The book took me a little while to get into -- but once I was hooked, I just couldn't let it go.

Detective Maguire is the sole survivor of an ambush, and soon finds himself headed to Station Island to try and find his mysterious informer. It's a place shrouded in strange mists, hazy rain - and somewhere where nothing is quite as it first appears.

Maguire sets out to find answers to his questions, but as he tries to blend in, he realises he's not sure who (if anyone) he can trust...or if he's just being paranoid. Because as he seems to get closer and closer to the truth of what's going on, he seems to be in more and more dance...

Turncoat's an incredibly atmospheric and unsettling book. I really felt like I was there alongside him as he went through his journey; especially when it came to feeling Maguire's suspicion and paranoia.

Set in Northern Ireland in 1994 this is a haunting and atmospheric book.
Detective Desmond Maguire is a Catholic officer in the mainly Protestant RUC bringing challenges in itself, as he is deemed an outsider by many of his colleagues.
He is under suspicion of collusion with the IRA as he is sole survivor of an attack, which puts him under severe pressures and stress , driving him to the edge.
The book is a slow starter but once you get into the story you are immersed fully.
Another great story by Anthony J Quinn.
Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for a fair review.
4 Stars

Anthony J. Quinn is on top form. He paints with a rich palette a narrative that will linger long in one's mind. There is a radiant beauty about his treatment of times past.
It is 1994, and in Belfast, Desmond Maguire is the only detective to survive a suspected IRA ambush. How did he survive it? He is a Catholic. Is he also a traitor?
He attempts to escape justice - from either side - by going on a three day pilgrimage to Station Island on Lough Derg. Here he will face his demons and an interrogation of his soul.
The author addresses many important issues connected with the Troubles in Ireland with honesty and integrity.

Turncoat is a literary historical crime novel bathed in an intense mystery, swathed in the rich atmosphere and steeped in the convoluted chaos of early 90s Ireland. It's set in 1994 against the backdrop of the enduring ethno-nationalist conflict known as The Troubles, which continues to rage. This is a thriller that'll likely hit too close to home for some, and although I read many espionage and conflict-related stories e.g. WWII espionage, they usually feel far enough in the past to not be particularly uncomfortable. However, Turncoat, whilst it is historical, explores the real-world climate of Ireland less than 30 years ago and does so in such a terrifyingly authentic and realistic manner that I was blown away, yet it feels like yesterday. Quinn, being an Irishman, knows and understands this subject extensively in what is most aptly described as a fact meets fiction mystery with the backdrop of the Irish Troubles being the factual part Quinn uses as a foundation on which to build the fictional mystery. A compulsive, moving and palpably tense read from start to finish.

Have thoroughly enjoyed Anthony J. Quinn’s previous books so was keen as mustard to read Turncoat, his latest thriller. With an overarching sense of unease and threat permeating the book from the very outset, this was undoubtedly one of the darkest books I have read as well as providing much food for thought…

With the majority of the book taking place on Station Island in Lough Derg, a site where pilgrims enter a state of “internal wilderness, determined to save their souls and find salvation,” traversing the island endlessly barefoot, praying and fasting, which had earned the island the dubious accolade of being “one of the most lonely and frightful places in the known world.” Grim does not even begin to cover it, and Quinn doesn’t hold back in totally immersing us in this dark, sinister and frankly utterly creepy locale. His sense of atmosphere and place is absolutely superb as he cleverly entrenches us in this hostile landscape with his razor sharp descriptions of not only the terrain, but how this begins to stealthily impact on the mental and physical being of the central character Detective Desmond Maguire. Quinn skilfully draws on psychogeography as the hostile environment and climate seeps under the skin of Maguire, who let’s face it, is already undergoing a fair amount of mental torment due to events leading up to this unforced exile, and stealthily begins to permeate both his conscience and consciousness of his actions. It’s brilliantly done, and the sense of tension and threat resonates throughout, as Maguire begins to wrestle with his inner demons.

Maguire is a mercurial and tormented man, pivoting between state of anger, anguish, denial and despair, on the trail of a mysterious informer, who will hopefully exonerate Maguire from claims against him of coercion and betrayal. Firmly rooted within Ireland pre-peace process, Maguire is a Catholic officer within the RUC which brings its own dangers and suspicion, and the perceived wisdom that he is somehow colluding with the IRA adds to stress and tension that plays out in his character throughout the book. He is full of self-pity and feelings of guilt and anger, and it would be easy to have him labelled as a lost cause, but every so often we gain little insights into the man he could be, and wants to be, above the slightly murky perception we have of him, and he of himself. As he throws himself into his own wilderness, it is interesting to see these slight shifts and changes in his character, and Quinn integrates these incredibly well indeed right up until the heated and violent conclusion to the book.

