Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
New York: Soho
Description
Fegan has been a "hard man," an IRA killer in northern Ireland. Now that peace has come, he is being haunted day and night by twelve ghosts: a mother and infant, a schoolboy, a butcher, an RUC constable, and seven other of his innocent victims. In order to appease them, he's going to have to kill the men who gave him orders.
Media reviews
A crime novel that counts among the best brought out this calendar year... "The Ghosts of Belfast" would have been a superior effort had it been just about Fegan's struggle to assert his inner goodness in the face of larger evil, but its narrative power draws further strength from Neville's acute
Show More
understanding of Northern Ireland's true state and how, in just a few short years, "the North had become the poor relation, the bastard child no one had the heart to send away." Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
The Ghosts of Belfast are the twelve people that Gerry Fegan murdered while in the service of the IRA. He has served his time in prison, but these ghosts travel with him, never letting him forget. They cry out for vengeance and want Gerry to appease them by murdering the ones who gave the orders
This first novel by Stuart Neville is a blend of crime, thriller and paranormal that deals with the themes of guilt and redemption. It’s well written and gives the reader many tense moments. The story grabbed me right from the start and I wondered how this one was going to end. With the introduction of Marie McKenna, I was briefly afraid that the author was veering away from the idea of this solitary, dark and more than slightly crazed killer looking for his perceived salvation but eventually the plotlines came together seamlessly.
Over and above the main story, this book takes a hard look at the violent history of The Troubles and how this history still casts a long shadow. The Ghosts of Belfast is a gritty, emotional and at times brutal story, and an excellent introduction to this promising author.
Show More
that resulted in their deaths. This first novel by Stuart Neville is a blend of crime, thriller and paranormal that deals with the themes of guilt and redemption. It’s well written and gives the reader many tense moments. The story grabbed me right from the start and I wondered how this one was going to end. With the introduction of Marie McKenna, I was briefly afraid that the author was veering away from the idea of this solitary, dark and more than slightly crazed killer looking for his perceived salvation but eventually the plotlines came together seamlessly.
Over and above the main story, this book takes a hard look at the violent history of The Troubles and how this history still casts a long shadow. The Ghosts of Belfast is a gritty, emotional and at times brutal story, and an excellent introduction to this promising author.
Show Less
LibraryThing member norinrad10
Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant! This is hands down one of the best books I've read in the last year. Great sympathetic characters, wonderful plot, and great insight into the politics of Ireland. This was a really powerful book that holds true with the Irish theme of redemption and I strongly
Show More
recommend it to all. Only fault I find is that it was one chapter too long. Would have been even more powerful if he would have ended with the 2nd to last chapter. Show Less
LibraryThing member BooksOn23rd
THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST, by Stuart Neville, is about an ex-con named Gerry Fegan being harassed by the ghosts of those he has killed.
The book sets off at a good pace, introducing the other players in his world. It’s not really heavy into describing locations, but good enough to give you the basic
The men of the underground army are brutal, unforgiving men. They are rough and believable. For some, this is the only thing they’ve ever known.
Fegan gripped Toner’s ring finger. “Who’s the cop?”
“Gerry, please, I can’t.”
Toner screamed again, drowning out the sound of cracking bone. Fegan sighed. He was surprised at Toner. He’d always taken him for weak; the solicitor was anything but. He ground the bones together.
My favorite character is the protagonist, Gerry Fegan. He sees and communicates with ‘shadows,’ ghosts of dead people; how splendid is that? Unfortunately, he’s also consuming way too much alcohol in an attempt to run away from them. When the twelve ghosts of those who he has murdered require him to avenge their deaths by killing someone else who was also involved in their murder, he has no qualms about getting the job done. One by one, his tormentor ghosts disappear as the other killers are taken out by Gerry. His acquaintances (there are no real friends exempt from being double-crossed when you’re part of this organization) think he’s gone mad, talking to people that they can’t see.
Fegan shook his head. “I’m sorry.”
“Thirty years, Gerry. We’ve known each other thirty-“
The Walther barked once, throwing red and grey against the windscreen. ***** slumped forward onto the steering wheel, and the Merc’s horn screamed at the night. Fegan reached forward, pulled him back against the seat, and silence swallowed them.
I’ve always been interested in the experiences of the everyman in Irish, Welsh, and Scottish life, so I found this book very appealing.
“You’re a respected man around here,” she said.
“They don’t respect me. They’re afraid of me.”
“I’m not afraid of you.”
Fegan plucked at the beer can’s ring-pull. “You know what I did?” “I’ve heard things,” she said. Her shoulder brushed against his and he shivered. “Listen, I’ve known men like you all my life. My uncles, my father, my brothers. I know the other side, too, the cops and the Loyalists. I’ve talked to them all in my job. Everyone has their piece of guilt to carry. You’re not that special.”
I’m happy to say, the plot surprised me towards the end. It gave me chills! No spoilers here; you’ll have to read the book to find out what happens.
As with Adrian McKinty’s fabulous DEAD TRILOGY books, Stuart Neville knows his stuff when it comes to the Irish Troubles and how it affected people.
If you’re interested at all in the scratchy existence of the Irish activists, you must read THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST.
The book sets off at a good pace, introducing the other players in his world. It’s not really heavy into describing locations, but good enough to give you the basic
Show More
feel of the place. The language is course, as would be expected amongst violent men. The men of the underground army are brutal, unforgiving men. They are rough and believable. For some, this is the only thing they’ve ever known.
Fegan gripped Toner’s ring finger. “Who’s the cop?”
“Gerry, please, I can’t.”
Toner screamed again, drowning out the sound of cracking bone. Fegan sighed. He was surprised at Toner. He’d always taken him for weak; the solicitor was anything but. He ground the bones together.
My favorite character is the protagonist, Gerry Fegan. He sees and communicates with ‘shadows,’ ghosts of dead people; how splendid is that? Unfortunately, he’s also consuming way too much alcohol in an attempt to run away from them. When the twelve ghosts of those who he has murdered require him to avenge their deaths by killing someone else who was also involved in their murder, he has no qualms about getting the job done. One by one, his tormentor ghosts disappear as the other killers are taken out by Gerry. His acquaintances (there are no real friends exempt from being double-crossed when you’re part of this organization) think he’s gone mad, talking to people that they can’t see.
