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zdepretzel's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
emckeon1002's review
5.0
I have to thank Adrian McKinty for tweeting about McGilloway. His books are still not readily available on this side of the Atlantic, and they should be. This one's about an old crime revisited, and coincidentally features IRA members banished to Scotland (just like in Denise Mina's Slip of the Knife which I finished just prior to this. McGilloway is skilled, and aside for the trick where the last sentence of one chapter becomes the first of another, as chapters move backwards and forwards over decades, this story of murder and regret is beautifully told. Search it out.
bridie_books's review
3.0
This was quite a good thriller. However, I was distracted by the typing errors- I haven’t seen a book so full of them for a long time. Perhaps I just got a bad batch.
bgg616's review
4.0
*LONGLISTED FOR THE THEAKSTON OLD PECULER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2021*
McGilloway has written a number of previous novels, all crime novels. This one is a departure. It is the story of a murder and disappearance that happened 30 years earlier during The Troubles. It is now the era of resolution, helping families of the disappeared by identifying their burial places. The original three people involved in a disappearance are the center of the story.
The murder was carried out by Tony, a school teacher from Derry, Karen, a young woman on the outskirts of paramilitary circles, and Hugh, an older paramilitary. The novel opens with the burial of a supposed informer in Scotland. Tony was pulled into this murder after his younger brother was killed when he was hit by a British Army vehicle in Derry. Tony wasn't looking for revenge, but was pulled into acting by pressure from militants.
It is the story of remorse, and guilt. Tony and Karen are strong armed into returning to Scotland with Hugh to find the grave of the man they executed. The chapters alternate between the past and the present in a fashion that moves the story ahead. The three protagonists are involved in ferry crossings to Scotland which are reminiscent of stories of the River Styx and the novel has many of the elements of a Greek tragedy.
My book group that meets at the historic Linen Hall Library in Belfast (I join via Zoom) was fortunate to have the author join us today for a discussion of the novel. This meeting was followed by an hour long public talk. I walked away very impressed with McGilloway - his intelligence, and his dedication to his craft. He is a native of Derry teaches full time at Holy Cross College, Strabane, a Catholic secondary school. He also has a family which requires a great deal of juggling to keep everything going.
This is McGilloway's tenth novel, and it almost didn't get published. Then a small indie press, Dome, in the UK took a chance and published it. It was then picked up by Constable and issued in paperback. McGilloway said that writers from Northern Ireland still have a lot of difficulty getting published. Crime novels were not written during The Troubles with one of two exceptions ([a:Colin Bateman|54939|Colin Bateman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1258493569p2/54939.jpg] because people were living with enough terror and uncertainty, and did not need fiction to provide it. McGilloway has a new stand alone novel being published in March 2022 [b:The Empty Room|58311092|The Empty Room|Brian McGilloway|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|91421491]. I already have it on pre-order.
McGilloway has written a number of previous novels, all crime novels. This one is a departure. It is the story of a murder and disappearance that happened 30 years earlier during The Troubles. It is now the era of resolution, helping families of the disappeared by identifying their burial places. The original three people involved in a disappearance are the center of the story.
The murder was carried out by Tony, a school teacher from Derry, Karen, a young woman on the outskirts of paramilitary circles, and Hugh, an older paramilitary. The novel opens with the burial of a supposed informer in Scotland. Tony was pulled into this murder after his younger brother was killed when he was hit by a British Army vehicle in Derry. Tony wasn't looking for revenge, but was pulled into acting by pressure from militants.
It is the story of remorse, and guilt. Tony and Karen are strong armed into returning to Scotland with Hugh to find the grave of the man they executed. The chapters alternate between the past and the present in a fashion that moves the story ahead. The three protagonists are involved in ferry crossings to Scotland which are reminiscent of stories of the River Styx and the novel has many of the elements of a Greek tragedy.
