Those We Left Behind by Stuart Neville

Published by Soho Crime on September 22, 2015

Two brothers, Ciaran and Thomas Devine, were prosecuted for killing the foster father with whom they lived. Ciaran, the younger brother, was convicted of beating the man to death while Thomas was convicted of acting as an accessory. At the time, Ciaran said he was protecting Thomas from ongoing abuse. The dead man's son, Daniel, never believed his father abused Thomas and has always been convinced that Thomas was the actual murderer. When Ciaran and Thomas are released from juvenile detention years later, Daniel remains obsessed with exposing what he regards as the truth.

DCI Serena Flanagan participated in the investigation at the time Ciaran and Thomas were arrested. A bit of the story is told in flashbacks as Flanagan recalls her suspicion of Ciaran's innocence and her botched attempt to persuade him to tell the truth. Most of the story, however, follows the two boys after their release, including Flanagan's suspicion that one or both of them have committed another murder. Breaking the bond between the brothers may be the only way Flanagan can get at the truth, but can she do that without placing her own life at risk?

The other key character, Probation Officer Paula Cunningham, is charged with supervising Ciaran after his release. Her role in the story is less central than Flanagan's and her character development is scant compared to Flanagan's. Having first appeared in The Final Silence, Neville is establishing Flanagan with the typical stereotypes of fictional police detectives -- her home life is troubled because she puts her work ahead of her family -- but, unlike fictional cops who are always right when everyone else thinks they're wrong, Flanagan is capable of making bad judgments. That makes her a more believable police character than most.

The most interesting feature of the plot is the question of how far Flanagan will go to get the truth from Ciaran. Is it acceptable for a police officer to question a suspect, even informally, in a way that might cause the suspect to believe that the officer wants to be intimate with him? Police deceive suspects all the time by pretending to be their friend, but at what point is a line crossed when an officer exploits the romantic or sexual feelings of a vulnerable young suspect? The exploration of that question gives the novel its moral force.

After the truth about Thomas and Ciaran is revealed, the story loses its energy. The remaining 50 or 60 pages are standard thriller fare, although the ending is intense. I appreciated the attempt to humanize Ciaran but Thomas, clearly intended as a contrast, is a shallower and less interesting character. On the whole, Those We Left Behind is not as powerful as some of Stuart Neville's Belfast novels, but it is a solid police thriller.

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Belfast Noir by Adrian McKinty and Stuart Neville (eds.)

Published by Akashic Books on November 4, 2014

I don't know if Belfast is the noirest city on Earth, as the introduction to Belfast Noir claims -- surely Berlin provides strong competition -- but many of the Belfast-based stories collected here are fine examples of noir. Not all of the stories are dark, but the collection establishes Belfast as a fertile setting for crime fiction.

The Troubles and their continuing impact on life and culture in Belfast provide a background for many of the stories. Phrases like "wearing more jewellery than a Turf Lodge wide boy after a ram-raid at Lunn's" can make a Belfast story difficult to follow for readers who are unfamiliar with the city and its linguistic twists, but the local color (mostly gray as neutral ground between the hues of competing flags) shines through.

Some of the stories are true noir that showcase true writing talent:

The missing-presumed-dead father in Ian McDonald's "The Reservoir" returns to Belfast for his daughter's wedding and to confront the man who shot him. In Brian McGilloway's "The Undertaking," a wry story of crime gone awry, the undertaker of choice for Belfast's organized criminals is recruited to drive a hearse carrying a coffin bearing unknown cargo. A PI rescues a hooker and takes on a London crime boss who has designs on Belfast in Sam Millar's "Out of Time."

Murder, blackmail, and a wealthy man's dalliance with a teenage prostitute provide the ingredients for a juicy but dangerous story for a crime reporter in Garbhan Downey's "Die Like a Rat." The only noir story about dog fighting I've ever seen (a difficult but ultimately satisfying read for dog lovers) is "Pure Game" by Arlene Hunt. Alex Barclay wins the award for best prose in "The Reveller," a story of a son seeking revenge for his father's murder.

