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A review by vorpalblad
In the Morning I'll Be Gone by Adrian McKinty
5.0
On 25 September 1983, 38 IRA members broke out of the Maze Prison, a high-security facility that billed itself as one of the most escape-proof prisons in the world. While 19 escapees were recaptured within days, others remained at large for years, and to this day the whereabouts of two escapees remain a mystery. On 12 October 1984 the IRA set off a bomb in the Grand Brighton Hotel where the Conservative Party--including Prime Minister Thatcher--was holding their conference.
Like the DeLorean factory debacle in the previous entry in the Sean Duffy series, McKinty uses these two real events to ground Duffy's latest entry. McKinty has perfected both the atmosphere of hopelessness, as well as further developing Duffy's character.
Duffy's ex-girlfriend gives it to him straight, saying she thinks he may be manic depressive, drinks too much, etc... Duffy then goes and pulls a stunt well beyond the occasional smoking of hash in his shed. In fact, the single episode is so shocking, it was clear that Duffy was not completely sane. Yet later, when an interviewee seems frightened of him, he says to himself, "He didn’t know me. Maybe I was one of those bent peelers you were always reading about in the papers. One of those coppers who was capable of anything," not recognizing himself in that description at all.
The story comes down to a locked-room mystery, and McKinty gives a nod to those who have used the idea before. Duffy reads as many locked-room mysteries as he possibly can, hoping for a possible solution. I was surprised at the solution (or I would have been if I wasn't the type to read the ending first, which I am) and for not a lot of action happening, McKinty manages to keep the suspense high until an edge-of-your-seat climax.
Like the DeLorean factory debacle in the previous entry in the Sean Duffy series, McKinty uses these two real events to ground Duffy's latest entry. McKinty has perfected both the atmosphere of hopelessness, as well as further developing Duffy's character.
Duffy's ex-girlfriend gives it to him straight, saying she thinks he may be manic depressive, drinks too much, etc... Duffy then goes and pulls a stunt well beyond the occasional smoking of hash in his shed. In fact, the single episode is so shocking, it was clear that Duffy was not completely sane. Yet later, when an interviewee seems frightened of him, he says to himself, "He didn’t know me. Maybe I was one of those bent peelers you were always reading about in the papers. One of those coppers who was capable of anything," not recognizing himself in that description at all.
The story comes down to a locked-room mystery, and McKinty gives a nod to those who have used the idea before. Duffy reads as many locked-room mysteries as he possibly can, hoping for a possible solution. I was surprised at the solution (or I would have been if I wasn't the type to read the ending first, which I am) and for not a lot of action happening, McKinty manages to keep the suspense high until an edge-of-your-seat climax.