My book group that meets at the historic Linen Hall Library in Belfast (I join via Zoom) was fortunate to have the author join us today for a discussion of the novel. This meeting was followed by an hour long public talk. I walked away very impressed with McGilloway - his intelligence, and his dedication to his craft. He is a native of Derry teaches full time at Holy Cross College, Strabane, a Catholic secondary school. He also has a family which requires a great deal of juggling to keep everything going.
This is McGilloway's tenth novel, and it almost didn't get published. Then a small indie press, Dome, in the UK took a chance and published it. It was then picked up by Constable and issued in paperback. McGilloway said that writers from Northern Ireland still have a lot of difficulty getting published. Crime novels were not written during The Troubles with one of two exceptions ([a:Colin Bateman|54939|Colin Bateman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1258493569p2/54939.jpg] because people were living with enough terror and uncertainty, and did not need fiction to provide it. McGilloway has a new stand alone novel being published in March 2022 [b:The Empty Room|58311092|The Empty Room|Brian McGilloway|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|91421491]. I already have it on pre-order.
sarahmareacarr's review
5.0
Dark, haunting. Ostensibly a thriller set but mostly about the consequences of the choices a person makes.
Visceral interrogation scene which was really difficult to read.
Visceral interrogation scene which was really difficult to read.
ecb_15's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
nicpeyton's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
karlou's review
5.0
The Last Crossing is the first book by Brian McGilloway I've had the pleasure of reading but it definitely won't be the last. I have a particular fondness for novels with a dual timeline but I don't remember one done better than this, with the clever, seamless links between past and present creating a moving and engrossing study of a small group of people brought together during the Troubles in the late 80s and then reunited thirty years later, still haunted by their memories of what they did.
The book opens with a murder, execution style but this isn't a crime novel as such; any desire for justice of a sort comes later and is personal rather than seeking retribution in a court of law. Three people are present when Martin Kelly dies but only one, Hugh appears to have killed before. He is brutally efficient and exacting in his instructions for the other two, Tony and Karen who follow his directions obediently. It soon becomes apparent that whatever occurred between them to lead to this point resulted in them not seeing each another for decades. The older Tony is clearly still tormented by his previous actions yet unable to confess his sins to his priest, admitting only that he has done things he's not proud of. Recently widowed, his apprehension at being forced to relive the history he shares with Hugh and Karen is tempered by his curiosity as to how it will feel to see them both again, especially Karen with whom he had a short-lived but intense love affair.
As with many historical conflicts, when peace is agreed there eventually comes a desire for answers and a willingness to provide them, whether from a genuine wish to atone for past sins or for less altruistic, often political motives. The storyline follows Tony in the past and present and it's through him that we gradually discover both how he came to be involved in murder and why the three have separately agreed to return to Martin Kelly's resting place in Scotland. They each have their own reasons and while it's easier to sympathise with Tony and Karen - whose story in many ways mirrors his, reinforcing the ease at which ordinary people can be recruited into terror groups - Hugh's presence is ominously riveting, his fury almost palpable at times.
The lingering legacy of the Troubles ensures there is always a sense of foreboding to The Last Crossing but it also means that this is a nuanced character study which recognises that there were multiple reasons behind the violent acts perpetrated by both sides and few were left entirely untouched. A family tragedy leaves Tony vulnerable to persuasion and coercion; he is actually a likeable young man but his confused emotions and naivety means there is a sad inevitability to the lonely path he finds himself on. Perhaps the most poignant aspect to this compelling story is that the shadow of death which looms over all the characters is as divisive as it is uniting. That a needless death will mean people will seek revenge isn't surprising and it's painfully evident here that retribution and anger leads to a depressing cycle of violence and murder. The psychological scars are explored too; the personal and those which become legacies, both of families and the wider communities.
The ever-present sense of fear is captured with an authenticity which means The Last Crossing is almost unbearably tense to read at times and is a stark reminder that Scotland, separated from Ireland by just a short crossing shared the religious and political divides and experienced the violence and bereavements of the Troubles too. There's a scene where Tony is asked whether he supports Rangers or Celtic and with it there is the grim acknowledgement that allegiance to one or other of these clubs may signal more than just loyalty to a football team. As events begin to spiral out of what little control he may have thought he still held, there comes a moment where it all becomes almost too painful to read. The ferocity of belief in a cause is difficult to witness, particularly because the violence that occurs here represents the many atrocities inflicted during those long, dark years of terror and bloodshed.