Quinn undoubtedly keeps us firmly rooted in the politics and violence synonymous with this period in Ireland, and balances the book between the violence and suspicion of the Troubles, the hope of a lasting peace still a stone’s throw away, and interweaving the grip of religion on all sides for good or bad. I found the religious aspect of the book played out in the pilgrim’s actions on Station Island incredibly hard to comprehend, and was intrigued as to why these seemingly normal people would want to put themselves through this excruciating and metaphysical experience. I did find it utterly fascinating though, on a psychological level, that this strength of belief would compel them to enter this purgatorial state in the hope of some kind of redemption, much the same as we believe Maguire to be seeking. Adding this to Quinn’s astute rendition of atmosphere and place, and the unsettling and changeable character of Maguire himself, Turncoat was both compelling and gripping, full of subterfuge, blind alleys and, as it says in the synopsis, where nothing, and no-one, is as they first appear. Highly recommended.

I was really looking forward to reading Turncoat as it’s set during the Troubles in Northern Ireland and I’ve never read fiction set in this era before so was looking forward to seeing how the author tackled it. The book is uncomfortable to read at times, especially when the Troubles seep through the writing and become more of an uncomfortable truth than fiction. The subject matter may make some uncomfortable. I thought Desmond was a great character, a Catholic working in a mostly protestant police force, rubbing his colleagues up the wrong way and constantly forced to justify every thought and action. The driving force of the book is an IRA ambush which leaves several officers dead, an IRA informant who seems to have vanished with the finger of suspicion pointing firmly at Desmond, mostly because he flees the scene and does not contact his superiors. Much of the book is set on Lough Derg, a holy island where Desmond searches for the truth and a way to prove his innocence. Turncoat is haunting and unsettling.

Turncoat – A metaphysical thriller,

Anthony J Quinn returns with a new crime thriller Turncoat, which he has called a metaphysical detective tale set during the Troubles. Northern Ireland and the times of the Troubles have provided a rich seam of writing for Quinn, and for some many be some uncomfortable reading. Whilst this may be a novel, it bounds along the truth of that time very closely, and sometimes fact is stranger than fiction.

Desmond Maguire is unusual for an RUC officer in that he is a Catholic in a predominately Protestant police service. Distrusted by his Protestant colleagues and seen as a collaborator with an occupying force by the Catholics, he really is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Life will get harder for him.

Maguire is the sole survivor of a murderous ambush, a Belfast police detective is forced into a desperate search for a mysterious informer that takes him to a holy island on Lough Derg, a place shrouded in strange mists and hazy rain, where nothing is as it first appears to be. An Ireland where his life may be in danger, the pilgrims do not trust, the priests do not trust him, and the police spies do not trust him. He knows he needs to find the truth and some how this holy island has the answers, he just needs to find them.

People will find Turncoat, haunting and unsettling, especially as you read the mental descent of Maguire into to paranoia. This is also a story of guilt, survival and the terrible price of self-knowledge, all through the voice of a detective with a double life. You feel that descent into self-doubt and questioning previous actions. What he discovers is sinister and the closer he is drawn in to the violence that surrounds that period of time.

Desmond Maguire is a Catholic in the predominantly Protestant RUC during the troubles in Northern Ireland and when he is the only survivor from an IRA ambush questions are asked about whether he is what he claims to be.

The author, Anthony J Quinn, weaves a story full of intrigue and betrayals and secrets as he manages to create an authentic feeling historical crime fiction novel that will draw a reader in and keep them entertained until the very end.

Turncoat is an excellently written book and one that is recommended

Anthony J Quinn's literary historical mystery is set in Northern Ireland and Ireland of 1994, shot through with a creeping sense of dread and menace, a story of guilt, paranoia, survival, cover ups and conspiracies, where bombings and shootings are everyday life. There are religious divisions and compromised policing amidst the background of below the radar talks of ceasefire and peace between the British government and the IRA paramilitaries. Irish Detective Desmond Maguire is a Catholic in a Protestant force, an uneasy fit at best, an alcoholic rarely seen sober, with a rising reputation due to the excellent intel gathered from his handling of his IRA informer, Ruby.

Maguire's entire world collapses after a raid on an abandoned farmhouse in which 3 men in balaclavas with sub-machine guns shoot dead 3 members of his team, including a Special Branch officer, leaving him the sole survivor. Maguire knows he is in trouble, but he just cannot cope, unable to return to the police station, escaping the nightmare to a cafe where he finds himself front page headlines after being caught by McCabe, a journalist with whom he had a good relationship. However, McCabe turns on him, calling him a traitor, and the problem is that Maguire has little idea of what occurred and what is he is responsible for? Are his sins those of omission or commission?. After a brief meeting with his boss, Chief Inspector Pearson, he goes in search of Ruby, his informer, heading to the holy Station Island across the border, after receiving a torn up postcard. He finds himself on the prayer path on the island, reading espionage tales, trying to find a lost faith by following the example of the pilgrims, surrounding by enemies.

Quinn depicts the murky world of Irish espionage, the subterfuges, the betrayals, the secrets, the ambitions, the lies, the politics, and the unforgiving and shadowy world of the paramilitiaries, make no mistake, there is a war on. Maguire seeks an informer that no-one else has seen, never recorded or questioned, he wants redemption, must face the truth of what he has done, confront his truths and secrets, truths others cannot afford to have told. This is atmospheric, compulsive and intelligent storytelling, disturbing and unsettling, of a period in Northern Irish history that I am grateful is over. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Oldcastle Books for an ARC.