Customer Reviews

Ghosts of Belfast

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST, the first novel by young master wordsmith Stuart Neville, is by turns bleak, gut wrenching and tense. Haunted by the spectres of the twelve victims whose blood he has on his mortal soul, ex-IRA hitman Gerry Fegan must appease them by murdering the men who ordered their deaths. Nothing less will suffice. The fallout from Fegan's bloody expiations threaten to disrupt a fragile country barely on the mend.

THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST breathes with you - it's unnervingly vivid and merciless, sparing you nothing of ex-IRA hitman Gerry Fegan's burden of pain, guilt and weariness. Page by page, you feel Fegan's struggle with his past colleagues and his own heart strain his very sanity.

Neville has an instinctive sense-of-place in his writing that hearkens back not only to Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man but also to the writings of legendary Texas writers Rolando Hinojosa-Smith and Cormac McCarthy. Having never spent any time in Ireland, I not only saw and heard Armagh and Belfast, I felt, deep in the marrow of my bones, those cities' war-fatigue, wariness and fear of plunging back towards the black abyss of loathing and violence; I chafed at the hot hate festering within those for whom the past is an ever-present and unending prison of the mind and heart, even while the younger generations move past them towards hopeful futures, seemingly oblivious to past bloodshed, knowing nothing of the shudders of sudden bomb blasts.

Make no mistake, THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST surpasses its genre. It is a truly stunning debut wrought by a young master of rare talent, insight and truth. No one gets away clean here, including Fegan. I've cut my teeth on the best published works of writers like James Ellroy and Don DeLillo. I have every confidence that young Mr. Neville is superbly capable of joining their ranks in due time. This books'dénouement and ending left me stunned, surprised and nearly in tears.

Most highly recommended.

A lot of what the author, Neville, writes in "Ghosts of Belfast" rings very true to me. I'm not a native of Northern Ireland (or the "North of Ireland," "Ulster," "the Six Counties," or "the Province") but I have read a lot about the violence there that seems to have mostly wound down. I've also been there multiple times, and while I certainly didn't hobnob with paramilitaries, I met at least one former one and I suspect met a few others whose status I didn't know. I've also visited the Maze Prison --to interview someone for a book I wrote about an incident that took place a looong time ago.

So I'm not a naif when it comes to Belfast and the IRA. A lot of this book is brilliant...the notion of an IRA man being haunted by the ghosts of those he killed has almost Shakespearian overtones to it. The plot crackles with energy and the dialogue rings true (at least to this American).

But the book has one flaw that I found myself getting increasingly annoyed about as it approached its conclusion. It depicts all of the IRA men (or shall we say "former IRA men") as weak, cowardly, corrupt, psychotic, or sell-outs. One threatens to kill a woman and a little girl to save his life. Another favors the brutal "sport" of dog-fighting.

I'm not a fan of the IRA. I know full well that that organization committed some appalling crimes and killed a lot of innocent civilians. Moreover, it's undeniable that the IRA --pretty much like any clandestine organization that engages in violence-- had its fair share of corrupt, weak, cowardly, psychotic, or treacherous members.

But let's face it...if the IRA had nothing but people like the ones in "Ghosts of Belfast," it wouldn't have lasted --in its most recent incarnation-- for thirty years despite massive British and Unionist/Loyalist efforts to squash it. It wouldn't have survived and reinvented itself into a political movement with large-scale influence in Northern Ireland and elected former members into the British Parliament.

So I'd say read and enjoy "Ghosts of Belfast," but for a more nuanced depiction of the IRA in a series of books that I think are without peer, try these three by Gerald Seymour.

HARRY'S GAME

Field of Blood

Journeyman Tailor

"All I wanted was some peace. I just wanted to sleep." - Gerry Fegan

Set in Belfast in the aftermath of Northern Ireland's Troubles, The Ghosts of Belfast introduces us to ex-con Gerry Fegan. Treated by the locals as a hero for his activities as a "hard man" during the Troubles, activities that got him sent to prison for twelve years, Fegan just wants to leave his past in the past and live out his life in peace. That, unfortunately, isn't going to happen.

The guilt of his own conscience weighs heavily enough upon him, but that is not the only burden Fegan has to bear. Shortly before his release from prison Fegan began getting visits. Not from friends or family, but from the ghosts of the twelve people he killed during the Troubles. Sometimes only one or two at a time, other times all twelve at once, when we meet Fegan it has been seven long years since his "followers," as he calls them, first came calling.

Tormented to the very edge of sanity, Fegan barely manages to do more each day than wander down to the pub, get drunk, go home and pass out, then get up and do it all over again. One night a friend Fegan used to run with before his time in prison comes to visit him in the pub. Now a smooth talking politician, Fegan's friend, McKenna, was once one of the men Fegan took orders from during the Troubles. Orders that led to deaths including one of Fegan's followers, the one he calls "The Boy."

