"Elsewhere" by Dean Koontz
The fate of the world is in the hands of a father and daughter in an epic novel of wonder and terror by Dean Koontz, the master of suspense. | Learn more
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“The Father Brennan Burke series moves to a higher plane with this instalment, set in London in 1989. This is a deft, entertaining lesson in Irish history that reveals how generations of the priest’s family have been shaped by centuries of conflict.” ― Chronicle Herald
About the Author
Anne Emery is a lawyer and the award-winning author of the Collins-Burke Mystery series. Her first book, Sign of the Cross, won the Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel. The fifth, Children in the Morning, won a silver medal in the 2011 Independent Publisher Book Awards and the 2011 Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction. She lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
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I loved the book, as I love all of Anne Emery's novels. But the Kindle edition has no attached dictionary and no search function. So my highlights are later unfindable. Bookmarks also disappear into the ether. Words like "around" aren't defined when they're highlighted. I hope Amazon brings a new Kindle edition to improve this one.
Other reviewers have given the plot, so I'll just say that at first, the disconnect with the previous Collins series was jarring. But the Burke family is well worth a visit. Now I'm going back to read the novels based around the Burkes.
Not my favorite Collins-Burke mystery. First of all, there was no Collins. The series works because of the relationship between Collins and Burke. The story moved slowly and had lots of history that was perhaps harder for an American reader to follow ( the Cromwell issues)
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2015
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I learned a lot about the struggles of the Irish & the English in this one. The plot was good & I really enjoyed these characters. The first book was so good that this one didn't quite live up to those standards. Still, very enjoyable. I'll definitely read more from this author.
Anne Emery is a gifted storyteller and a conscientious historian, and shows once again why she is one of Canada's finest novelists. In this, the eighth of her Collins-Burke mystery series she shows why. April of 1989 finds Father Brennan Burke preparing to deliver Mass in his New York City parish when he receives an ominous phone call: his sister Molly has rung from London to tell him she’s in prison, arrested for being a member of a “proscribed organization” – legalese for the IRA during those tumultuous times. All too aware of the British’s treatment of Irish rebels, Brennan and his brother Terry immediately set out for London to see their elder sister. The very next morning they visit Molly in prison, and the news is grim: she’s suspected of being involved in a plot to bomb Westminster Abbey, and nearby, a policeman apparently responding to the scene had been murdered. Although they seem not to believe Molly was actively involved, Special Branch is certain that she has information about who was. It’s not an unreasonable suspicion: stretching back generations, her family has long been actively involved in the quest for Irish independence. Moreover, Molly, a university academic, had recently delivered a paper railing against the abuses of the seventeenth-century militant Oliver Cromwell, who had been responsible for the deaths of many Irish during the English Revolution. Although her talk had been offensive in and of itself, shortly thereafter the London police had received a threat to bomb a statue of Cromwell shortly before a memorial ceremony by his supporters. When Special Branch is unable to make their case, they are forced to release Molly. Together with Brennan and Terry she makes for the nearest Irish pub to celebrate, where they are reunited with their cousin Conn. But the family is aware that they’re being watched, and fear their conversations are being monitored as well. When, soon afterwards, two detectives from Special Branch visit Molly at home and question her closely about Conn, her fears are confirmed. Flashback to 1970, and the death of Molly’s grandfather, Christy, also an Irish patriot: the mourners relive their treatment at the hands of the British, and the hatred for the British is palpable. On hand to witness the events is Finn, Molly’s uncle, whose patriotism is already hardening as he listens to the mourners recount their harsh treatment at the hands of the Black and Tans. It is a moment that will influence events nearly twenty years later. When the police arrest Conn for the death of the policeman and taking part in the plot to blow up West-minster Abbey, the family fears the worst, and it falls on Brennan to delve into the shadowy world of the IRA in an effort to free his brother. He fears that Finn may also be involved, and before long he wonders whether any member of the Burke family can escape the suspicions of the British authorities. Emery meticulously documents the tensions between the Irish and the English leading up to the open conflict that has persisted for centuries. Her treatment is even-handed: advocates for both sides of the dispute will have no cause to complain that their side has not been fairly treated. And as readers will come away with a better understanding of the merits of both sides, they will also come to appreciate just why the Irish conflict proved for so many years to be so intractable. Emery has accomplished all this while still giving readers a well crafted and entertaining tale, in which she manages to include a finely-woven subplot involving a Special Branch officer who isn’t quite what he seems, and a hint of romance that spans the two sides of what came simply to be known as The Troubles. All in all, Ruined Abbey is a literate and original tale rooted in the dark history of a complex people, one well worth reading.
Since 2005 Jim Napier's reviews and interviews have appeared in several Canadian newspapers and on websites in Canada, the U.S., and the UK. He can be reached at jnapier@deadlydiversions.com
2.0 out of 5 starsand I have enjoyed the plots and characters immensely
Reviewed in Canada on June 21, 2015
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2.5 stars There was no doubt that this was thoroughly researched and well written. It is Anne Emery's latest book. It takes place in time prior to Father Burke moving from New York to Halifax, Nova Scotia and meeting lawyer Monty Collins. There are 7 Collins/Burke mystery books set mainly in Nova Scotia, and I have enjoyed the plots and characters immensely. In this book Father Burke travels from New York to England in the 1980's on hearing that his sister has been arrested. The stated crime was making an impassioned speech regarding atrocities committed by Oliver Cromwell against the Irish and his destruction of Irish Catholic monasteries and churches. In fact she and her family are under surveillance as suspected IRA sympathizers and possibly terrorists. No sooner is she is out of prison when a young cousin is arrested and imprisoned for the murder of a British police officer and possibly a plan to blow up nearby Westminster Abbey. Next Father Burke's teenaged nephew disappears, probably into Northern Ireland. These events delay the priest's return to New York as he tries to sort out what is going on. In the meantime a police car is frequently observed watching the house. Why is the policeman watching his sister who has been cleared of any charges? I found that my lack of knowledge of the history of the English/Irish troubles and the various historic rebellions made this a slow read for me. Also I failed to connect with the characters in the same way I did with the Collins/Burke mysteries. I was happy to learn that the next book will find Father Brennan Burke back with lawyer M.Collins in Nova Scotia.
