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alicemc25's review against another edition
3.0
I almost dropped this down to 2 stars just based on the ending. I was NOT happy with how it finished; after spending most of the book wondering whether Roísín would manage to bring Lonergan down, and if people would believe and protect her - Oh, well, let's just leave it open to interpretation and we won't actually find out. Gah!
Apart from my mini rage at the end, I thought this was a pretty good (but not fantastic) read. I haven't read anything based on the Belfast troubles before and thought the plot was great, really quite unsettling. The character of Boyle was my favourite - undeniably creepy but misunderstood - and I wish he could have had a bigger part to play in the end.
Apart from my mini rage at the end, I thought this was a pretty good (but not fantastic) read. I haven't read anything based on the Belfast troubles before and thought the plot was great, really quite unsettling. The character of Boyle was my favourite - undeniably creepy but misunderstood - and I wish he could have had a bigger part to play in the end.
greenblack's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
fictionfan's review against another edition
3.0
A soggy sandwich with a great filling...
Twenty years ago, Róisín Burns had to flee her home in Northern Ireland after getting caught up in the Troubles. Now the IRA man she fled from, Lonergan, has reinvented himself as a politician, and Róisín has returned to take revenge, sort of. Or something.
This is another of the ubiquitous trend for books set part in the past and part in the present and, like so many of them, one part is much stronger than the other. The past section is set at the height of the Troubles, and Neary gives a convincing picture of a young girl trapped into doing the IRA's bidding in a city where fear is a constant presence. The present is a silly thriller with absolutely no credibility whatsoever and drags interminably. In fact, I came close to abandoning it before I even got to the past, since it takes almost a third of the book to get there, apart from the brief prologue.
Róisín, now known as Sheen, has turned up on Lamb Island off the coast of Northern Ireland, where Lonergan now has a cottage. Sheen rents a little cottage too, isolated of course, just up the road from the resident nutter whom everyone assumes murdered the previous woman tenant. They don't bother to tell Sheen this though, contenting themselves with warning the nutter, Boyle, to behave himself. He doesn't. But he's not the only bad man on the island – for such a small population it seems to attract more than its fair share of men willing to bump off lone women, for personal as well as political reasons. We spend an inordinate amount of time inside Boyle's foul-mouthed and lustful head – ugh! Tedious in the extreme.
Then we go back to Belfast to what seems like the mid-'70s, though we're not told exactly. The Troubles are at their height, with frequent beatings and bombings directed at both British soldiers and civilians fairly indiscriminately. This section feels almost as if it's written by a different author. The city and its people are recreated with a real feeling of authenticity, and Neary raises a lot of intriguing questions about where moral responsibility begins and ends in a situation where the norms have disappeared and law and order have almost completely broken down. At first Róisín is tricked into helping the IRA, but after that she has to make choices – pay the consequences or continue down the path of terrorism, this time knowingly. Neary shows how grey that question becomes in a sharply divided society, where informers on either side are at extreme risk. She also touches on the question of how far the crimes of the past must be forgotten or forgiven in the pursuit of peace.
And then sadly back to Lamb Island for a ridiculous thriller ending. The idea is ludicrous that a middle-aged woman with no combat experience or training would decide to take on members of the IRA whom she knows have no compunction about killing. And so unnecessary, since if Róisín simply wanted to destroy Lonergan, she could have sent an email to the police or the newspapers from the safety of her American home. But instead she comes back to Ireland to face Lonergan herself, to... I'm not really sure what... threaten him? Shame him? Neither tactic likely to work on an IRA terrorist, I'd have thought. And then it gets even sillier...
So a mixed bag. If Neary had stuck to telling the real story – the one in the past – this could have been an excellent book. Instead it's like a sandwich with a great filling, but slapped between two thick pieces of soggy and underbaked bread. Maybe it's time for authors to start telling one story again, instead of feeling obliged to stick in an extra timeline and a thriller ending – as all trends do, this one has seriously lost its novelty value. 2½ stars for me, so rounded up.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Random House Cornerstone.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Twenty years ago, Róisín Burns had to flee her home in Northern Ireland after getting caught up in the Troubles. Now the IRA man she fled from, Lonergan, has reinvented himself as a politician, and Róisín has returned to take revenge, sort of. Or something.
This is another of the ubiquitous trend for books set part in the past and part in the present and, like so many of them, one part is much stronger than the other. The past section is set at the height of the Troubles, and Neary gives a convincing picture of a young girl trapped into doing the IRA's bidding in a city where fear is a constant presence. The present is a silly thriller with absolutely no credibility whatsoever and drags interminably. In fact, I came close to abandoning it before I even got to the past, since it takes almost a third of the book to get there, apart from the brief prologue.
