Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
The Abstainer
The Abstainer: A Novel | Ian McGuire
3 posts | 4 read | 4 to read
“A brilliant historical novel; part Cormac McCarthy and part Raymond Chandler.”—Philipp Meyer, author of The Son An Irishman in nineteenth-century England is forced to take sides when his nephew joins the bloody underground movement for independence in this propulsive novel from the acclaimed author of The North Water. Manchester, England, 1867. The rebels will be hanged at dawn, and their brotherhood is already plotting its revenge. Stephen Doyle, an Irish-American veteran of the Civil War, arrives in Manchester from New York with a thirst for blood. He has joined the Fenians, a secret society intent on ending British rule in Ireland by any means necessary. Head Constable James O’Connor has fled grief and drink in Dublin for a sober start in Manchester. His job is to discover and thwart the Fenians’ plans whatever they might be. When a long-lost nephew arrives on O’Connor’s doorstep looking for work, he cannot foresee the way his fragile new life will be imperiled—and how his and Doyle’s fates will become fatally intertwined. In this propulsive tale of the underground war for Irish independence, the author of The North Water once again transports readers to a time when blood begot blood. Moving from the dirt and uproar of industrial Manchester to the quiet hills of rural Pennsylvania, The Abstainer is a searing novel in which two men, haunted by their pasts and driven forward by the need for justice and retribution, must fight for life and legacy.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
review
Shakesteve
post image
Pickpick

A dark, Dickensian novel about Jimmy O‘Connor, a constable in Manchester who has been transferred from Dublin to investigate the Fenians, whose underground fight for Irish independence is causing bloodshed. When his nephew shows up unexpectedly and the Fenians bring an American Civil War vet over to start trouble, things get even bloodier. A tense, gritty thriller with lots of atmosphere. The ending is a bit of a shocker.

review
SailorJohn
Mehso-so

Story about the English Irish battles in the mid 1800‘s and two men whose lives intersect. The ending was unsatisfying which is the reason it is not a pick.

review
vlwelser
post image
Mehso-so

This book was really good. Right up to the epilogue. IMHO they should just leave that out. This is about a Civil War soldier who goes to England to fight for the Fenians. And an Irish police officer that is trying to catch him. And then there's this awful epilogue that ruins the whole book.

The publication date printed on it is 4/28 but who knows anymore. #ARC #goodreads