These stories are a little less noir but they are nevertheless excellent:

Lee Child's "Wet With Raid" is an audacious story of a dirty American agent who travels to Belfast to conduct dirty business. A barrister in Steve Cavanagh's "The Grey" defends a salty old con artist who claims to be innocent of a murder committed 30 years earlier. Perhaps the most unusual story in the collection, Eion McNamee's "Corpse Flowers" is told from the perspectives captured by surveillance cameras.

Two exceptional works are psychological profiles set against a background of crime:

Ruth Dudley Edwards' chilling "Taking It Serious" is about a mentally disturbed teen, his loving mum, the hidden secrets of his family, and the legacy of the IRA. In "Ligature," Gerard Brennan gets inside the tormented head of a troubled girl who does everything she can to get outside of her own head while she's locked up in a juvenile jail.

One story is just plain funny, proving that humor can be found everywhere, even in Belfast:

Claire McGowan's "Rosie Gant's Finger" features a boy detective of mixed religious heritage whose office is his mother's living room. He pedals his ten-speed to solve the mystery of a missing girl who got involved with a Belfast hoodlum.

Not so noir but still reasonably interesting stories:

Fascinated by the young woman who took up with her high school Spanish teacher, a student in Lucy Caldwell's "Poison" tries to give life to a fantasy. In the story I liked the least, Glenn Patterson's "Belfast Punk Rep," a writer explores the death of punk in Belfast by interviewing a prisoner. Even that story, however, isn't bad.

In fact, there isn't a bad story in the book.

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Ratlines by Stuart Neville

Published by Soho Crime on January 2, 2013 

Three men have been assassinated: a Belgian and a Norwegian who, having allied themselves with the Reich, came to Ireland as refugees, and a German who worked for the SS. A note left in a victim's pocket suggests that the killer will soon be coming for Otto Skorzeny, formerly of the SS (a character who is borrowed from the real world). With President Kennedy about to visit Ireland, the Irish government can afford no political unpleasantness. The Directorate of Intelligence assigns Albert Ryan to investigate the killings. As Ryan pursues that task, the killings continue; a Breton who fought for Germany becomes the next person selected to deliver a message to Skorzeny. When it becomes clear that someone close to Skorzeny has betrayed him by acting as an informant, Ryan and Skorzeny are in a race to find the rat. Also putting pressure on Ryan to deliver information is a Mossad agent named Weiss who eventually becomes one of the novel's central characters.

The question of Irish neutrality during the war is directly addressed in a discussion between Ryan and a rabbi, but it provides a fascinating subtext that pervades the novel. Ryan is not a popular guy in his home town, in part because his family is Protestant, in part because he fought for the British during World War II -- the surest route he could find to leave home. In the eyes of many, he allied himself with his nation's enemy. Now he is being asked to ally himself with a former Nazi. Ryan's divided loyalties make him a more interesting character than is common in thrillers.

Weiss adds another layer of intrigue when he tries to exploit Ryan's sense of conflict for his own ends. Amidst the many competing agendas, the truth is obscured, at least for awhile, leaving Ryan even more unclear as to where his duty of loyalty may lie.

The plot is mildly complex but easy to follow. I wouldn't call it convoluted. It turns on a surprising twist that comes about two-thirds of the way into the story -- surprising but, I thought, credible. Stuart Neville creates a dark and gritty atmosphere while populating the novel with the kind of grim, morally questionable characters who serve as a perfect foil for Ryan. Action scenes are nicely interspersed with scenes of political intrigue.

Occasional moments of melodrama mar the story, and the characterization of Skorzeny is a bit over-the-top, but both of those are common flaws in modern thrillers, and neither is so pronounced as to trouble me. The ending, while satisfying, is a little too neat. On the whole, though, Ratlines is enjoyable and, at least on occasion, thought-provoking. That's more than I can say about most thrillers.

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