A review by trilby001
The Heretic by Liam McIlvanney

5.0

"The Heretic" avoids many of the cliches of the noir detective novel--especially that of the unspeakably beautiful woman that the hard-boiled protagonist inevitably engages in explicitly-described sex with. Yeah, I know. Many readers expect and enjoy these gratuitous interludes. But I found it refreshing that the main women characters were presented in a realistic way, with back stories and lives of their own. The protagonist's secret life as a closeted gay makes him a very unusual noir detective and liberates the story from the shop-worn sexual conventions of the genre.

I also liked the setting in 1970s Glasgow. McIlvanney deftly sketches the historical city, so its gritty streets provide a vivid backdrop to the sectarian violence that pervades the action and drives the plot.

An engaging read. I recommend it.