Alain Raimbault, blogger and contributor
of the group reading
20 minutes Books, recommend you A bespoke killer by Sam Millar, published on October 7, 2021 by Éditions Métailié.
Her favorite quote:
“Outside the charming detached house, the night was like an army of old men without souls and in rags. Dirty rain banged against the windows like fingernails drumming in a coffin. Or two. That was the only noise so far, at a time when borders had been twisted and abandoned, when the dynamics of power had been chopped through. “
Why this book?
- Because the author skilfully weaves several surveys. The reader thus follows several characters through whom he understands that in Northern Ireland, if the war between Republicans and Loyalists officially ended in 1998, resentments persist and the survivors of this period are not all altar boys. Moreover, a sentence at the beginning of the novel sums up this idea well: “The IRA and the British army agreed to stop shooting at each other, but a lot of people found that peace was a very worrying concept. “
- Because the author pushes his characters to the extreme, which creates an incessant tension, as if each one continued to live in a state of war, or of siege. No one has forgotten on which side he fought between 1969 and 1998, and this tension persists, even if it is now expressed in a purely police context. Personal revenge ultimately drives the plot.
- Because this novel is absolutely black. The violent scenes (robbery, beatings, kidnappings, torture, executions, explosions) are punctuated by dialogues characteristic of the police genre and tinged with devastating humor. And not a day or a night without rain. This masterful work is a little gem of terribly enjoyable black humor.
The essentials in 2 minutes
The plot. One Halloween night, three clumsy convicts disguised as wolves decide to rob a bank… with empty coffers. By chance, a talkative customer is knocked out and stolen his suitcase which, oh miracle, is not empty. The owners of the said suitcase decide to sneak it back.
Characters. The three bank robbers: Charlie Madden, Jim McCabe and Brian Ross. Inspector Harry Thompson; Agent Robert Boyd. A group of “concerned citizens” (and very worrying): Conor O’Neil, George Magee, Barney Dennison and Seamus Nolan.
Places. Belfast, Northern Ireland.
The time. The very beginning of the 21st century.
The author. Sam Millar was born in Belfast. He served time in Northern Ireland as a political activist and in the United States for the notorious Brinks heist. Back home, he wrote detective novels. It is translated into several languages.
This book was read with a total delight.
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