Ideas, Opinions, Genealogy, and Book Reviews
I liked this book. The book is Eyes That Do Not See by Kent Kearney, I thank Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for letting me read it in return for an honest review.
The story reminds us of the types of things many of our ancestors endured to find a better life for both them and their descendants.
This book is both a good mystery novel and historical fiction.
Anne Emery’s The Keening: A Mystery of Gaelic Ireland, has 2 storylines involving the Tierney family one in the later 1500s and early 1600s when the Gaelic era was ending and the other in the modern era. These interwoven stories the modern family guest house threatened by development and a murder in Gaelic times near an earlier version of the guest house.
Continue reading “The Keening: A Mystery of Gaelic Ireland by Anne Emery”
Based on a little known and disturbing aspect of Irish history and a mix of real and fictional characters, “Ratlines” by Stuart Neville is an intriguing story.
This is clearly a work of fiction. At the beginning he lays out a few historical events. And then tells you:
The rest is just a story
But what a story.
First, the historical events that inspired this story. As I said some facts are given in the beginning of the book and then in the Acknowledgements at the end, the author list a few sources of the history including a documentary you can find on YouTube
Or if you prefer reading about this
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1538969/Ireland-welcomed-Hitlers-henchmen.html
So with a base of real characters, Neville adds fictional characters and fictional events and weaves a complicated tale of intrigue involving Nazis, the IRA, Irish intelligence, a love story, and much more. What makes it more interesting to Americans is that this story mainly takes place during the preparations for President Kennedy’s visit to Ireland.
As would be expected in a story involving Nazis, the IRA, and Stuart Neville, there is violence. But as in his previous books (reviewed here: The Ghosts of Belfast and Collusion), the violence seems to fit into the story which is more about right and wrong (often the lesser of two wrongs) and a complex character dealing with inner conflict.
In this book the complex character is Lieutenant Albert Ryan of Irish Intelligence, who left neutral Ireland to fight the Nazis for the British and now is asked by his government to protect Nazi war criminals in Ireland such as Colonel Otto Skorzeny (formerly an SS officer and now a well-connected resident of Ireland.)
I read the galley from netgalley on my Kindle and the book won’t be released until early January, 2013. I guess my only real disappointment is that the book won’t be available this year for gift giving.
Other reviews:
The book is published by Soho Crime. If you like good books, especially with an international flavor, you might want to check out Soho Press.
Escape from the current political mess and ads with a trip to England in the 16th century. Do it inexpensively and enjoyably with Sacrilege (An historical thriller).
Once again S.J. Parris has presented us with a fine mystery featuring Giordano Bruno, a renagade Italian monk who fled to England to avoid the wrath of The Inquisition. Bruno earns his living working for Sir Francis Walsingham, spymaster for Queen Elizabeth.
I had read the first book in this series (Heresy) which introduced me to Bruno. He was a free-thinker and philosopher and the Pope wanted him burned at the stake as a heretic. Much to my surprise I later learned that Giordano Bruno was a real person.
The second (Prophecy) continued this story. Here are my reviews of Heresy and Prophecy
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In Sacrilege, Bruno is working in London for the French ambassador (and spying for Walsingham of course) when he runs across Sophia Underhill, a young lady that Bruno fell in love with in Heresy. She asks his help in solving the murder of her husband in Canterbury in which she is accused. He talks Walsingham into sending him to Canterbury where he uncovers a plot which threatens Queen Elizabeth’s realm. But Bruno himself is accused of murder. The mystery is complex and has several twists including one that totally surprised me.
I thoroughly enjoyed this series of 3 historical novels/thrillers based on this character. As mentioned at the beginning of the review, the author does a wonderful job of setting the stage and transporting you back to the time period. Although this novel could be read alone, I think it would be best to read the whole series in order.
Other Reviews:
New York: The Novel by Edward Rutherfurd.
I read this one awhile back and just noticed it while browsing in Borders. It is a wonderful historical fiction about New York City. Follows several families across multiple generations to tell the story of NY City from Dutch days to the present.
I’ve read several novels by Edward Rutherfurd and generally they are long but quite enjoyable and are well worth the time it takes to read a longer book.
You might want to have a look at Edward Rutherfurd’s page at Amazon
