I finished the final book in Adrian McKinty's "Troubles Trilogy" -- In the Morning I'll Be Gone -- set in Northern Ireland between 1981 and 1984. The other two are In the Cold Cold Ground and I Hear the Sirens in the Street...and they are a treasure-trove of idioms for the area. Attitudes. What the world was like at that time. They're a bit after the last part of Place of Safety, but should help me make the world I'm writing about seem more honest and real.
As mysteries, they're okay, but McKinty has a way of letting things happen too quickly and then glossing over the big moments. This book has that, where the main character, Sean Duffy, a Catholic in a very Protestant Royal Ulster Constabulary, starts out seeking an IRA operative but winds up sidetracked into investigating a locked-room murder that proves only marginally interesting. He gets the killer to confess in one of the simplest ways possible then is given information that will lead to his IRA man. Just like that.
That's not to say it isn't well-written; it's just...typical. I sincerely hope OT does not come across that way to anyone who reads it. I tried to make it tight and unpredictable. Lots of red herrings to keep the reader off-center, but all mingled in as nondescriptly as possible. But you never know till you start getting reviews.
I set up a giveaway on Goodreads for copies of the book in exchange for reviews. I tried that with David Martin and got one out of the five I offered. If this one doesn't work, I'll have to think of something else.
Maybe if I can work out how to use Twitter better...
As mysteries, they're okay, but McKinty has a way of letting things happen too quickly and then glossing over the big moments. This book has that, where the main character, Sean Duffy, a Catholic in a very Protestant Royal Ulster Constabulary, starts out seeking an IRA operative but winds up sidetracked into investigating a locked-room murder that proves only marginally interesting. He gets the killer to confess in one of the simplest ways possible then is given information that will lead to his IRA man. Just like that.
That's not to say it isn't well-written; it's just...typical. I sincerely hope OT does not come across that way to anyone who reads it. I tried to make it tight and unpredictable. Lots of red herrings to keep the reader off-center, but all mingled in as nondescriptly as possible. But you never know till you start getting reviews.
I set up a giveaway on Goodreads for copies of the book in exchange for reviews. I tried that with David Martin and got one out of the five I offered. If this one doesn't work, I'll have to think of something else.
Maybe if I can work out how to use Twitter better...
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