The Guns of Heaven

A down and dirty thriller set in the complicated schematics of the Irish troubles in the Thatcher era. Who knew there were so many factions of the so-called "IRA"; apparently even with a program you couldn't tell who the players were, or which side was winning. Sam Briscoe, a journalist with considerable reporting experience in hot spots from Vietnam to Belfast, gets a little too personally involved in the story here, when his Uncle Frank is murdered, and Sam is recruited as a courier between Ireland and New York. Lots of action, moral ambivalence, and double-crosses. I love Hamill's prose, although this story was a bit too convoluted for me, and I took off points for putting a child in jeopardy (HATE reading stories like that) although show more this one was a tough cookie, and she'll get over it, I bet. Briscoe turns up again, much later in life, in [Tabloid City], which I think was a much better novel. show less

This is one top-notch terrific book from beginning to end. Hamill strikes just the right tone. He begins with a reporter returning to Belfast to visit with his uncle and interview Steele, a leader of the IRA. Hamill does a great job of evoking Belfast of the early 80's. It feels so dark and filled with despair as he goes through military checkpoints and doesn't know who to trust. The action starts very quickly as the reporter is followed through the streets and must fight off his pursuers. Steele gives him an interview, but asks him to deliver a letter to someone in New York to help the cause. After leaving Belfast with the letter, the reporter heads to Geneva to visit with his daughter who is in a private school there, but he's been show more followed and his hotel room has been ransacked. Worst of all, whoever is pursuing him knows where his daughter is. Great stuff here. The reader really feels the angst of the ordinary guy caught up in international intrigue and his panic over how he can protect his young daughter all the way over there.

When the action heads to New York, the story takes the reader into the Irish bars, into bombings, and kidnappings, and religious fanaticism. The action never stops as someone is on the protagonist's trail every step of the way. Hats off to Hard Case Crime for introducing me to his work. show less

Sam Briscoe is a reporter from the United States come to Belfast to write about the war there. The bloody war that has split Ireland in two. The IRA, the UVF, the SAS. Protestants versus Catholics. The whole bloody mess.
His uncle is murdered, he’s being followed, and his daughter is caught up in the middle of it. That part of the book is pretty good! But I was really bored with all the detail given to the conflict in Ireland. 800 years of Irish history, and a lot of it seemed to be on these pages! I was very much into the crime, the chase, and the action! I just wasn't reading this for a history lesson.

“She’s safe. Other people are dead, but my daughter is safe. That’s it. The game’s over.”

Sam Briscoe goes to Ireland, has a set of ridiculous and contrived adventures, culminating in a very silly finale at a televangelists palace. Entertaining in the same way pro wrestling is, and about as believable.

An excellent, quick read. Plenty of believable action, although he did put silencers on revolvers, but that was the only issue I noticed. The story was fast paced & well written. The plot was believable & logical. The character was well drawn & perfect. I loved the ending.

The beginning of the book hints at a complexity that's never actually there, but it's a good action yarn.