Róisín, now known as Sheen, has turned up on Lamb Island off the coast of Northern Ireland, where Lonergan now has a cottage. Sheen rents a little cottage too, isolated of course, just up the road from the resident nutter whom everyone assumes murdered the previous woman tenant. They don't bother to tell Sheen this though, contenting themselves with warning the nutter, Boyle, to behave himself. He doesn't. But he's not the only bad man on the island – for such a small population it seems to attract more than its fair share of men willing to bump off lone women, for personal as well as political reasons. We spend an inordinate amount of time inside Boyle's foul-mouthed and lustful head – ugh! Tedious in the extreme.
Then we go back to Belfast to what seems like the mid-'70s, though we're not told exactly. The Troubles are at their height, with frequent beatings and bombings directed at both British soldiers and civilians fairly indiscriminately. This section feels almost as if it's written by a different author. The city and its people are recreated with a real feeling of authenticity, and Neary raises a lot of intriguing questions about where moral responsibility begins and ends in a situation where the norms have disappeared and law and order have almost completely broken down. At first Róisín is tricked into helping the IRA, but after that she has to make choices – pay the consequences or continue down the path of terrorism, this time knowingly. Neary shows how grey that question becomes in a sharply divided society, where informers on either side are at extreme risk. She also touches on the question of how far the crimes of the past must be forgotten or forgiven in the pursuit of peace.
And then sadly back to Lamb Island for a ridiculous thriller ending. The idea is ludicrous that a middle-aged woman with no combat experience or training would decide to take on members of the IRA whom she knows have no compunction about killing. And so unnecessary, since if Róisín simply wanted to destroy Lonergan, she could have sent an email to the police or the newspapers from the safety of her American home. But instead she comes back to Ireland to face Lonergan herself, to... I'm not really sure what... threaten him? Shame him? Neither tactic likely to work on an IRA terrorist, I'd have thought. And then it gets even sillier...
So a mixed bag. If Neary had stuck to telling the real story – the one in the past – this could have been an excellent book. Instead it's like a sandwich with a great filling, but slapped between two thick pieces of soggy and underbaked bread. Maybe it's time for authors to start telling one story again, instead of feeling obliged to stick in an extra timeline and a thriller ending – as all trends do, this one has seriously lost its novelty value. 2½ stars for me, so rounded up.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Random House Cornerstone.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
bgg616's review against another edition
4.0
Sheen from New York is actually Róisín Burns from Belfast. She left Belfast 20 years earlier after being pulled into paramilitary activities at the age of 15. Behind these incidents involving murders, a bombing, and a kidnapping is Brian Lonnegan, a man who is now running for high office in the Republic of Ireland. Sheen travels to a small island off the coast of County Cork to confront Lonnegan, who has a weekend home there and who she blames for a spiral of failure in her life. She got away from Belfast with the help of Lonnegan, and supposedly he helped her because of her late father. But Lonnegan was the person who entrapped her in paramilitary activities,
Sheen arrives on the island and rents a ramshackle cottage. Of course on a small island, locals are curious and all up in her business. Two non-local residents, a Dutch man who makes furniture that no one seems to buy, and Boyle, an aging Irish hippie who is a peeping Tom. Both men may have been involved in the disappearance of one or more visiting women in the past. Boyle stalks Sheen and is menacing throughout. Somehow no one seems to suss out that she is not who or what she says.
The Belfast episodes in the novel were based on actual incidents. During the Troubles, there were British soldiers who were killed by the IRA after being lured away by young women known as "honey pots". Lonnegan bears more than a passing resemblance to Gerry Adam, head of Sinn Fein, who denies ever having been in the IRA (although it has been said that even the dogs in West Belfast knew Adams was in the IRA), and was reportedly the head of the Provos' Army Council. In 2014, Adams was arrested and charged with involvement in the kidnapping and murder of Jean McConville, a mother of 8 children. Lonnegan also has white-washed his paramilitary past. One of the incidents in the story is the mother of a large family who was kidnapped and disappeared by Lonnegan. I should add that Lonnegan is involved in other kinds of crimes and this is where the resemblance to Adams ends.
This was 4.5 stars for me. It has some flaws but I probably rated it higher because of the parallels with actual events in Northern Ireland. There was an excellent review in March, 2016 in the Irish Times which discusses at length the validity of using events from the Troubles as the basis of a plot in this novel. The review states there are no "no go" areas in Troubles fiction. This is a good thriller that I recommend.
