of Story by John Truby. It’s a great book by a friend of mine whose knowledge about the history and meaning of stories is unmatched. I personally believe that it should be a mandatory read for any creative writing course.

All best,
Robert
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Robert Ellis’s books

Average rating: 4.05 · 19,510 ratings · 1,376 reviews · 15 distinct works • Similar authors

	City of Echoes (Detective Matt Jones #1) 3.91 avg rating — 6,143 ratings — published 2015 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Dead Room 4.01 avg rating — 4,414 ratings — published 2002 — 17 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Love Killings (Detective Matt Jones #2) 4.32 avg rating — 2,462 ratings — published 2016 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	City of Fire (Lena Gamble, #1) 3.99 avg rating — 1,828 ratings — published 2007 — 34 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Access To Power 3.99 avg rating — 1,371 ratings — published 2001	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Lost Witness (Lena Gamble, #2) 4.16 avg rating — 1,268 ratings — published 2009 — 32 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Murder Season (Lena Gamble, #3) 4.27 avg rating — 995 ratings — published 2011 — 20 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Girl Buried in the Woods (Detective Matt Jones #3) 4.35 avg rating — 606 ratings — published 2019 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	City of Stones (Detective Matt Jones, #4) 4.29 avg rating — 423 ratings — published 2021 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Detective Matt Jones (2 Book Series) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Robert Ellis's Blog

Robert Ellis: FLASH Sale--FREE Sat/Sun Only

FLASH Sale—CITY OF STONES, FREESat/Sun Only

US, UK, CA, EU, AU

A secret so potent itclaimed the lives of an entire family + a killer who will stop at nothing to remainhidden = Detective Matt Jones on another major case.

“Riveting. A moody,white-knuckle murder tale.” – Kirkus Reviews

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08Z23T8CQ

Poster image of ‘City of Stones’ by Robert Ellis, Book 4 in the Detective Matt Jones thriller series, including the book jacket, a dramatic image of the sun rising over the palm trees in Los Angeles signifying the edge-of-your-seat suspense, along with the poster that includes a photograph of Matt Jones frantically chasing a killer through a subway station, along with the words and quote from Kirkus Reviews, “Riveting. A moody, white-knuckle murder tale.” Also included is the author’s website address, www.robertellis.net.

ROBERT ELLISWRITERS BLOG

09/27/2025

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Series by Robert Ellis

Detective Matt Jones (4 books)
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Robert Ellis (Goodreads Author)

4.06 avg rating — 9,632 ratings

Lena Gamble (3 books)
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Robert Ellis (Goodreads Author)

4.11 avg rating — 4,091 ratings

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Robert Ellis wrote a new blog post Robert Ellis: FLASH Sale--FREE Sat/Sun Only FLASH Sale—CITY OF STONES, FREESat/Sun Only US, UK, CA, EU, AUA secret so potent itclaimed the lives of an entire family + a killer who will st Read more of this blog post »
Sep 27, 2025 07:47AM · like
Robert Ellis made a comment in the group Readers & Writers — Free or 99c ebooks topic " City of Stones is Free on Amazon! *City of Stones,* Book 4 in the Detective Matt Jones thriller series and a reader favorite, is Free on Amazon Satur ...more "
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Quotes by Robert Ellis (?)

“We call it a coincidence. Three thousand years ago, they called it magic. Two thousand years ago, it was called a miracle.”
― Robert Ellis, The Love Killings

1 likes

“She looked fresh, as if she’d slept the whole night through. She”
― Robert Ellis, The Dead Room

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“The power to guess the unseen from the seen, to trace the implications of things, to judge the whole piece by the pattern, the condition of feeling life in general so completely that you are well on your way to knowing any particular corner of it—this cluster of gifts may almost be said to constitute experience.” —Henry James”
― Robert Ellis, City of Echoes

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Polls

Select a series to be read from mid-September through the end of the year. The winner will be announced 9/15.

Harper Connelly by Charlaine Harris

6 votes, 33.3%

No Evil by Allison Brennan

3 votes, 16.7%

Samantha Kincaid by Alafair Burke

2 votes, 11.1%

Karen Vail by Alan Jacobson

2 votes, 11.1%

Lizzy Gardner by T.R. Ragan

2 votes, 11.1%

Bone Secrets by Kendra Elliot

1 vote, 5.6%

Happiness Key by Emilie Richards

1 vote, 5.6%

Turing Hopper by Donna Andrews

1 vote, 5.6%

Lena Gamble by Robert Ellis

0 votes, 0.0%

Kendall O'Dell by Sylvia Nobel

0 votes, 0.0%

18 total votes

4 comments

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