An interesting story about a young Irish IRA member who becomes disillusioned with the cause and decides to escape. Hunted by both the IRA and the English MI6, Barney establishes a new identity and travels as far away and as quickly as possible, hiding away in a small southern African town.

Barney's life takes a turn when he meets Naomi, a distressed and lonely mother separated from her children, not knowing if they are alive or dead. He soon immerses himself in her task and tries to help her find them, but as time passes, they realize the immensity of the situation and they soon become disillusioned, fearing the worse.

Almost at the point of giving up the search, destiny takes a hand when they unexpectedly find the lead they have been looking for. However, the consequence of Barney’s good deeds exposes him to the world that he has tried so hard to hide from.

There is a story in here, or rather several, but the heading should be "how NOT to write a book". There is jumping around in time and places, no building of suspense, as well as naive and unnatural dialogue. No interest for me.

Thanks Net Galley for the ARC

So another entry into the ever growing "South Africa fiction box". Not too bad , good story of a repentant IRA thug named Barney who finds love and humanity in Naomi and it threatens all his carefully played plans.

Not the best dialogue in spots but a worthy effort.

An interesting story about a young Irish IRA member who becomes disillusioned with the cause and decides to escape. Hunted by both the IRA and the English MI6, Barney establishes a new identity and travels as far away and as quickly as possible, hiding away in a small southern African town.

Barney's life takes a turn when he meets Naomi, a distressed and lonely mother separated from her children, not knowing if they are alive or dead. He soon immerses himself in her task and tries to help her find them, but as time passes, they realize the immensity of the situation and they soon become disillusioned, fearing the worse.

Almost at the point of giving up the search, destiny takes a hand when they unexpectedly find the lead they have been looking for. However, the consequence of Barney’s good deeds exposes him to the world that he has tried so hard to hide from.

The dialogue is somewhat stilted and the characters would benefit from more development. A good read none-the-less.

Thank you to NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I like Barney and in reading this story, I only expected to empathize with him and not like him. See, I'd made up my mind that I'd not like his actions, however, in meeting Naomi when he's trying to stay undiscovered- gives him a cause, and from then I was taken in a journey of self-reflection and action.
This is an intriguing story.
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.