Sheen arrives on the island and rents a ramshackle cottage. Of course on a small island, locals are curious and all up in her business. Two non-local residents, a Dutch man who makes furniture that no one seems to buy, and Boyle, an aging Irish hippie who is a peeping Tom. Both men may have been involved in the disappearance of one or more visiting women in the past. Boyle stalks Sheen and is menacing throughout. Somehow no one seems to suss out that she is not who or what she says.
The Belfast episodes in the novel were based on actual incidents. During the Troubles, there were British soldiers who were killed by the IRA after being lured away by young women known as "honey pots". Lonnegan bears more than a passing resemblance to Gerry Adam, head of Sinn Fein, who denies ever having been in the IRA (although it has been said that even the dogs in West Belfast knew Adams was in the IRA), and was reportedly the head of the Provos' Army Council. In 2014, Adams was arrested and charged with involvement in the kidnapping and murder of Jean McConville, a mother of 8 children. Lonnegan also has white-washed his paramilitary past. One of the incidents in the story is the mother of a large family who was kidnapped and disappeared by Lonnegan. I should add that Lonnegan is involved in other kinds of crimes and this is where the resemblance to Adams ends.
This was 4.5 stars for me. It has some flaws but I probably rated it higher because of the parallels with actual events in Northern Ireland. There was an excellent review in March, 2016 in the Irish Times which discusses at length the validity of using events from the Troubles as the basis of a plot in this novel. The review states there are no "no go" areas in Troubles fiction. This is a good thriller that I recommend.
shayneyj's review against another edition
3.0
I would first like to thank NetGalley, the author and the publisher for granting my request to download and read this book, in exchange for an honest review of this book.
Róisín Burns was a normal teenage girl, until one night she decides to go to a club with her friend, unaware that her friend, isn't just there to dance and have a laugh. Róisín witnesses horrible things that's she never wants to see again, but unlucky for her, she hasn't got a choice in the matter. Now Róisín Burns has had the last twenty years of her life stolen away from her, becoming somebody else and living in New York, away from her family in Ireland. Now the man who started all of this, forcing her and stealing her life from her, flashes up on the news, Brian Lonergan, reinvented himself as a rising politician in Ireland. Wanting her life back and wanting answers and justice, armed with the evidence that could ruin Lonergan, Róisín travels to the island of Lamb to hunt him down. But is Lonergan one step ahead of her?
I requested this book from NetGalley because the description sounded amazing and I couldn't wait to read it. Once I started reading this book I couldn't put it down, I made it through the beginning with no problem and I was loving it, but then they did something which is always off putting to me, they jumped back in time. The first hundred pages or so are about how Róisín is on the island, and we discover the mystery behind her character, as we learn she's there for a purpose, without giving away too many spoilers. So now we have mystery and questions.
Then the book does a jump! This is when my reading slowed down, but I honestly don't know why. This is the chunk where the questions I had about why she was there on the island, what had happened to counter so much rage and anger in her past to connect the two characters was answers. This section was so jam packed with action and information and there wasn't that much time for a dull moment for me to slow my reading down, but I did. I think it was because I don't like it when the time line is presented this way and it knocked me a bit. I had to now get used to a whole new set of characters, a new age main character, a new setting, plus I knew that no matter what happened and how dangerous things got, I knew that Róisín wasn't going to die and certain events from the future. This then made this section drag on for me until it got to the present day.
It get back to the present day and my reading speed did pick back up again, as everything from there on out was a surprise and any of the current characters could die or anything else. But since reading the past and now reading the present, I was confusing characters with different characters, which is why I hate books with jumbled up time lines. The ending is also left open for you to decide how you think it would end, which again isn't for me. I like an ending to be wrapped up neatly with a bow and cherry on on top. Unless of course, the author left the ending open because she is planning to write a sequel to this novel.
While reading this book, I found myself not being able to trust any of the characters and I was questioning myself whether or not they were really trying to help poor Róisín or whether they were just working for Lonergan. This made the book and the writing even more amazing as I was actually able to put myself into Róisín shoes and wonder what would I do or feel like if I was on an Island where I couldn't trust a single person, so fantastic character developments.