Fegan shook his head. “I’m sorry.”
“Thirty years, Gerry. We’ve known each other thirty-“
The Walther barked once, throwing red and grey against the windscreen. ***** slumped forward onto the steering wheel, and the Merc’s horn screamed at the night. Fegan reached forward, pulled him back against the seat, and silence swallowed them.
I’ve always been interested in the experiences of the everyman in Irish, Welsh, and Scottish life, so I found this book very appealing.
“You’re a respected man around here,” she said.
“They don’t respect me. They’re afraid of me.”
“I’m not afraid of you.”
Fegan plucked at the beer can’s ring-pull. “You know what I did?” “I’ve heard things,” she said. Her shoulder brushed against his and he shivered. “Listen, I’ve known men like you all my life. My uncles, my father, my brothers. I know the other side, too, the cops and the Loyalists. I’ve talked to them all in my job. Everyone has their piece of guilt to carry. You’re not that special.”
I’m happy to say, the plot surprised me towards the end. It gave me chills! No spoilers here; you’ll have to read the book to find out what happens.
As with Adrian McKinty’s fabulous DEAD TRILOGY books, Stuart Neville knows his stuff when it comes to the Irish Troubles and how it affected people.
If you’re interested at all in the scratchy existence of the Irish activists, you must read THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST.
Show Less
LibraryThing member JohnJGaynard
The action takes place in Northern Ireland after the Good Friday agreement. The protagonist, Gerry Fegan, is tortured by many things but three of them stood out for me:
firstly, the fact that Fegan's mother stopped talking to him when she learned he was a killer;
secondly, Fegan's realisation that
thirdly, Fegan's discovery that many of the people he had been manipulated into killing, by the politicians who are now sharing power in the North, were, in fact, innocent.
This is the only novel I know, so far, that has examined the tension between the foot soldiers who got nothing, except remorse or bitterness, to show for their engagement and the higher-ups who gave them the orders and who are now, in some cases but not all, living high on the hog.
The low level people, like Gerry Fegan, who naively believed in 'the cause' and who had killed for it, even committing one murder when he was let out of the Maze for three days to attend his mother’s funeral, are now considered an embarrassment by the more sophisticated people who manipulated them.
One of the most poignant moments in the book is when the protagonist opens a cupboard in his deceased mother's home and finds a box containing all the letters he had sent her while he was in prison. Not one of them had been opened. That is one of the decisive moments that decides him to wreak revenge on the politicians who guided him into killing innocent people.
With reference to the question did Fegan consider himself a terrorist or a freedom fighter, I would say that he considered himself a freedom fighter. But the action described in the novel takes place because he discovers he had been nothing more than a terrorist tool in the hands of cynical men. Most of the novel was very believable, except for the end, in which the ‘hero’ sails off into the the setting sun. That was a bit of a disappointment.
This novel brought to mind another one, written by Sorj Chalandon. A French journalist, Chalandon worked in the North for the Libération daily newspaper back in the 1970s and 80s. A couple of years ago, he brought out a novel called ‘Mon Traître – My Traitor’. It describes how a naive and idealistic young French journalist, was manipulated into fingering IRA volunteers by a senior IRA man who, in fact turned out to be a long-time informer in the employment of MI5 and the Special Branch of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The traitor in Chalandon’s book is based on the character of Denis Donaldson. Before Donaldson was unmasked, in 2005, he had gotten close to some of the highest people in the IRA, like Gerry Adams. Contary to Gerry Fegan, the naive journalist in Chalandon’s book doesn’t set out to exact revenge on the people who used him, but the whole novel is haunted by his realization that a person he considered his friend had been a traitor who had hoodwinked him into sending to their deaths young IRA volunteers who had passed through his apartment in Paris. Donaldson was subsequently killed by a splinter group of the Provisional IRA.
If you wish to have more information about Denis Donaldson, you can find it on the Wikipedia page that has been written about him. Another despicable character of that time, who played a role similar to Donaldson's, was Stakeknife. He too has a wikipedia page.
A book brought out by Martin Dillon in 1999, The Dirty War, details the events that took place in Northern Ireland at the beginning of the 1970s. Dillon’s book doesn’t cover the more recent developments like the discoveries of the traitors Donaldson and Stakeknife and it would be useful to find a book that does address these issues.
A good description of what it was like in 1970s Belfast can also be found in the journalist Kevin Myers' autobiographical work : Watching the Door.
firstly, the fact that Fegan's mother stopped talking to him when she learned he was a killer;
secondly, Fegan's realisation that
Show More
many of the high level members of the IRA, who got foot soldiers like him to do the killing for them while keeping their own hands "clean", are now part of a holier-than-thou elite in the North, enjoying the trappings of power and, in some cases, dabbling in corruption facilitated by the new order, and;thirdly, Fegan's discovery that many of the people he had been manipulated into killing, by the politicians who are now sharing power in the North, were, in fact, innocent.
This is the only novel I know, so far, that has examined the tension between the foot soldiers who got nothing, except remorse or bitterness, to show for their engagement and the higher-ups who gave them the orders and who are now, in some cases but not all, living high on the hog.
The low level people, like Gerry Fegan, who naively believed in 'the cause' and who had killed for it, even committing one murder when he was let out of the Maze for three days to attend his mother’s funeral, are now considered an embarrassment by the more sophisticated people who manipulated them.
One of the most poignant moments in the book is when the protagonist opens a cupboard in his deceased mother's home and finds a box containing all the letters he had sent her while he was in prison. Not one of them had been opened. That is one of the decisive moments that decides him to wreak revenge on the politicians who guided him into killing innocent people.
With reference to the question did Fegan consider himself a terrorist or a freedom fighter, I would say that he considered himself a freedom fighter. But the action described in the novel takes place because he discovers he had been nothing more than a terrorist tool in the hands of cynical men. Most of the novel was very believable, except for the end, in which the ‘hero’ sails off into the the setting sun. That was a bit of a disappointment.