The Last Crossing is a powerful exploration of a recent past which remains a part of society's collective memories, perceptively understanding that those recollections will be flawed, formed as they are through a person's individual experiences and beliefs. Despite the sombre subject matter, the writing is absolutely beautiful, vividly capturing the emotions and the sense of time and place. With recent political developments potentially threatening the Good Friday Agreement and the rise in populism and nationalism, there has perhaps never been a greater need for this thoughtful, complex, important novel. An outstanding read which will remain with me, I cannot recommend it highly enough.
The book opens with a murder, execution style but this isn't a crime novel as such; any desire for justice of a sort comes later and is personal rather than seeking retribution in a court of law. Three people are present when Martin Kelly dies but only one, Hugh appears to have killed before. He is brutally efficient and exacting in his instructions for the other two, Tony and Karen who follow his directions obediently. It soon becomes apparent that whatever occurred between them to lead to this point resulted in them not seeing each another for decades. The older Tony is clearly still tormented by his previous actions yet unable to confess his sins to his priest, admitting only that he has done things he's not proud of. Recently widowed, his apprehension at being forced to relive the history he shares with Hugh and Karen is tempered by his curiosity as to how it will feel to see them both again, especially Karen with whom he had a short-lived but intense love affair.
As with many historical conflicts, when peace is agreed there eventually comes a desire for answers and a willingness to provide them, whether from a genuine wish to atone for past sins or for less altruistic, often political motives. The storyline follows Tony in the past and present and it's through him that we gradually discover both how he came to be involved in murder and why the three have separately agreed to return to Martin Kelly's resting place in Scotland. They each have their own reasons and while it's easier to sympathise with Tony and Karen - whose story in many ways mirrors his, reinforcing the ease at which ordinary people can be recruited into terror groups - Hugh's presence is ominously riveting, his fury almost palpable at times.
The lingering legacy of the Troubles ensures there is always a sense of foreboding to The Last Crossing but it also means that this is a nuanced character study which recognises that there were multiple reasons behind the violent acts perpetrated by both sides and few were left entirely untouched. A family tragedy leaves Tony vulnerable to persuasion and coercion; he is actually a likeable young man but his confused emotions and naivety means there is a sad inevitability to the lonely path he finds himself on. Perhaps the most poignant aspect to this compelling story is that the shadow of death which looms over all the characters is as divisive as it is uniting. That a needless death will mean people will seek revenge isn't surprising and it's painfully evident here that retribution and anger leads to a depressing cycle of violence and murder. The psychological scars are explored too; the personal and those which become legacies, both of families and the wider communities.
The ever-present sense of fear is captured with an authenticity which means The Last Crossing is almost unbearably tense to read at times and is a stark reminder that Scotland, separated from Ireland by just a short crossing shared the religious and political divides and experienced the violence and bereavements of the Troubles too. There's a scene where Tony is asked whether he supports Rangers or Celtic and with it there is the grim acknowledgement that allegiance to one or other of these clubs may signal more than just loyalty to a football team. As events begin to spiral out of what little control he may have thought he still held, there comes a moment where it all becomes almost too painful to read. The ferocity of belief in a cause is difficult to witness, particularly because the violence that occurs here represents the many atrocities inflicted during those long, dark years of terror and bloodshed.
The Last Crossing is a powerful exploration of a recent past which remains a part of society's collective memories, perceptively understanding that those recollections will be flawed, formed as they are through a person's individual experiences and beliefs. Despite the sombre subject matter, the writing is absolutely beautiful, vividly capturing the emotions and the sense of time and place. With recent political developments potentially threatening the Good Friday Agreement and the rise in populism and nationalism, there has perhaps never been a greater need for this thoughtful, complex, important novel. An outstanding read which will remain with me, I cannot recommend it highly enough.