I was disappointed when it came to a character name Boyle, which is the other point of view narrative we got to see in the book. Being the other point of view, I was expecting there to be something big or surprising in the end, as there had been a build up to something and even though there had been something he had done (which I'm not going to spoil) he never got true credit for it and was still left unseen to everyone. I finished reading this book feeling sorry for him as all he wanted to do was to be seen or be felt like a hero but not have the confidence, but all he got seen as was a creep and a weirdo, so with everything, I thought the book was building up to something, but he was still left unseen in the shadows for his actions.
Róisín Burns was a normal teenage girl, until one night she decides to go to a club with her friend, unaware that her friend, isn't just there to dance and have a laugh. Róisín witnesses horrible things that's she never wants to see again, but unlucky for her, she hasn't got a choice in the matter. Now Róisín Burns has had the last twenty years of her life stolen away from her, becoming somebody else and living in New York, away from her family in Ireland. Now the man who started all of this, forcing her and stealing her life from her, flashes up on the news, Brian Lonergan, reinvented himself as a rising politician in Ireland. Wanting her life back and wanting answers and justice, armed with the evidence that could ruin Lonergan, Róisín travels to the island of Lamb to hunt him down. But is Lonergan one step ahead of her?
I requested this book from NetGalley because the description sounded amazing and I couldn't wait to read it. Once I started reading this book I couldn't put it down, I made it through the beginning with no problem and I was loving it, but then they did something which is always off putting to me, they jumped back in time. The first hundred pages or so are about how Róisín is on the island, and we discover the mystery behind her character, as we learn she's there for a purpose, without giving away too many spoilers. So now we have mystery and questions.
Then the book does a jump! This is when my reading slowed down, but I honestly don't know why. This is the chunk where the questions I had about why she was there on the island, what had happened to counter so much rage and anger in her past to connect the two characters was answers. This section was so jam packed with action and information and there wasn't that much time for a dull moment for me to slow my reading down, but I did. I think it was because I don't like it when the time line is presented this way and it knocked me a bit. I had to now get used to a whole new set of characters, a new age main character, a new setting, plus I knew that no matter what happened and how dangerous things got, I knew that Róisín wasn't going to die and certain events from the future. This then made this section drag on for me until it got to the present day.
It get back to the present day and my reading speed did pick back up again, as everything from there on out was a surprise and any of the current characters could die or anything else. But since reading the past and now reading the present, I was confusing characters with different characters, which is why I hate books with jumbled up time lines. The ending is also left open for you to decide how you think it would end, which again isn't for me. I like an ending to be wrapped up neatly with a bow and cherry on on top. Unless of course, the author left the ending open because she is planning to write a sequel to this novel.
While reading this book, I found myself not being able to trust any of the characters and I was questioning myself whether or not they were really trying to help poor Róisín or whether they were just working for Lonergan. This made the book and the writing even more amazing as I was actually able to put myself into Róisín shoes and wonder what would I do or feel like if I was on an Island where I couldn't trust a single person, so fantastic character developments.
I was disappointed when it came to a character name Boyle, which is the other point of view narrative we got to see in the book. Being the other point of view, I was expecting there to be something big or surprising in the end, as there had been a build up to something and even though there had been something he had done (which I'm not going to spoil) he never got true credit for it and was still left unseen to everyone. I finished reading this book feeling sorry for him as all he wanted to do was to be seen or be felt like a hero but not have the confidence, but all he got seen as was a creep and a weirdo, so with everything, I thought the book was building up to something, but he was still left unseen in the shadows for his actions.
lau_evs's review against another edition
2.0
I can't really explain my thoughts on this book. It had an interesting premise and I was intrigued to see how the history would be resolved, but it didn't really get there. I felt like I was waiting for the big reveal and when it came it seemed to fall a little flat and didn't reach my expectations.
rodillagrande's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
A fast, tense read. I found the Belfast/safe houses sections to be the more gripping but the tiny island was, in its own way, sinister. A reminder of how we deal with the pasts of public figures by collectively agreeing to not mention them. Would definitely read more by this author.
tasha34's review against another edition
4.0
Well written and very gripping.
I found both parts of the book equally as good, brutal and quite shocking Belfast and Lamb island was a bit creepy.
Really enjoyed the whole book but got to the ending and it was a bit 'oh'. Still a great debut novel and looking forward to her next one ' The Orphans.
I found both parts of the book equally as good, brutal and quite shocking Belfast and Lamb island was a bit creepy.