This novel brought to mind another one, written by Sorj Chalandon. A French journalist, Chalandon worked in the North for the Libération daily newspaper back in the 1970s and 80s. A couple of years ago, he brought out a novel called ‘Mon Traître – My Traitor’. It describes how a naive and idealistic young French journalist, was manipulated into fingering IRA volunteers by a senior IRA man who, in fact turned out to be a long-time informer in the employment of MI5 and the Special Branch of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The traitor in Chalandon’s book is based on the character of Denis Donaldson. Before Donaldson was unmasked, in 2005, he had gotten close to some of the highest people in the IRA, like Gerry Adams. Contary to Gerry Fegan, the naive journalist in Chalandon’s book doesn’t set out to exact revenge on the people who used him, but the whole novel is haunted by his realization that a person he considered his friend had been a traitor who had hoodwinked him into sending to their deaths young IRA volunteers who had passed through his apartment in Paris. Donaldson was subsequently killed by a splinter group of the Provisional IRA.
If you wish to have more information about Denis Donaldson, you can find it on the Wikipedia page that has been written about him. Another despicable character of that time, who played a role similar to Donaldson's, was Stakeknife. He too has a wikipedia page.
A book brought out by Martin Dillon in 1999, The Dirty War, details the events that took place in Northern Ireland at the beginning of the 1970s. Dillon’s book doesn’t cover the more recent developments like the discoveries of the traitors Donaldson and Stakeknife and it would be useful to find a book that does address these issues.
A good description of what it was like in 1970s Belfast can also be found in the journalist Kevin Myers' autobiographical work : Watching the Door.
Show Less
LibraryThing member -Eva-
In order to be left alone by his victims' ghosts, former IRA hit man Gerry Fegan must find and kill those who ordered him to commit the murders in the first place. This is one of the better Noir stories I've read in a while, although it's not of the detective kind - these characters are not on that
In addition, this debut novel is quite exceptional in that the author has an pitch-perfect style and everything - from the depiction of the tensions bubbling behind the facade at a controversial funeral to a stunningly accurate description of the inside workings of a riot - feels perfectly authentic. It's a time and a place in flux and an ironically insular and highly paranoid community that Neville has managed to catch on these pages; it's not only Fegan's own ghosts, but the ghosts of the infamous armed struggle and its politics that are still haunting these people.
The one tiny weakness in the book is that Fegan's intended victims tend to be one-dimensional (which, let's be honest, isn't rare in the genre), but because this is so well-written, I find that it doesn't bother me at all. I'd highly recommended this to those who enjoy the bloodier side of Noir and especially for anyone interested in "post-conflict" Northern Ireland.
Show More
side of the law - and has a few seemingly supernatural facets. Fegan is in no way a sympathetic character and be prepared for grim and cruel actions on his part, but it is still impossible not to be on his side in the struggle to stay sane enough to carry out his bloody quest - a quest that may or may not lead to redemption (of some kind).In addition, this debut novel is quite exceptional in that the author has an pitch-perfect style and everything - from the depiction of the tensions bubbling behind the facade at a controversial funeral to a stunningly accurate description of the inside workings of a riot - feels perfectly authentic. It's a time and a place in flux and an ironically insular and highly paranoid community that Neville has managed to catch on these pages; it's not only Fegan's own ghosts, but the ghosts of the infamous armed struggle and its politics that are still haunting these people.
The one tiny weakness in the book is that Fegan's intended victims tend to be one-dimensional (which, let's be honest, isn't rare in the genre), but because this is so well-written, I find that it doesn't bother me at all. I'd highly recommended this to those who enjoy the bloodier side of Noir and especially for anyone interested in "post-conflict" Northern Ireland.
Show Less
LibraryThing member alexbolding
Well written thriller exploring a very original idea set in post Peace settlement Northern Ireland. Probably my best read of the year so far (April). Pacey, suspenseful, original, authentic, layered, something to look forward to reading at night. The basic idea of the thriller is as simple as it is
Show More
brilliant. A hired killer for the Republican (IRA) cause can no longer stand life, drowning his feelings of remorse in alcohol, while being haunted by the ghosts of his 12 victims, becoming a drunk and useless insomniac during the 7 years since his release from prison. The civil war is officially over, all parties growing fat on EU subsidies, deliberating in the Stormont Parliament, pampered to Peace by both Britain and the EU. One day he encounters the mom of one of his younger victims at the graveyard. She begs him for her son’s corpse – she wants to know where he lies. Everybody has to pay sooner or later, she says. Fegan gives in, in a moment of weakness. And that sets off a chain of motions. Fegan being accompanied by his customary 12 ghosts, kills the first commissioner of an assassination and voila the victim disappears and leaves him alone. At the subsequent funeral he is still treated as the thug hero of the old days and the writer uses this opportunity to introduce us to the choreography of old and new power in the Belfast circles of the Republican side. He also introduces the London-based Minister for Northern Ireland, who is kept abreast of developments in fickle Belfast by the Chief of Police. Two more main characters get introduced, McGinty, a former thug boss, turned slick Politician and Campbell, a deep seated spy run by Westminster who has slowly but irreversibly identified with the cause, and who proves an astute strategist, not least because he gets fed info from all sides. Next the story starts to roll. Fegan sympathises with an outcast, a woman who once had an affair with a British Policeman. I won't reveal any more about the plot, except that it keeps one in suspense and curious about the next move, despite the predictable main concept of the novel. The novel is multi-layered, revealing the choreography of violence and how this changed with Stormont; at some stage Fegan is hunted by both the Brits and the Republicans and the unionists (though the last party is the least elaborated in the thriller). Chapot! We want more... Show Less
LibraryThing member kraaivrouw
I'm not entirely sure how I've gone so long without reading this book or knowing about this author. This is wonderful noir fiction set in post-Troubles Ireland and it will quietly remind you again and again how awful things were before the Good Friday peace accord. No one's hands are clean. We so
With Fegan, Mr. Neville has captured the despair of a hard man when the work is done. Haunted by his past, literally and figuratively, Fegan cannot forget - his ghosts can't forgive. Lovingly and meticulously written, Ghosts of Belfast forces the reader to care about someone they might condemn after reading about them in the newspaper. It reminds us that the use horror and terror as political weapons can happen anywhere and that sometimes not love nor revenge can redeem.
