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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Remarkable Thriller, February 24, 2005
Dead I Well May Be is Adrian McKinty's superb debut thriller that is sharply tough, wonderfully descriptive and filled with a story that takes one unexpected turn after the other. From the turmoil of Belfast to the chaos of Harlem and a living hell in Mexico, every location is brought to vivid life thanks to McKinty's prose. Here is a gritty hardboiled story complete with violent gangsters and a desperate struggle for survival. It's a story of vengeance that is tough, uncompromising and grabs you demanding that you pay close attention.
When Michael Forsythe leaves his home in Belfast, he is only 19 but is already a hard man, exposed to the gang violence that dominates his city. He arrives in New York where he is employed by crime boss Darkey White for whom he works as muscle to enforce his protection and loan shark rackets. While working for Darkey, Michael proves himself to be a dependable man to have around, earning the respect of all the other men in Darkey's crew. He's a violent man displaying an almost sociopathic lack of emotion after severely crippling another man in a cold-blooded revenge attack.
The story is narrated by Michael and even while everything appears to be going well for him, he warns us of the events that are soon to follow. He points out the men he will kill and the way they will die, men he will later work for and the fact that his life is about to be drastically altered. These snapshots give us a chance to look forward, whetting our appetite for the major events that are still to take place.
One of the things that is going well for him is a secret affair he is having with Bridget, Darkey's girlfriend. He is well aware that he would pay a high price should Darkey find out about it but he likes to flirt with danger and carries on regardless. Little is he to know that the "simple little job" he is sent to Mexico for is going to be that high price.
This is a consistently fast-paced story concentrating on the cut-throat world of the small-time hoods of New York's Harlem and The Bronx. Smattered amongst the colourful descriptions of the neighborhoods in which Michael lives and works are some intense scenes that graphically demonstrate what a cold-blooded man he is. But for all of his violent tendencies he instills an aura of the underdog, a quality that makes you want to like him.
His fellow Irish thugs are all young men who seem to be playing the part of hard men whereas Michael is the real deal. This is about as in-depth as McKinty allows the characterisation to go for Michael's partners - Scotchie, Fergal and Andy. We never really know much more about them than the fact that they are young hoods who talk big and act big when they're armed. A lot of this is because the story is told from Michael's perspective and is indicative of how little he bothers to get to know them.
Dead I Well May Be is a book of two halves with the first all about survival on the New York streets fighting for territory from rival gangs, urban warfare among the slums and cockroaches with survival dependant not only upon who has the greater firepower, but also on who is prepared to use it. The second is a different kind of survival story as Michael's world completely crumbles in Mexico. He is now dependent on his will to live, mental toughness being the key to whether he will live or die. It's during these hard times through a series of flashbacks and hallucinations that we learn a lot about his background and the hardships that he endured as a boy in Belfast.
A quick note about the violence in the book, even though it was mentioned earlier, it is worth warning again that some of it is quite extreme and is even more shocking by the suddenness in which it is inflicted. I read hardboiled crime stories all the time and I even found myself flinching once or twice at the descriptions of the punishment that was handed out.
This taut thriller has announced Adrian McKinty as a crime writer to look out for, particularly for those who are looking for a wild ride through some of the meanest streets imaginable.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dead I Well May Be, October 14, 2003
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, found it ingrossing, clever, and spellbinding. The novel's anti-hero, Michael Forsythe is both street-smart and an intellectual. His keenly observant eye gives the reader insight into characters, places, and circumstances that escape the average writer or reader. He is both cocky and aware of his and others limitations. McGinty's placement of this Irish immigrant in Harlem circa 1990 creates a tightly wound, explosive plot that intrigues and does not fail to deliver. Michael Forsythe is a character cut from the same mold as Walter Mosley's "Easy Rawlins" and Chester Himes' "Bob Jones". I highly recommend this novel.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
unputdownable, May 2, 2007
I bought this book primarily because it was a recom either here on Amazon or from someone who had read Declan Hughes' novels. I can't remember any longer. But boy, I am ecstatic that I ordered this book.
McKinty has a gift for both dialogue and plot movement. In this, the first of the Michael Forsythe series (I believe there are two other books in the series, both of them even now waiting for me in an Amazon box at home, if package tracking is to be believed), the reader follows Forsythe on his journey from Ireland to New York to Mexico and then back to New York.
He leaves Ireland because he has no options available to him; he can not afford to stay there and has prospects in New York. Upon arriving in New York, he becomes a very low-level gangster whose life hardly sounds much of an improvement over what he had in Ireland. McKinty does a sterling job of showing us what Forsythe's circumstances are (think mega cockroach heaven and continued poverty) at the same time that he develops Forsythe's character through the descriptions the first-person narrator provides.
This novel is done in Forsythe's voice, and that's a plus. Not only do we get to "hear" him speak to others, thereby getting a sense of how he communicates; we also get all the action filtered through his humor, intelligence (in many things, but not all--the boy simply can not pick a good woman to save his life), and philosophical bent.
I found several parts of this book particularly fascinating. The one that sticks out most in my mind at the moment is the part of the book that takes place in Mexico, after Forsythe has been jailed in a truly horrific Mexican prison. (Don't hurt me! I'm not revealing anything that's not on the book jacket!) I absolutely loved getting into Forsythe's mind here; he created movies with which to occupy his intellect so that he would not die both mentally and physically. He literally reconstructs wars and childhood events, creating "films" that allow him to survive the days when he is chained to the ground for 23 out of 24 hours.
Forsythe is an appealing character even when he is at his ugliest, and he can be ugly indeed. He's no hero, not really. He's capable of doing terrible things because they seem right to him at the time or even because he doesn't see an easy way out of them. But he's also got a conscience (even if it does seem a bit convenient) and a sense of honor that help balance the other side of him. And he's utterly hilarious. You'll find yourself snorting laughter at odd times.
You'll love the view you get of a New York that isn't quite so obvious any longer. This is the New York that existed before different areas got "cleaned up" and the crime rate began to go down. It's a New York you'd be hard-pressed to want to live in. And Forsythe's circle of "friends" is one you'd never want for your own. Hell, you might not want Forsythe anywhere near you or anyone you loved. The man has serious issues.
All in all, this is a wonderful first novel in the series. I can't wait to read the other two.
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