As The Boy circles McKenna in the pub, miming putting a gun to his head and pulling the trigger, Fegan comes to believe that what his followers want - no, demand - is justice. The followers want him to put to death those responsible for ordering theirs. Ignoring the potential consequences of killing a politician crucial to the fledgling peace process, not to mention one still very much "connected," Fegan tests his theory by killing McKenna. Sure enough, The Boy disappears. And with that, all in the first fifteen pages, we are off and running. One down, eleven to go.

As Fegan systematically seeks to balance the scales, and hopefully save his sanity, the reader is given glimpses back in time to the circumstances under which each of his followers was killed. It's not pretty, as author Stuart Neville provides graphic descriptions of Fegan's past brutality as a hard man. And yet, one never gets the feeling that the depictions of violence are being used gratuitously. Rather, they are necessary to illustrate the events which gave birth to Fegan's extreme guilt, and which justify in his mind the extreme measures he's willing to take to rid himself of that guilt... and of his followers.

Part noir, part ghost story, The Ghosts of Belfast is unflinchingly brutal, completely original, and absolutely brilliant. Stuart Neville has most definitely announced his presence with authority.

A semblance of peace has finally come to Northern Ireland. However, there will never be peace for Gerry Fegan, former terrorist. He is constantly harassed by twelve ghosts, referred to as the "followers." Ever since he was a child, Fegan has been able to communicate with the dead. First, it was his father. Now it is the men and women he killed when he was a hit man for the IRA. They won't leave him alone until he assassinates those who ordered them killed.

"The Ghosts of Belfast" is an excellent supernatural thriller. Depicting a tremendous amount of bloodshed, it is one of the most violent novels I have ever read. A few scenes made me squeamish, especially those pertaining to the slow torture of undercover informants (touts). There are also storefront bombings, brutal dog fights and street rioting. Nonstop action abounds as a dangerous war erupts on the streets of Belfast. The participants don't know who to trust because there are traitors on both sides.

Northern Ireland's bloody past collides with the present as Fegan launches a one-man campaign to avenge the ghosts of Belfast. Think "The Sixth Sense" meets "Death Wish." Fegan must be careful to elude capture by the police as well as IRA operatives who are now high profile politicians. The reader can't help but sympathize with Fegan. As a young, troubled man with no guidance or direction, he was lured into the IRA as a pawn--someone to be used and disposed of like a pit bull in a dog fight. All he wants is a normal life.

Fegan repents for what he has done in the past and he is willing to do anything to free himself of the ghosts. Meanwhile, he has fallen in love with a beautiful woman, Marie McKenna, who has a small daughter, Ellen. He can never have Marie. Two of the ghosts that haunt him are a woman and her baby who were killed by one of his bombs. He must fight to avenge the ghost mother and her baby while fighting to protect a living mother and her baby. Fegan turns into a type of anti-hero whom the reader cheers as he dispatches the evil men around him.

A debut novel from Stuart Neville, "The Ghosts of Belfast" is highly recommended for fans of action and horror. It is a fast-paced suspense ride with a high body count. When Gerry Fegan is forced to relive the past, the reader is provided a graphic account of how each of his innocent victims died horribly. The reader will also want to see them avenged. The question that haunted me throughout the novel is: Will Fegan ever be free of all the ghosts? According to its jacket, this novel is a first in a series. Greatly intrigued, I can't help but wonder if, in future installments, other ghosts will come to Fegan, beseeching him for vengeance. Neville`s next novel, "Collusion," will be published in 2010.


Joseph B. Hoyos

I'll begin this review by saying, I'm from Belfast and grew up in the heart of the troubles. Now when i go back home i see the changes in Belfast. This book really captured the new coffee bar and wine bistro Belfast that 20 years ago would have been laughable but now is common place.

The protagonist in Stuart Neville book is a former IRA man, haunted by his crimes of the past and disturbed by the cause he thought for twisted by politicians for money and power. This is a true indication of how Northern Ireland or Norn Iron as we call it has progressed, the Leaders of the IRA are extremely akin to Mr Adams and Mr McGuinness, i wonder how they view being portrayed in this book.

Anyway the realism of this book hits home for me and reminds me of the dark times and the future Belfast which for better or worse is now the expanding social norm. I think this book, is important as a reminder to those that never grew up during the troubles what it was like and to see how the tactics were changed and the ideology that so many died for has changed.

As a thriller this book is engrossing enough, as a glimpse into The old Belfast this book is enlightening.

