This Is What Happened, When All Is Said and The Wall

This seedy thriller had an ugly plot-line. A vulnerable woman and a monster. What's not to hate. Herron's normal dark humour is sunk in what is not his normal spy story. I guessed the main plot point of the first half early on (not like me), but it was so obvious. The second half picks up a little before the pathetic conclusion. 

Eighty four year old Maurice Hannigan is sitting in a bar talking to his son Kevin, who isn't really there. That concept is only revealed towards the end, but it makes for a hugely entertaining, though sometimes dark, history of his life. Five toasts, five drinks. The writing is top drawer for a first time novelist. "For the life of me, I can't remember the chaps' first name. If you were here you'd know it. I'm sure you would. I steer my way around my memory loss as best I can. It's the faces I remember, no problem, these days but the names have me stumped".

With a light wit Maurice is not distracted from his tale by the comings and goings in the bar. "A gong sounds and true to Irish custom, the horde ignores it's request." There is some outstanding dialogue. All in his mind. There are some pretty sad stories along the way, all for Kevin's benefit as it happens. 

An interesting view of the future with hot topics about climate change, migration and Brexit. Our narrator, Kavanagh, has been brought up in a different world to his parents. And is it all their fault? This is an interesting, exhilarating but not captivating story, as cold as it is on The Wall. Their is little in the way of characterisation but it is an easy, fast read. And with a neat ending.