I loved this book and will now have to find and read Mr. Neville's other books - if they're as good as this one I'm in for a great ride.
Show More
often think only of Muslim extremists when we think of terrorism and forget Oklahoma City and the IRA and the white supremacist movements. We don't have a clue about colonialism (neo- or not). Imperialism is an abstract word. Most of all, I think we forget the sheer human cost - a cost that resounds through history and world events.With Fegan, Mr. Neville has captured the despair of a hard man when the work is done. Haunted by his past, literally and figuratively, Fegan cannot forget - his ghosts can't forgive. Lovingly and meticulously written, Ghosts of Belfast forces the reader to care about someone they might condemn after reading about them in the newspaper. It reminds us that the use horror and terror as political weapons can happen anywhere and that sometimes not love nor revenge can redeem.
I loved this book and will now have to find and read Mr. Neville's other books - if they're as good as this one I'm in for a great ride.
Show Less
LibraryThing member smik
Maybe if he had one more drink they'd leave him alone. Gerry Fegan told himself that lie before every swallow..... No. They were still there, still staring. Twelve of them if he counted the baby in its mother's arms.
Fegan is still a respected man in West Belfast, despite the drink. His constant
The first is relatively easy: Mick McKenna, once an IRA fighter but now a politician. Down at the old shipyard, no CCTV, no people, just two bullets. After that there's only 11 shadows.
What Gerry Fegan can't take into account is Marie McKenna, Mick's niece, and her young daughter Ellen. And between them they threaten to bring Gerry's plans unravelled.
The structure of THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST is an interesting one. As Gerry works to rid himself of the ghosts, Stuart Neville explores the fragile peace that's broken out in the last decade or so in Northern Ireland. Corruption, violence, and guilt simmer just below the surface. The Minister of State for Northern Ireland and the Chief Constable are fearful that McKenna's assassination will cause an outbreak of a war of retribution.
It is interesting too that there are times when others can see the same shadows.
Ellen asks "The secret lady. Wher'd her baby go?".
THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST is Stuart Neville's debut novel and won the Mystery/Thriller category of the 2010 Los Angeles Times Book Prize.
It is one of a literal wave of Irish noir thrillers.
Fegan is still a respected man in West Belfast, despite the drink. His constant
Show More
companions wherever he goes though are the shadows of those he killed: five soldiers, a policeman, two Loyalists, and four civilians who'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time. The ghosts are demanding that he pay his debts. Gerry Fegan knows that means killing those whose orders he had been carrying out.The first is relatively easy: Mick McKenna, once an IRA fighter but now a politician. Down at the old shipyard, no CCTV, no people, just two bullets. After that there's only 11 shadows.
What Gerry Fegan can't take into account is Marie McKenna, Mick's niece, and her young daughter Ellen. And between them they threaten to bring Gerry's plans unravelled.
The structure of THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST is an interesting one. As Gerry works to rid himself of the ghosts, Stuart Neville explores the fragile peace that's broken out in the last decade or so in Northern Ireland. Corruption, violence, and guilt simmer just below the surface. The Minister of State for Northern Ireland and the Chief Constable are fearful that McKenna's assassination will cause an outbreak of a war of retribution.
It is interesting too that there are times when others can see the same shadows.
Ellen asks "The secret lady. Wher'd her baby go?".
THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST is Stuart Neville's debut novel and won the Mystery/Thriller category of the 2010 Los Angeles Times Book Prize.
It is one of a literal wave of Irish noir thrillers.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Bronniebabe
Really engrossing read, although quite bloody. With a supernatural twist, an IRA fix-it man is driven by the ghosts of those he killed at the behest of the IRA during the troubles, to seek a final and irrevocable revenge against his handlers. Through the death and destruction that follows, he
As he wreaks revenge on behalf of his ghosts, political mayhem ensues. So many IRA deaths are hard to explain as anything but Unionist terrorism. The British Army Secret Service engage one of their plants within the IRA to silence him before he destroys the fragile balance of the peace accord. The machinations, the plots and counter plots are masterly, but more than this, the story is told powerfully. This is a story without a winner, without a happy ever after.
Show More
becomes involved with the niece of one of his victims, only to find that she is not all she seems either. As he wreaks revenge on behalf of his ghosts, political mayhem ensues. So many IRA deaths are hard to explain as anything but Unionist terrorism. The British Army Secret Service engage one of their plants within the IRA to silence him before he destroys the fragile balance of the peace accord. The machinations, the plots and counter plots are masterly, but more than this, the story is told powerfully. This is a story without a winner, without a happy ever after.
Show Less
LibraryThing member John5918
A hard man from the era of the Troubles tries to appease the voices in his head by killing those who ordered him to kill. In doing so he not only threatens the interests of the movement and the British government as they move forward with power sharing in Stormont, but also those who are still
Show More
benefitting from their past association with violence. It is a dark and violent novel, but a good read. Show Less
LibraryThing member creighley
Lots of bloody, detailed violence....with a conscience. Still violence... reads quickly. I guess I'll read the next one, Collusion.
LibraryThing member bfister
A brutal book about an ex convict who is trying to redeem his sins - not because he's changed his stripes but because the twelve people he killed on behalf of Irish Catholic thugs-cum-freedom fighters are haunting him, literally. He sets out to kill the people who ordered the murders, one by one,
Show More
just as the Good Friday Agreement is being negotiated. The facade of respectability various men have erected to conceal the fact that they were more after money than freedom is threatened by the murders, and an undercover operative is sent in to settle things...which just makes everything worse. Heartfelt and very bleak. Show Less
LibraryThing member bsquaredinoz
The premise of The Ghosts of Belfast, which I listened to in a superb narration by Gerard Doyle, is engaging and the narrative realistic in the way it depicts Gerry Fegan’s journey through one of the modern world’s most troubled political contexts. Fegan is an IRA killer released early from
These days the crime genre produces some of the most insightful fiction about our society and this seems to be particularly true in the context of the world’s social and political ‘hot spots’ for want of a better term. In this sense Neville’s achievement is outstanding: mercilessly depicting the hypocrisy and self-interest that motivated most of the political and paramilitary activities in Northern Ireland rather than high-minded religious or political beliefs many participants would like to have us, and probably themselves, believe.
