Book info

• Title Winterland
• Author Alan Glynn
• Year 2008
• Genre Mystery

The worlds of business, politics and crime collide in contemporary Dublin when two men with the same name, from the same family, die on the same night - one death is a gangland murder, the other, apparently, a road accident. Was it a coincidence? That's the official version of events. But when a family member, Gina Rafferty, starts asking questions, this notion quickly unravels. Devastated by her loss, Gina's grief is tempered, and increasingly fuelled, by anger - because the more she hears that it was all a coincidence, that gangland violence is commonplace, that people die on our roads every day of the week, the less she's prepared to accept it. Told repeatedly that she should stop asking questions, Gina becomes more determined than ever to find out the truth, to establish a connection between the two deaths - but in doing so she embarks on a path that will push certain powerful people to their limits...

Thoughts

Having really enjoyed the book behind the film Limitless, I was interested in what else Alan Glynn had written. This one takes the form of a sort of action/thriller, a crime novel that doesn’t really focus on investigating the crime itself, but unravelling an entire conspiracy surrounding a new building complex, politics, and all that jazz.

I really liked it, the cast of characters were believable and relatable, and even the horrible ones had their foibles that made them more human. What I enjoyed about the book most of all though was the setting. This was one of those books where there is too much detail about the city it is set in, turning through this street and that, detailing far too much about Dublin. But I love Dublin. So I loved that.

Overall, very good, very serviceable plot, and a neat but not saccharine ending.

Rating: 4 / 5