Month: December 2020

The Narrowest Margin

27th December 2020 (22:35)

“I know that my life’s mission would always take me to places where the truth that I might find would be an ugly and horrible thing.” Harry Bosch

The return of ‘The Poet’ (former FBI agent and serial killer, Robert Bachus) is a potential embarrassment for the bureau, having presumed his demise and demands the recall of Agent Rachel Walling from her four year exile in Dakota. The killer’s calling card is unmistakable, however, another trail of victims may also offer his former colleague a means of redemption.

Meanwhile, another former Special Agent has died. Terry McCaleb (key character in “Blood Work” and “A Darkness More Than Night”), he of the heart transplant, passed away on his boat, while out on a charter. But, based on her husband’s recognition of an investigator that never gives up, McCaleb’s widow (Graciela) engages Harry Bosch to look into the circumstances of his death. Thus, the hares are set running on another thrilling, trademark plot, teeming with intrigue, suspense and dark threat. Walling also recognizes Bosch’s worth to the investigation, but will need to get over their personal history and the FBI’s mistrust of outsiders, if she is to harness the private investigator’s know-how. Even in death, Terry McCaleb is the bridge.

What I relish about the author’s ongoing exposition of Harry Bosch is the multi-faceted nature of the character. Notwithstanding his maverick tendencies, and the prominence of his self-imposed ‘mission’, the detective continues to be buffeted by life outside of his dark bubble, presenting choices to challenge his resolve. For example, his burgeoning role as a belated father and his complicated relationship with estranged wife, Eleanor Wish (also a former FBI agent) are clearly important to Bosch, made easier by his current ‘free agent’ status. A permanent move to Las Vegas to be near them is a prospect. Yet, his identity has suffered since leaving the LAPD and when former partner (Kiz Rider) signposts the recruitment of recent retirees back onto the force, the reader just knows the temptation will be great. Once a cop…

Rachel Walling also possesses ingrained instincts and has a hunch Bosch may just get to their quarry first, but with her career already in tatters, to collaborate with Bosch is a serious gamble.

The titular ‘narrows’ refer to man-made protective channels designed to sluice flood water to the sea, preventing damage and helping manage the risk. They also provide an interesting metaphor for the bulwarks of criminal justice and public protection and the solidity that is Harry Bosch. Book 10 in the series is another masterful display of Michael Connelly’s skill as a writer and bears testament to the enduring appeal of the author’s storytelling in this very popular genre. 

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Sublime Though Rampant Execution…

Saturday 26th December 2020 (17:25)

‘Now a major motion picture’ is not necessarily an endorsement of an original novel, even when the movie has enjoyed international acclaim, but “The Hunger Games”, first in a book trilogy, is equal to the hype. Technically, this novel is almost surgically dissected into three equal parts (beginning, middle and end) and is set in Panem (formerly North America), where, following a civil insurrection, the Capitol has enslaved the surviving twelve districts. Moreover, as an ongoing reprisal for the uprising, ‘tributes’ are periodically taken from each district in the guise of one boy and one girl, aged 12-18, to fight to the death in the arena of the Hunger Games. 

Clearly the concept is barbaric, made more shocking by the youthful combatants and the fact that the carnage is televised like episodes of “I’m a celebrity…”, only with weapons. Still, at the same time it is fascinating, in spite of the implied voyeuristic sadism. That this dystopian novel, reflecting a post-apocalyptic America, is pitched at young adults, might also appear surprising. Yet, from District 12, the poorest region and reliant on its coal production, the author provides the reader with a true diamond among modern heroines, Catniss Everdeen, whose sixteen year old voice carries the story.

From the drama of ‘the reaping’ (the district lottery to determine the identity of the tributes), to the sacrificial whittling down of the twenty four in the purpose-built arena and the ultimate triumph of survival, the tension and attendant violence is overlaid by the macro politics at play and the love and key relationships that drive the main protagonist. There is also a cast of sympathetic characters enmeshed in the fabric of this epic tale, some of whom will doubtless reappear later in the trilogy.

The world-building is exceptional, the plot superbly paced and the denouement expertly delivered, such that the reader is compelled to hanker for the sequel. In short this book is a masterclass in the YA genre from conceptualisation, to character development, to the almost faultless execution of the storytelling. Notwithstanding the contentious nature of her creation (the book has been repeatedly challenged as ‘dangerous’), in my opinion, Suzanne Collins is rightly lauded for her achievement.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Killing the Dream…

13th December 2020 (13:18)

I was drawn to this book due in part to the setting (Northern Ireland during ‘the Troubles’), with which I’m quite familiar and the ambition implied by using as the main backdrop to the novel, 21st July 1972 – ‘Bloody Friday’. For those unfamiliar, this was the name given to a series of bombings in Belfast perpetrated by the Provisional Irish Republican Army. At least twenty bombs exploded in the space of eighty minutes, culminating in 9 deaths and 130 casualties (the even more notorious ‘Bloody Sunday’ occurred in January of the same year). Yet, within this real-life sectarian horror, David Hough has founded an intriguing story replete with love, guilt, violent anger, regret and potential redemption.

Sorcha Mulveny is imprisoned in Armagh gaol for murders committed during that turbulent period, but the narrator of the book is an anonymous journalist seeking to piece together the sequence of events leading up to her original trial. The intervening eight years might offer the benefit of hindsight, but as he discovers the legacy of physical and mental scarring is long-lived and remains all too real. Everyone it seems is carrying baggage.

The journalistic endeavour, which will inform a non-fiction book, takes place over months and is a useful device with which to synthesize the multiple perspectives reflecting on that fateful day. The terrorists, the terrorized and the police, seeking to marshal the factions and uphold a common law, are represented through serial interviews with Sorcha, her protestant boyfriend (Martin) and a former detective sergeant (Will Evans). Their respective recollections are painstakingly pieced together, enabling a satisfying overview that the reader can stand back and admire. In a sense, the author methodically assembles the pieces of a complex jigsaw and fits them together for a fascinating slow reveal. Each of the key characters explain, through their disparate experiences, how they were personally affected, but inevitably it is where their networks overlap and spheres of influence collide that the drama arises.

This novel offers a sobering, fictional commentary on the catastrophe of communities at war and the many victims of the attendant crossfire. On a more philosophical note the author also calls into question the price of ‘belonging’ and the irrational choices sometimes made in the name of ‘loyalty’. A cleverly constructed moral maze, which challenges the reader, but also suggests the possibility of a different, better outcome, this book is well worth reading.

Rating: 4 out of 5.