Ideas, Opinions, Genealogy, and Book Reviews
The title is The Trust: A Novel by Ronald H. Balson. This is a really good book and I’ll be sure to check out other titles by the author.
Liam Taggart’s last visit to Northern Ireland ended badly. Very badly. Continue reading “The Trust: A Novel by Ronald H. Balson”
The second book from Stuart Neville Collusion continues the story of the violence in North Ireland during the “peace”. It is a bit different from the first (Ghosts of Belfast my review:
http://www.jackreidy.com/blog/2010/10/29/the-ghosts-of-belfast-by-stuart-neville/).
I liked both books. And although both were very violent, the violence hit me differently. I’m not sure why. I think it was because much of Ghosts was about a killer and the violence seems to fit naturally. But Collusion was perhaps less violent overall (I didn’t count the torture and death scenes) and more of a exploration of inner conflicts, right and wrong, and justice.
Much of this is done through the character of Jack Lennon. He was briefly mentioned in Ghosts (perhaps not by name) but here he is the center of attention. An Irish Catholic, he joined the Northern Irish Police because he thought it was the right thing to do and 15 years later is still struggling with the consequences of that decision (and with his Protestant superiors). The internal conflicts in Jack Lennon character are interesting and this book does an excellent job of presenting them. I hope to see him more in future books.
Other than one critical showdown near the end which I thought was overdone, it was a very good read. But the overdone business is just my taste. Another reviewer has a different take on this, see:
http://fionnchu.blogspot.com/2010/10/stuart-nevilles-collusion-book-review.html
If you have a kindle, you may want to consider the option of getting both books in kindle format.
“Maybe if he had one more drink they’d leave him alone.” So says the man in the bar with his 12 ghostly companions. Well, you learn that on the first page and are immediately pulled into “The Ghosts of Belfast” by Stuart Neville.
Now that Northern Ireland is at peace, it would seem there is less material around for a thriller. And you’d think that an ex-hit man would not be a good main character. But this book proves those ideas wrong. Certainly the peace is there but there is a bit of tension still in the air, mostly behind the scenes. And then there is a certain aftermath. Gerry Fegan had gained a certain status in his Belfast as a killer for the IRA but is now hounded by his past. It is hard to imagine feeling sympathy for a professional killer but somehow Neville manages manages that neat trick.
The peace is fragile. I don’t want to say too much about it as the presentation here is both wonderful and depressing and I certainly don’t want to try to summarize or say so much than it ruins some of your pleasure in reading about it here. Both sides (the IRA and Unionists) have their politicians and violent sides and there is a tension within and between. The book is does have a good bit of violence so if that sort of thing bothers you, this may not be a good choice for you. But if you enjoy a good story, try it now. The link below is for the paperback but it is easy enough to move around and get the hardback or the Kindle edition if you’d rather have one of those.
The book is published by Soho Crime. If you like good books, especially with an international flavor, you might want to check out Soho Press.