Northern Heist
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
In Richard O'Rawe's stunning debut novel, as audacious and well executed as Ructions' plan to rob the National Bank itself, a new voice in Irish fiction has been unleashed that will shock, surprise and thrill as he takes you on a white-knuckle ride through Belfast's criminal underbelly. Enter the deadly world of tiger kidnappings, kangaroo courts, money laundering, drug deals and double-crosses.
Northern Heist is a roller-coaster bank robbery thriller with twists and turns from beginning to end.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Former Irish Republican Army bank robber O'Rawe (Afterlives: The Hunger Strike and the Secret Offer That Changed Irish History) makes his fiction debut with a riveting crime thriller loosely based on the unsolved bank robbery that nearly undermined the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. Veteran IRA heavy James "Ructions" O'Hare and his crime-boss uncle, Johnny "Panzer" O'Hare, secretly form a crew of ex-paramilitaries to rob the National Bank in Belfast, Northern Ireland. But that's not the hardest part; their plan to cross the IRA by not paying the mandatory 50 percent tax could put them in the ground if discovered. Bonds of family and faction are put to the ultimate test as IRA enforcers and local police search for suspects, and Ructions must use all of his cunning if he's to survive. O'Rawe channels both Elmore Leonard and Guy Ritchie in this heist thriller full of sharp twists and gritty dialogue, emerging with a style all his own. His reimagining of the real-life bank heist feels so authentic readers will hope he has a strong alibi. Ken Bruen fans won't want to miss this one.
Customer Reviews
That’s where the money is
Author
Northern Irish. Ex-provisional IRA. Grew up in the Falls district of Belfast. Imprisoned for bank robbery. Author of several non-fiction works including about IRA prisoners' hunger strike. His first novel, Northern Heist, was published in 2018 with the author credited as Ricky O'Rawe. This re-issue makes him sound more respectable by calling him Richard.
In brief
An ex-provo plans a Belfast bank heist ostensibly on behalf on an unnamed third party, revealing only what is absolutely necessary as he recruits a specialist crew. He knows he must keep the IRA informed. Whether they need to be fully informed is another matter. The admonition that three people can keep a secret if two of them are dead is repeatedly borne out with secrets kept and double-crosses aplenty. Female characters do not receive the respect they deserve, but get their own back. Loyalty to his mates nearly brings our boy unstuck. Violence and bad language aplenty. The suspense thriller morphs into a courtroom drama towards the end.
Writing
Crisp, clear, evocative prose that draws on local vernacular and patois without compromising readability. Not many sympathetic characters, as you might imagine. None, actually.
Bottom line
Based on an actual bank robbery, one of the largest ever to remain unsolved. Autobiographical element to the story but this incident wasn't what Mr O'R got knicked for, or so he claims. Vivid portrait of street life in Belfast at the time.