For me though The Ghosts of Belfast suffers in a story-telling sense. My main problem is that it does not offer a single positive or light note amidst its unrelenting grimness and violence. This singular tone gave the book a fairly hopeless inevitability and by the last couple of hours, which was basically a slaughter fest of the most repulsive kind, I had lost track of, and interest in, who was being horribly killed and why.
I also struggled with the characterisations. The men are all fueled by testosterone, hatred and narcissism in varying degrees and engage in endless coercion, torture and murder with a total lack of humanity. Even their leisure activity is the most repugnant form of ‘entertainment’ I can imagine. The women (of whom there are very few) are equally one-dimensional saintly mothers (and one thieving whore). The one exception to this is Marie McKenna who has defied community leaders for many years but in the end she stopped short of being the kind of interesting figure that compels me to keep reading. She really was not much more than an adjunct to the male characters in the story and some of her actions, particularly the ease with which she chose to believe Fegan’s lies and promises, stretched the bounds of my credibility. Ultimately there was really no one I could care about or empathise with or be hopeful for and I’m afraid, perhaps mistakenly, I do look for these elements if a book is to be a fully satisfying reading experience.
I like books that have light and shade, highs and lows, a range of emotional levels and here I just did not find any of these elements. Perhaps our anti-hero’s efforts to silence the voices in his head were supposed to provide them or perhaps the author doesn’t find such things necessary. Either way an entire book about a killer who demonstrates his regret at his previous killings by carrying out more killings was neither vaguely sympathetic nor unpredictable enough to really sustain my engagement for 11 hours.
Show More
prison (in concessions provided to the Republicans as part of the peace process). He is haunted, literally, by the ghosts of twelve people he killed in various incidents while an active IRA member and the ghosts want him to kill the people who ordered or were otherwise responsible for their deaths. The process of Fegan tracking down the various activists, politicians and priests he is to kill allows for the revelation of his personal back story and, by extension, a potted history of ‘The Troubles’ while simultaneous current events depict how various members of the community are trying to find a place for themselves in their new, precariously peaceful society.These days the crime genre produces some of the most insightful fiction about our society and this seems to be particularly true in the context of the world’s social and political ‘hot spots’ for want of a better term. In this sense Neville’s achievement is outstanding: mercilessly depicting the hypocrisy and self-interest that motivated most of the political and paramilitary activities in Northern Ireland rather than high-minded religious or political beliefs many participants would like to have us, and probably themselves, believe.
For me though The Ghosts of Belfast suffers in a story-telling sense. My main problem is that it does not offer a single positive or light note amidst its unrelenting grimness and violence. This singular tone gave the book a fairly hopeless inevitability and by the last couple of hours, which was basically a slaughter fest of the most repulsive kind, I had lost track of, and interest in, who was being horribly killed and why.
I also struggled with the characterisations. The men are all fueled by testosterone, hatred and narcissism in varying degrees and engage in endless coercion, torture and murder with a total lack of humanity. Even their leisure activity is the most repugnant form of ‘entertainment’ I can imagine. The women (of whom there are very few) are equally one-dimensional saintly mothers (and one thieving whore). The one exception to this is Marie McKenna who has defied community leaders for many years but in the end she stopped short of being the kind of interesting figure that compels me to keep reading. She really was not much more than an adjunct to the male characters in the story and some of her actions, particularly the ease with which she chose to believe Fegan’s lies and promises, stretched the bounds of my credibility. Ultimately there was really no one I could care about or empathise with or be hopeful for and I’m afraid, perhaps mistakenly, I do look for these elements if a book is to be a fully satisfying reading experience.
I like books that have light and shade, highs and lows, a range of emotional levels and here I just did not find any of these elements. Perhaps our anti-hero’s efforts to silence the voices in his head were supposed to provide them or perhaps the author doesn’t find such things necessary. Either way an entire book about a killer who demonstrates his regret at his previous killings by carrying out more killings was neither vaguely sympathetic nor unpredictable enough to really sustain my engagement for 11 hours.
Show Less
LibraryThing member franoscar
Please expect spoilers. This is a readable book. I think it started out as a more interesting book than it ended up as. Gerry Fegan was an IRA activist and killed 12 people, he went to jail, learned how to work wood (although perhaps not very well) from an old convict who is in jail for killing a
Show More
catholic, and now is living in Belfast and is haunted by the people he killed. He has a history of being able to see dead people and, like in The Sixth Sense, Gerry's ghosts have something they want him to do before they will go away. They want revenge on the accomplices/instigators of their murders. Conveniently, while several ghosts share a target no ghost has more than 1 target, so the process of ridding himself of the ghosts can proceed in an organized fashion. The author takes the opportunity to detail vicious brutality and corrupt motives, and soon the book is transformed into an action novel. Gerry meets Marie, the niece of the first target of the ghost-inspired killings and a woman who had a relationship with a protestant policeman (who left when she got pregnant) but has been protected because of her romantic history with an IRA leader, and when, for no clear reason, she is ordered to leave town but decides to stay he physically defends her and has another reason for fighting with the same group of killers. Finally there is a showdown at the dog-fighting ring & kennel run by the richest & most corrupt man in Northern Ireland...so we get to read about a horrific dog fight and the bad guys can keep threatening to throw people to the dogs, and an infiltrator is betrayed and tortured, and completely improbably the infiltrator manages to rise up from his pain and damage to churn up the denoument so that our hero can kill everybody he needs to kill, save the girl but lose her, and stow away on a Chinese boat to get out of town. Huh, sounds pretty unlikely. Anyway, it was readable. And one last thing -- the last ghost (a mother who was killed with her baby) stays after the last ghost-inspired killing to ask for Gerry's life as well, but he begs for and is given mercy; this is justified because when the infiltrator searches Gerry's apartment he finds letters Gerry sent to his dying mother which were returned unopened & unread, but our infiltrator decides to read one so we know that Gerry is sorry. Show Less
LibraryThing member Tanya-dogearedcopy
Gerry Fegan is a man haunted by ghosts. As a foot soldier in the strife between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, Gerry was a hit man for Northern Ireland's interests, or more accurately, for the men who sought to exploit The Troubles for their own personal gains. Now, decades after the
Stuart Doyle creates an immediately sympathetic character in Gerry Fagen. At once both the cold and crazy killer and, a man who seeks the peace of a good night's sleep, Gerry must put past matters to rest before he can face an uncertain future. Remaking himself, becoming the better man, is a process that requires some dirty work before absolution and progress can be made. In this, Gerry Fagen becomes a metaphor for Stormont (the Northern Ireland Parliament) in that Stormont, even as they eagerly race forward toward the economic promises of the future, seeks to shed it violent past; but must deal with political "necessities." The Ghosts of Belfast is about Gerry and Stormont: their pasts, their presents and their hopeful futures.