A taut, well plotted, action-packed (bloody and violent) mystery-thriller set in the aftermath of N. Ireland's "Troubles." If you like this genre, especially on airplanes and vacations, go for it. I was a a bit confused about who was who early on, but that quickly settled down.

As often is the case with this genre, the characters are less than fully developed, although the protagonist is well drawn, and skirts the stereotype of the hard luck, hard drinking, hard up hero (being a rather brutal man with a brutal past). Why the love interest is drawn suddenly to him isn't clear to me. Many of the others are pretty one dimensional. I thought the ending was somewhat lame, as it didn't fit the moral precepts of the rest of the book.

I can only speculate about the political aspects of the book. Personally I can't accept terrorism/killing of innocents as justifiable means, regardless of the ends. This book seems to agree with that (and implies that many who accepted it from a distance, e.g. New Yorkers/Irish-Americans pre-9/11, have rethought the issue). However, as the plot revolves around only the Republican side, those with strong sympathies may feel that side is being unfairly targeted here, as the other side was surely less than humane as well.

Gerry Fegan is haunted by the ghosts of the people he killed, unrelenting shadows seeking revenge for their untimely deaths. Victims of Belfast political violence, in which Fegan took active part, the ghosts torment him until he systematically executes the political figures and henchmen who orchestrated the violence.

THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST is rich in local color. Neville tells his story so naturally, the reader is unaware of what must have been hundreds of hours of research into police procedure, political vernacular, and urban geography. Neville illuminates the underbelly of an Ulster still bleeding from decades of strife.

This debut novel doesn't read like a debut novel; it reads like the work of a seasoned novelist. Neville is a craftsman with words; he paints exquisitely vivid you-are-there scenes, showing us the dirt, the blood, the anguish---and the ghosts.

The opening pages will get your attention. The rest of the book will live up to their promise.

Some thrillers perpetuate the genre, some buck the trend and break new ground. This is one of the latter, one destined to plant its author well in the midst of the venerable thriller writers already welcoming him to their club.

Ok, I gave this book two stars but you know what? I'll give this guy's next book a chance. This is a near miss but, at the end of the day, it's a definite miss. The plot is pretty intriguing until you figure it out and you figure it out much too soon. The main character is too...well, too good and this is strange because in his past he was the worst of the worst. His moral awakening, told in flashback, is too pat, too uncomplicated and too complete. A man who was driven to unspeakable acts in his past would not so completely put them aside. The bad guys, on the other hand, are too bad, too irredeemable and too uncomplicated- I get they are hypocritical thugs but it's one thing to not be a "true believer" it's another thing to be an extreme unbeliever as well. The central image is effective until the end, when it becomes too literal. The female lead is not fully enough understood to be believable- she is too unyielding and too certain to play as a real person.
But, like I said earlier in my review- I will give his next book a chance. Mr. Neville has a pleasing authorial voice, he is successful in setting the scene and giving a balanced view of modern Belfast. His narrative shows ambition and hints at a depth of storytelling that he doesn't quite reach...yet. All he needs to do next time is trust his central story ideas and themes and allow his characters to be more complex. Once he learns that people who read noir titles don't need the heroes to be sympathetic or the villains to be demons Mr. Neville will be one beast of a writer.

First, I'll just say that I grew up in Northern Ireland during the "Troubles" and I'm only a few years younger than the protagonist of the book. My experience was, thankfully, quite different from some people's but I was still obviously aware of what was going on - you couldn't not be, no matter how sheltered you were.

I was initially fairly cynical about this book, as I am about most stories concerning my homeland (Colin Bateman's work is a notable exception). But I ended up really enjoying "Ghosts of Belfast", much more than I expected. I would never have expected to care about a character like Gerry Fegan.

A good read, even for the Children of the Troubles. Maybe especially so.

Fegan was a hit man for the IRA. During the height of The Troubles he killed a dozen people including women and children. Now out of prison, he drinks to try to get peace, but the spirits of the 12 people he killed follow him night and day, and will not allow him a moments peace. Are they only in his mind, or do they really walk beside him? He comes to realize that there is only one way to make these ghosts stop tormenting him: by taking revenge on the leaders of the movement that ordered the killings. So Fagan hunts the Belfast night looking for the former IRA leaders that ordered him to kill, but Belfast is not the city it was when he was sent away. The Good Friday accord has changed things, but bitter and lingering hatred still burns... This was a searing novel of guilt and retribution, now that peace has come to Ireland at last, Fagan is tormented by the fact that he killed for nothing, and that he took the fall and bears the shame while those who ordered the killings are called peacemakers. Some of the Irish slang and assumed knowledge of The Troubles and the subsequent peace accords can be a little confusing (Google and Wikipedia can clear that up) but that is the only stumbling block in reading this haunting and thought provoking thriller that will stay with you long after you turn the last page.