Really enjoyed the whole book but got to the ending and it was a bit 'oh'. Still a great debut novel and looking forward to her next one ' The Orphans.
raven88's review against another edition
5.0
With jacket quotes from the brilliant Stuart Neville and Liz Nugent and the promise of being a stand out addition to the Irish crime genre, the lure of Siren was irresistible to this reviewer…
I was astounded by the incredible balance of narrative, location and characterisation throughout this impressive debut novel from Neary, with all aspects of the book working in complete harmony with one another. No mean feat for a new writer, and showing a degree of skill that some writers take more than a few books to achieve. Set against the reverberating echo of The Troubles, one of the most contentious and defining conflicts of the twentieth century, Neary has constructed a tale that effortlessly intertwines a present and past timeline that slowly uncoils revealing small nuggets of bitter truths, as the reader progresses through Róisín’s compelling and thought provoking story.
As Róisín embarks on her personal mission of retribution, the violent and emotive details of her involvement in a honey trap in her teenage years, resulting in the murder of two soldiers slowly unfolds. Neary demonstrates through her portrayal of Róisín’s adolescent years the prescient dangers and threats of danger that overshadowed the lives of many in Belfast in this tumultuous period, and the skeletons in the closet of Róisín’s family itself. Likewise, the simmering rage and desire for revenge that Róisín harbours for Lonergan himself is never far from the surface, and which reveals itself in a series of flashbacks to his manipulation of her in previous events. Róisín is a wonderfully well-drawn character, and contains a mass of contradictions, as she gravitates between clear-sighted belief in her actions, underscored by moments of incredible sensitivity and self doubt. If ever a character was written to elicit empathy in the reader, Neary has this pretty much spot on, as Róisín is never less than a totally believable and sympathetic character. To further draw on the characterisation of this book, I loved the way that was a certain shadowy pall around the male protagonists, as Neary never really gives the reader a complete picture of their motivations, choosing to keep them to a larger degree, slightly shrouded from our unflinching gaze. If this was a deliberate move on the author’s part it was a wise one as this incompleteness to their definition added a further level of menace to them and their interactions with Róisín herself. Also choosing to set the contemporary story on the grim outcrop of Lamb Island, instead of keeping the action centred in Belfast itself, worked very well. The air of impending violence and fear that Róisín experiences is heightened substantially by the bleakness of the surrounding island landscape, and the isolation of her temporary abode on the island from where she embarks on her vengeful mission.
I was incredibly impressed with this debut, with its pitch perfect mix of extreme human emotions, combined with the resonance of history. Neary has achieved something really quite special. Highly recommended.
I was astounded by the incredible balance of narrative, location and characterisation throughout this impressive debut novel from Neary, with all aspects of the book working in complete harmony with one another. No mean feat for a new writer, and showing a degree of skill that some writers take more than a few books to achieve. Set against the reverberating echo of The Troubles, one of the most contentious and defining conflicts of the twentieth century, Neary has constructed a tale that effortlessly intertwines a present and past timeline that slowly uncoils revealing small nuggets of bitter truths, as the reader progresses through Róisín’s compelling and thought provoking story.
As Róisín embarks on her personal mission of retribution, the violent and emotive details of her involvement in a honey trap in her teenage years, resulting in the murder of two soldiers slowly unfolds. Neary demonstrates through her portrayal of Róisín’s adolescent years the prescient dangers and threats of danger that overshadowed the lives of many in Belfast in this tumultuous period, and the skeletons in the closet of Róisín’s family itself. Likewise, the simmering rage and desire for revenge that Róisín harbours for Lonergan himself is never far from the surface, and which reveals itself in a series of flashbacks to his manipulation of her in previous events. Róisín is a wonderfully well-drawn character, and contains a mass of contradictions, as she gravitates between clear-sighted belief in her actions, underscored by moments of incredible sensitivity and self doubt. If ever a character was written to elicit empathy in the reader, Neary has this pretty much spot on, as Róisín is never less than a totally believable and sympathetic character. To further draw on the characterisation of this book, I loved the way that was a certain shadowy pall around the male protagonists, as Neary never really gives the reader a complete picture of their motivations, choosing to keep them to a larger degree, slightly shrouded from our unflinching gaze. If this was a deliberate move on the author’s part it was a wise one as this incompleteness to their definition added a further level of menace to them and their interactions with Róisín herself. Also choosing to set the contemporary story on the grim outcrop of Lamb Island, instead of keeping the action centred in Belfast itself, worked very well. The air of impending violence and fear that Róisín experiences is heightened substantially by the bleakness of the surrounding island landscape, and the isolation of her temporary abode on the island from where she embarks on her vengeful mission.
I was incredibly impressed with this debut, with its pitch perfect mix of extreme human emotions, combined with the resonance of history. Neary has achieved something really quite special. Highly recommended.
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