The Ghosts of Belfast is Irish Noir with all the implied tragedy, grittiness and heart. This is the story of hard men doing hard things in hard times and none of it is pretty; and all of it is believably portrayed. The writing is suspenseful and even breathtaking in parts, perhaps not so much in the language used but in the emotions evoked.
The Ghosts of Belfast is graphic in its violence; but never gratuitous given the nature of the story. There is a dogfighting scene that may seem superfluous and a bit too intense for some; but it works, especially if one views it as another metaphor for Gerry and Northern Ireland.
Gerard Doyle is the voice of Irish Noir and exceptionally good in The Ghosts of Belfast. Some lines are delivered in chilling softness and others in aggressive clarity that all deliver the moment at hand with the tension, tenderness and/or suffering as the story's scenes dictate. The narrator conveys the mood and the characters with astuteness and skill, and there is no sense anywhere throughout the novel that Gerard Doyle misinterpreted the intent of the story or a line of dialogue. All characters are given enough of a distinction so that there no doubt as to who might be speaking in any given dialogue; and the females are all respectfully represented - without any penchant to delivering their voices in a falsetto. If there's any quibble at all, it has nothing to do with the narrator's performance per se - only that there was what sounded like a bit of booth noise a couple of times; but it was very subtle and most listeners will not notice it.
Redacted from the original blog review at dog eared copy, The Ghosts of Belfast; 03/13/2012
Show More
tensions have nominally ceased and the Good Friday Accords have set Ireland on the path toward a more peaceable future, the ghosts of twelve of Gerry's victims have come back. Gerry himself has spent time in prison for his crimes and only wants to be left alone in peace; but the ghosts won't let him be. "Everybody pays," so says the mother of one of Gerry's victims. This becomes the theme of the vendetta tale as Gerry seeks to expunge the curse: The ghosts will leave, but only after Gerry kills the men ultimately responsible for the each of the ghost's respective deaths.Stuart Doyle creates an immediately sympathetic character in Gerry Fagen. At once both the cold and crazy killer and, a man who seeks the peace of a good night's sleep, Gerry must put past matters to rest before he can face an uncertain future. Remaking himself, becoming the better man, is a process that requires some dirty work before absolution and progress can be made. In this, Gerry Fagen becomes a metaphor for Stormont (the Northern Ireland Parliament) in that Stormont, even as they eagerly race forward toward the economic promises of the future, seeks to shed it violent past; but must deal with political "necessities." The Ghosts of Belfast is about Gerry and Stormont: their pasts, their presents and their hopeful futures.
The Ghosts of Belfast is Irish Noir with all the implied tragedy, grittiness and heart. This is the story of hard men doing hard things in hard times and none of it is pretty; and all of it is believably portrayed. The writing is suspenseful and even breathtaking in parts, perhaps not so much in the language used but in the emotions evoked.
The Ghosts of Belfast is graphic in its violence; but never gratuitous given the nature of the story. There is a dogfighting scene that may seem superfluous and a bit too intense for some; but it works, especially if one views it as another metaphor for Gerry and Northern Ireland.
Gerard Doyle is the voice of Irish Noir and exceptionally good in The Ghosts of Belfast. Some lines are delivered in chilling softness and others in aggressive clarity that all deliver the moment at hand with the tension, tenderness and/or suffering as the story's scenes dictate. The narrator conveys the mood and the characters with astuteness and skill, and there is no sense anywhere throughout the novel that Gerard Doyle misinterpreted the intent of the story or a line of dialogue. All characters are given enough of a distinction so that there no doubt as to who might be speaking in any given dialogue; and the females are all respectfully represented - without any penchant to delivering their voices in a falsetto. If there's any quibble at all, it has nothing to do with the narrator's performance per se - only that there was what sounded like a bit of booth noise a couple of times; but it was very subtle and most listeners will not notice it.
Redacted from the original blog review at dog eared copy, The Ghosts of Belfast; 03/13/2012
Show Less
LibraryThing member mbg0312
Great thriller. A lot of it rings true, between the thuggishness of the IRA and the callous response from the British government and spy services. Recommended.
LibraryThing member stacy_chambers
The Troubles may be over and peace in Northern Ireland reached, but Gerry Fegan's troubles are far from over. During the tumult he was one of the IRA's most ruthless henchmen, killing twelve people - and now their ghosts literally haunt him. He's always had a talent - if you can call it that - for
Sometimes fiction can be a better teacher than the history books. I knew nothing of the Troubles in Northern Ireland before reading this novel, and the IRA was a far-off entity of freedom fighters who occasionally made American news. On the surface, Ireland has changed greatly: it's prosperous and there are more opportunities than ever before. Because no one beyond Fegan is sure who's responsible for the murders, Fegan's mission threatens to upend all the shady deals between the Unionists and the Republicans that tenuously keep peace in place. But there's no stopping Fegan once he's figured out what his ghostly companions want.
Complicating matters is Davy Campbell. An undercover agent, Campbell a man who's been on the inside so long he can't imagine ever getting out. But his handlers - whom I gathered to be British intelligence - disagree. In a way, Campbell and Fegan are one in the sense that they're both compromised men who made their living off the Troubles. In their scenes together I could feel the sympathy between them. Despite Campbell's apparent betrayal to the cause, he gets a reprieve from Neville's cold eye, for Neville's portraits of the politicians and people in power in this novel is unforgiving.
Marie McKenna, niece to the murdered McKenna, is Fegan's love interest and all the more interesting because Neville plays her as more of a lifeline for Fegan, the life jacket thrown to a man drowning in his efforts to reach redemption. His hopes for happiness and healing rest solely with her and her daughter, Ellen, though it's Ellen, through her childhood innocence, who helps him the most. She's the Ireland Fegan fought for.
