Book review: Gripping tale of right v wrong
All Katie wants is a quiet life with her little daughter Hope and her mother living nearby.
She likes her hometown of Derry and her job as a cleaner and barmaid in O'Reillys pub.
All changes for her when two detectives approach her, wanting her to report back to them what she hears at the pub, particularly conversations between brothers Mark and Terry, her employers.
Her first-person narrative draws the reader in: it's absorbing, compelling.
What makes her likeable and convincing as a character is that she's not perfect and is honest about it.
She sleeps with married colleague Benny after a wedding across the border in Donegal, and it's not for the first time.
That is when her life changes. It's when leaving his hotel room that she's approached by the two detectives, who never reveal their identities, so she decides to call them Black-Hair and English.
Growing up in Derry, Katie is aware of what has happened to informers in the past.
She is faced with an impossible choice — if she reports to the detectives, she risks being discovered and probably killed. If she refuses, they threaten not only her but also her little daughter.
To convince her of their power, they show her proof that they have been watching her for months and know a lot about her life.
They then send Benny's wife Amy just one photo of her kissing him, while showing Katie much more compromising images of the two of them together.
When Amy physically attacks her, Katie understands why and feels bad about it.
Katie knows that getting on the wrong side of the O'Reilly brothers could mean her death.
The only way she can survive is by convincing them that she is the one they least suspect.
She's helped by Mark revealing that he's attracted to her, and so inclined to believe whatever she says.
Before discovering how he feels towards her, she had been aware of his kindness towards her. Now she has to cleverly manage to keep delaying having to be intimate with him, using various excuses.
The narrative moves at such a brisk pace, building up tension, that it is almost unbearable.
You cannot help identifying with Katie, who is faced with impossible choices. She seems so alone, apart from her mother and little Hope.
Although she has lived in the same place all her life, she appears to have no close friends, just colleagues.
The detectives are investigating drug-dealing and the violence associated with it — one would consider that a good motive behind them approaching Katie for help but the methods used are deplorable.
When she discovers that one of them is motivated by revenge, it makes her even more determined to evade them.
This is a gripping, nail-biting thriller that explores the fine line between right and wrong, justice and revenge. How do you choose which side to support when both are wrong?
The author cleverly builds up Katie's feeling of being trapped and her desperate attempts to survive.
She is an unforgettable character and it's a novel which will be remembered long after you finish it — it's a triumph.
Brian McGilloway is the author of 11 crime novels, including the Ben Devlin and Lucy Black series. He lives in Strabane, where he teaches.
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The Irish Sun
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- The Irish Sun
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6 hours ago
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' Jack Savage pictured in 1960. Picture by Tony Fitzmaurice, courtesy of Kerry Writers' Museum Fitzmaurice live out his life in Ballybunion. 'It was his inspiration, his subject, in that he took photos of its people throughout that time. The only place he stood for hours waiting for a sunset was on Ballybunion Castle Green. It was the first thing that surprised me – the fact he didn't do a lot of landscape photography, as he was in the most wonderful place. 'One of the early photographs I found was of a sunset in Ballybunion. It was taken in October 1968. It wasn't printed – it was a Kodak colour slide. "I've been in touch with archives in Ireland, like the John Hinde archive, and they haven't got anything like it. It's probably my favourite photograph because it's the castle of my childhood, what I remember as a child. If you go back there now, most of the top of the castle – what you might call the chimney part – is gone. So that's my childhood in Ballybunion.' Fitzmaurice was born in 1932. He spent his working life as a civil servant with the Kerry County Council, while moonlighting as a photographer. He got his first camera in 1953 as a gift for his 21st birthday, initially taking photos of family and friends, of young people in their late teens and early twenties, in their homes, and on the strand in Ballybunion, learning and developing his craft. His first recorded photograph dates back to 1954. 'The first commercial work he did was the annual Teacher's Dress Dance in Listowel in 1956,' says Reynolds. 'It was a big social event. Once we began digitising those photos, we realised they were amazing, that there was really good photographs of people. "People were dressed up to the nines in their evening wear, which tells us so much about the fashion, the social mores at that time. The fashion of the ladies was incredible. A lot of their dresses were handmade. After the war, cloth wouldn't have been that easy to get. 'I came across things like 1960 Confirmation Day in Ballybunion. That was amazing because it was the character of the kids that shone through. They were dressed up for their day. There are ones from a Wren Boys competition in Listowel. Most of them are around the dance hall, but those dances are very much community-based like The Pioneers' Social. That one is wonderful because there isn't a drink in sight. It's tea and cake, everybody sitting there. It's those moments captured that are important.' A couple at a dance. Picture by Tony Fitzmaurice, courtesy of Kerry Writers' Museum Reynolds and her husband spent 'three winters' digitising their haul. Then began the great search to put names on faces. They started posting Fitzmaurice's photos on a webpage. 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It's that complete absence of difference between the photographer and the people he's photographing. There are no inhibitions, no walls. 'There's a photo we used on a poster of two girls lying on the grass. From a woman's perspective, the 1950s in Ireland were pretty grim. Here you have two young women full of life. It's so positive. It's a close-up. He must have been only about two or three feet from their faces. There's this wonderful intimacy about that photograph, but it's also the joy that comes through.' The Tony Fitzmaurice Collection is housed at Kerry Writers' Museum, Listowel, Co Kerry. See: and Other images from the Tony Fitzmaurice collection Men sip their tea a dance in Ardee. Pictures by Tony Fitzmaurice, courtesy of Kerry Writers' Museum A couple kiss in the dunes. A group of young people at a dance. A happy-looking couple at a dance. Three Kerry women, including one who is almost finished eating her apple. A woman shades children on the beach. A woman and man at a dance in Asdee in 1957.
The Irish Sun
8 hours ago
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England footie ace Millie Bright's hunky new personal trainer lover revealed as kickboxer dad of SEVEN
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