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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Law as the Means to an End, July 22, 2007
This review is from: The Midnight Choir (Paperback)
Take Joseph Wambaugh's keen insight to life within the precinct house, combine it with Ken Bruen's lean, raw prose and that shade of noir uniquely Irish, and you'll have an idea of what to expect from Gene Kerrigan and his blockbuster second novel, "The Midnight Choir". By telling a "Hill Street Blues-like" series of seemingly unconnected events unfolding over a week in Galway and Dublin, Kerrigan weaves the threads together in a mystery uncommon in its depth - a cleverly drawn tale that relies on moral dilemma and irony as much as the action and thrills more common in a novel of this genre. "Midnight Choir" is the story of Detective Inspector Harry Synott, a veteran Irish cop whose sense of the law and justice is somewhat ambiguous, making him an enigma on the force, hated by most, revered by others, but never completely trusted by any. Author Kerrigan eases the reader easily into a comfortable rhythm, introducing the reader to a number of the relatively petty crimes one would expect in the day of the life of any big city cop: a jumper on a Galway pub roof, a mugging with a syringe of tainted blood as the weapon, date rape, a jewelry store robbery. But the stakes are raised when of one these transgressions leads to a Dublin home containing a couple of freshly-slashed corpses, and before you can order up your second Guinness, the reader's beginning to realize that this is not your typical police thriller, and that the crafty Kerrigan is operating on a level few popular authors ever reach. Complementing the slick plotting is a set of richly drawn and believable characters - characters with flaws and vulnerabilities that bend and twist together and keep the lines blurred between the guys wearing white or black hats. This is gritty and realistic, and while not as violent as Bruen, Charlie Stella, or Duane Swierczynski, it is just as dark and ultimately more subconsciously impactful. In short, "The Midnight Choir" is one of the most thoughtful and intelligent crime novels of the past several years. One can only hope that Kerrigan keeps writing, and that this talented new author finds an increasing audience for his fiction on this side of the Atlantic. A novel you'll not easily forget - don't miss it.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finest, June 24, 2007
This review is from: The Midnight Choir (Paperback)
These days, practioners of 'Noir' procedurals seem to be going through the motions, whether it's Connelly or Lehane. Kerrigan is simply a more intelligent writer. This isn't a showy work, but the more you read on, the better you realize it is. It's not just the plot, that moves together and apart in ways that always surprise you and never seem forced. It's also the language, simple and direct and the city of Dublin, which seems like it's getting its first gritty close-up after decades of fondness. An absolute pleasure to stumble across, you can only hope that Kerrigan continues to produce novels of this quality.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Corruption, Small and Large Is All Pervasive, September 1, 2008
This review is from: The Midnight Choir (Paperback)
"Like a bird on the wire, Like a drunk in a midnight choir I have tried in my way to be free." Leonard Cohen What do Detective Inspector Harry Synott, Dixie Peyton, Joshua Boyce, Mr Garcia, the Irish Mob, and the Garda ( Ireland's State Police) all have in common? Corruption, poverty, addiction, and all the ills that a society has in common. These stories all take place in or near Dublin. The old Dublin is gone, the new Irish Mafia is here and they are tough. Nothing, absolutely nothing stops them. The criminals are smart. And, the Garda? They have their own rules, you protect your own. Gene Kerrigan has written a brilliant novel. There are so many twists and turns and at the same time the author is able to bring it all together with such simplicity that you don't see it coming. Det.Inspec. Synott is one of the good guys we are led to believe. He ratted on some fellow Garda and it has followed him from one assignment to the other. 'They' will never forget and they let Harry know that, day after day, year after year. We follow Harry and the other characters through three or four cases. What we see is not always what we get. Is Harry really a hero, or is he part of the deceit that seems to be part of every scene? Harry is an old friend of John Grace, who is taking early retirement and goes through his files of old cases with Harry. We met John Grace in Kerrigan;s first novel, 'Little Criminals'. We begin to get the true picture of Harry and his moral perspective. As the story evolves we find that life is indeed full of surprises. I loved this book. It is at times violent, but always brilliant. The way in which the plots overlap and sometimes merge is uncanny. In the end we know that good and evil lurks behind every tree, and we have both in us, but there is a good reason to feel positive in this world. Highly Recommended. prisrob 09-01-08 Yeats Is Dead! A Mystery By Fifteen Irish WritersHard Cases
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