The writing is taut and stripped of all banality. I really felt for Fegan - for who hasn't done things they regret? - and hoped fervently that he would find some measure of peace, if not actual happiness. Whether he gets that in the end, or has traveled too far into the abyss, is something to be pondered long after reading.
Show More
seeing the dead, but these ghosts have haunted him for seven years, keeping him awake with their screams, something only the drink can quiet. When he converses with a prominent politician, McKenna, in the bar in which he frequents, he finally discovers what the ghosts want. They don't want his remorse; they want him to kill the people who gave him the orders that resulted in their deaths. Sometimes fiction can be a better teacher than the history books. I knew nothing of the Troubles in Northern Ireland before reading this novel, and the IRA was a far-off entity of freedom fighters who occasionally made American news. On the surface, Ireland has changed greatly: it's prosperous and there are more opportunities than ever before. Because no one beyond Fegan is sure who's responsible for the murders, Fegan's mission threatens to upend all the shady deals between the Unionists and the Republicans that tenuously keep peace in place. But there's no stopping Fegan once he's figured out what his ghostly companions want.
Complicating matters is Davy Campbell. An undercover agent, Campbell a man who's been on the inside so long he can't imagine ever getting out. But his handlers - whom I gathered to be British intelligence - disagree. In a way, Campbell and Fegan are one in the sense that they're both compromised men who made their living off the Troubles. In their scenes together I could feel the sympathy between them. Despite Campbell's apparent betrayal to the cause, he gets a reprieve from Neville's cold eye, for Neville's portraits of the politicians and people in power in this novel is unforgiving.
Marie McKenna, niece to the murdered McKenna, is Fegan's love interest and all the more interesting because Neville plays her as more of a lifeline for Fegan, the life jacket thrown to a man drowning in his efforts to reach redemption. His hopes for happiness and healing rest solely with her and her daughter, Ellen, though it's Ellen, through her childhood innocence, who helps him the most. She's the Ireland Fegan fought for.
The writing is taut and stripped of all banality. I really felt for Fegan - for who hasn't done things they regret? - and hoped fervently that he would find some measure of peace, if not actual happiness. Whether he gets that in the end, or has traveled too far into the abyss, is something to be pondered long after reading.
Show Less
LibraryThing member revslick
Fast, paced, action filled revenge tale which made for a quick easy read except the ending was too clean considering the messiness of the main character throughout the rest of the novel.
LibraryThing member crazybatcow
Grim and dark... just the way I like my vigilantes. Okay, so maybe Gerry's not really a vigilante... but... when a bad man does bad things for a good reason, how can you not side with him?
I was very concerned when I bought this book that it would have a supernatural thread. But it doesn't, not
Are there ghosts or is Gerry insane? I don't think it matters: the story isn't resolved via some supernatural interference so it never got into the "fantasy" realm. This keeps the story particularly dark and grim... but that's Gerry's life, isn't it.
There is quite a bit of Irish 'politics' which was very different from the usual setting of this type of noir... I liked it for the difference, but I can see how it might be a bit cumbersome for a casual noir reader.
All in all I thought the book was terrific and have bought the next in the series already. This story is wrapped up (no cliffhanger) but how can one say no to another book with crazy Gerry in it?
I was very concerned when I bought this book that it would have a supernatural thread. But it doesn't, not
Show More
really - it's certainly not a supernatural story... it's a gritty, dark noir where a man tries to find absolution for things he's done.Are there ghosts or is Gerry insane? I don't think it matters: the story isn't resolved via some supernatural interference so it never got into the "fantasy" realm. This keeps the story particularly dark and grim... but that's Gerry's life, isn't it.
There is quite a bit of Irish 'politics' which was very different from the usual setting of this type of noir... I liked it for the difference, but I can see how it might be a bit cumbersome for a casual noir reader.
All in all I thought the book was terrific and have bought the next in the series already. This story is wrapped up (no cliffhanger) but how can one say no to another book with crazy Gerry in it?
Show Less
LibraryThing member druidgirl
The Ghosts of Belfast is the story of Gerry Fegan an ex-hitman for the IRA. After leaving Maze Prison Gerry starts drinking and is nearly drunk every night, and he starts to see the ghosts of twelve people he has killed and they want vengeance on those who were responsible. All Gerry wants is to
I highly recommend this book. Thank you to Net Galley and Soho Crime for allowing me to read and give my honest review of this fine novel.
Show More
sleep aand have some peace so he plans the murders. This is a well written and informative book about the IRA. The characters are well thought out, there is alot of violence and brutal murders.I highly recommend this book. Thank you to Net Galley and Soho Crime for allowing me to read and give my honest review of this fine novel.
Show Less
LibraryThing member zmagic69
This is one of the best debuts by an author I have ever read. As the reader you always feel as if you are right there with the narrator. I could not put this book down.
The book is about a former IRA foot solider and killer Gerry Fegan, who has served time in prison of some of his actions but who is
I can not recommend this book enough, it is fantastic!
P.S. Some scenes are rather gruesome.
The book is about a former IRA foot solider and killer Gerry Fegan, who has served time in prison of some of his actions but who is
Show More
haunted by the victims of those he killed. He realizes the only way to end this torture is to go after those who are responsible for him have killed these twelve people. I can not recommend this book enough, it is fantastic!
P.S. Some scenes are rather gruesome.
Show Less
LibraryThing member johnbsheridan
A great debut. One of those books that went you reach the last quarter and the tension begins to build you find yourself holding the book closer to your face as you become engrossed, indeed I passed up my lunch hour so I could get back to the book and finish the last twenty pages. Fine praise
Show More
indeed. Show Less
LibraryThing member ozzieslim
The Ghosts of Belfast is a solid three star action book. There isn’t exactly a mystery or thriller attached although there is an interesting paranormal element that is unusual for a novel of this type and handled well.
The story is set in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Troubles from the 70’s and
One of these is Gerry Fegan. He was a hired killer for the IRA, spent a considerable amount of time in prison and is considered mad as he sits in the pub, drinking himself to death and speaking to people no one can see. Those unknown ghosts are the spirits of the people that Gerry had killed and they are directing him to kill those responsible for ordering their deaths.
