Friday, October 15, 2010

Collusion by Stuart Neville

There are so many different places to start when writing a review of Stuart Neville's Collusion, that I'm really not sure where to begin. The story is intriguing and gripping, with several threads coming together from different directions, and, involving complex characters that were, in most cases agathokakological, (there's a word for you Seana). It was a novel very hard to put down and I hated to do so.

Detective Inspector Jack Lennon is a cop put on busy work duty for being a bit too scrupulous. When the men that he is watching get in a fight, and one stabs the other, Jack stumbles on a cover up that goes deep, and puts his ex-wife, Marie, and young daughter, Ellen, in danger.

Gerry Fagen is a madmen with a hard past full of ghosts, murder, and attempted redemption. He has moved to New York to try to restart his life in anonymity. That doesn't last long however, and soon, the powers that be are again trying to get Gerry to do their dirty work. However, the only dirty work Gerry plans to do is to protect Marie and Ellen at all cost if and when they call.

Marie and Ellen were once in the middle of a violent battle when they were used as bait by Bull O'Kane to trap Gerry. They have again found themselves in the same position as someone is trying to capture them to once again have a go at Gerry.

"The Traveler" is an obdurate man hired to permanently clean up a mess certain very powerful people don't want made public. He has no compunction with killing, and in fact is looking forward to the challenge he's hoping Fagen will bring him.

It's a tale of revenge, with collusion and betrayal at the heart of the story when all of these players come together in hopes of getting what they want, but the real question is, which ones will survive.

Collusion is the sequel to Neville's The Ghosts of Belfast, and I do recommend reading it first as it gives you a much better idea of the history and where the characters are coming from. It's been awhile since I read The Ghosts of Belfast and I admit to having a few problems. None the less, I enjoyed Collusion quite a bit and I hope to see more from Mr. Neville soon.

The Ghosts of Belfast

Collusion

Currently reading, and enjoying, Folly by Laurie R. King.

4 comments:

Sean Patrick Reardon said...

Nice review. What were the few probs with TGOB?

Glenna said...

Sean, just details. Mainly things that are referenced or who was who and why/how they were killed. Also the details of what exactly happened between Bull O'Kane and Fagen in the end.

seana graham said...

Agathokakological--are you kidding me? I'll defer to you on that one.

I still haven't gotten to Collusion but after Ghosts of Belfast, I'm really looking forward to it. Actually, maybe I'll bump it up to read right after the North Korean mystery I'm nearing the end of.

So many series, so little time...

Glenna said...

About the only thing I found on it was that it was a nonce-word that meant composed of good and evil

"For indeed upon the agathokakological globe there are opposite qualities always to be found." -- Robert Southey

I think it's an interesting word, although, I can only begin to guess as to how to pronounce it.