The shout-line on the cover reads “Twelve Murders, Twelve Ghosts, Twelve Demands for Vengeance” and so our IRA hitman sets out to clear his conscience, by killing those who order him to kill. This is tremendous stuff, a really good novel on the Irish scene, a cut-above the norm.
Sooner or later, everybody pays - and the dead will set the price ...Former paramilitary killer Gerry Fegan is haunted by his victims, twelve souls who shadow his every waking day and scream through every drunken night. Just as he reaches the edge of sanity they reveal their desire: vengeance on those who engineered their deaths. From the greedy politicians to the corrupt security forces, the street thugs to the complacent bystanders who let it happen, all must pay the price. When Fegan's vendetta threatens to derail Northern Ireland's peace process and destabilise its fledgling government, old comrades, and enemies alike want him gone. David Campbell, a double agent lost between the forces of law and terror, takes the job. But he has his own reasons for eliminating Fegan; the secrets of a dirty war should stay buried, even if its ghosts do not. Set against the backdrop of a post-conflict Northern Ireland struggling with its past, The Twelve takes the reader from the back streets of the city, where violence and politics go hand-in-hand, to the country's darkest heart. Stuart Neville's gripping thriller marks the emergence of a brilliant new voice.
Stuart Neville’s first novel, The Twelve, was one of the most critically acclaimed crime debuts of recent years, winning the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for best thriller. Collusion, Stolen Souls, Ratlines (shortlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger) and The Final Silence have garnered widespread praise, confirming his position as one of the most exciting crime authors writing today.
THE TWELVE, Neville’s first novel (titled THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST in the USA) is an outstanding debut about a haunted ex-IRA killer and British undercover agent striving to survive his guilt and a veritable posse of implacable enemies. Harrowing, realistic and full of compassion for the victims of crime and terrorism, this introduces a major new voice to crime writing. An outstanding achievement.