The action expands from there as Gerry goes about tracking down and taking out each responsible party. As he does so, each ghost disappears and he is left with some measure of peace. There are detailed explanations about what happened in the original killings so one is never left wondering how these acts came to pass.
In a parallel story line, there are two agents that have been planted by the British government within the IRA. One is an attorney for what are now, politicians in the provisional government. The other has worked as a stand over man and hired killer. Their paths eventually intersect with Gerry’s to bring the whole book together.
There are some interesting concepts in the book. One is what happens to people who were once considered freedom fighters but who now have been redefined as domestic terrorists? Another is what happens to agents who have been left in place too long? What happens to people who fought for the cause and their families and other innocents were caught up in the conflict? Some of those died. Finally, do freedom fighters become organized crime and gangsters? Do they ever put down their guns?
It’s unusual to have those questions floating around in what is essentially an action novel. The end is wrapped up satisfactorily while leaving room for the author to write follow up stories incorporating some of the characters who are left standing. While not ultra-violent, there is a significant amount of graphic violence in the novel as well as a graphic dog fighting scene.
Action fans will enjoy this book. Those interested in politics will get something out of it too. This is Belfast post-Troubles so don’t look for Catholics and Protestants battling it out on the Falls Road. And there is a cameo of the Mull of Kintyre that will have you humming the song in your head.
The story is set in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Troubles from the 70’s and
Show More
80’s have passed and a delicate peace has been established with a provisional government in place comprised of Republicans, Loyalists, Ulsterman and Brits. Many of the former IRA heavies are in the position of having to establish new lives and find new ways of living as well as dealing with their past.One of these is Gerry Fegan. He was a hired killer for the IRA, spent a considerable amount of time in prison and is considered mad as he sits in the pub, drinking himself to death and speaking to people no one can see. Those unknown ghosts are the spirits of the people that Gerry had killed and they are directing him to kill those responsible for ordering their deaths.
The action expands from there as Gerry goes about tracking down and taking out each responsible party. As he does so, each ghost disappears and he is left with some measure of peace. There are detailed explanations about what happened in the original killings so one is never left wondering how these acts came to pass.
In a parallel story line, there are two agents that have been planted by the British government within the IRA. One is an attorney for what are now, politicians in the provisional government. The other has worked as a stand over man and hired killer. Their paths eventually intersect with Gerry’s to bring the whole book together.
There are some interesting concepts in the book. One is what happens to people who were once considered freedom fighters but who now have been redefined as domestic terrorists? Another is what happens to agents who have been left in place too long? What happens to people who fought for the cause and their families and other innocents were caught up in the conflict? Some of those died. Finally, do freedom fighters become organized crime and gangsters? Do they ever put down their guns?
It’s unusual to have those questions floating around in what is essentially an action novel. The end is wrapped up satisfactorily while leaving room for the author to write follow up stories incorporating some of the characters who are left standing. While not ultra-violent, there is a significant amount of graphic violence in the novel as well as a graphic dog fighting scene.
Action fans will enjoy this book. Those interested in politics will get something out of it too. This is Belfast post-Troubles so don’t look for Catholics and Protestants battling it out on the Falls Road. And there is a cameo of the Mull of Kintyre that will have you humming the song in your head.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Ann_Louise
Very good - a fast paced thriller that didn't sacrifice character development in the process. It's labeled as #1 in the Jack Lennon series, but seems more of a prequel. Jack Lennon is a part of the lives of some of the characters, but is not featured in this book.
LibraryThing member gmmartz
The Ghosts of Belfast was Stuart Neville's debut. It won a few awards and I can see why- it's a very tightly written thriller about a period in recent history that's not well known, at least in the US.
The main character, Fegan, is a somewhat locally-legendary ex-enforcer for the IRA who has been
The remainder of 'Ghosts' is comprised of Fegan's journey to seek retribution while navigating the labyrinthine tribal relationships of the inhabitants of his part of Northern Ireland. It's complicated by his falling in love with a young lady who happens to be a relative of one of his victims. It's further complicated by a number of other issues as well, mostly related to the complex political situation in Northern Ireland at that time.
The novel is well-written and fast-paced, with good dialogue and realistic relationships. Character development is deftly addressed, and by the conclusion you feel you know the participants pretty well and can almost sympathize with Fegan, at least as much as you can sympathize with a killer who's knocked off over 20 people and sees ghosts. I look forward to getting into the rest of Neville's catalog- he's a fine writer and he's made the time and place of his setting for this book very interesting.
The main character, Fegan, is a somewhat locally-legendary ex-enforcer for the IRA who has been
Show More
released after a pretty long stint in prison. The world has changed a bit and the all-out Irish civil war has ended, but that doesn't mean the former members of the IRA have suddenly become docile. Fegan, though, spends his days and nights drinking and is 'visited' by the ghosts of the people he's killed. He discovers the way to get rid of the ghosts is to kill the person or persons responsible for ordering their deaths. The remainder of 'Ghosts' is comprised of Fegan's journey to seek retribution while navigating the labyrinthine tribal relationships of the inhabitants of his part of Northern Ireland. It's complicated by his falling in love with a young lady who happens to be a relative of one of his victims. It's further complicated by a number of other issues as well, mostly related to the complex political situation in Northern Ireland at that time.
The novel is well-written and fast-paced, with good dialogue and realistic relationships. Character development is deftly addressed, and by the conclusion you feel you know the participants pretty well and can almost sympathize with Fegan, at least as much as you can sympathize with a killer who's knocked off over 20 people and sees ghosts. I look forward to getting into the rest of Neville's catalog- he's a fine writer and he's made the time and place of his setting for this book very interesting.
Show Less
Awards
Anthony Award (Nominee — First Novel — 2010)
Macavity Award (Nominee — First Novel — 2010)
Dilys Award (Nominee — 2010)
Spinetingler Award (Winner — 2010)
Mystère de la critique (2012)
Theakstons Old Peculier Prize (Longlist — 2011)
Los Angeles Times Best Books of the Year (Mystery — 2009)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2009
ISBN
9781569478578