Book Review: The Dead Yard

Reviewed By: Woodstock - RAM

The Dead Yard     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Adrian McKinty
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Terrorists
Scribner, 2006

Michael Forsythe, a young Irishman who has a propensity for trouble as well as the ability to hire himself out to the highest bidder, returns in McKinty's latest. A beach vacation in Spain goes suddenly wrong as Michael is caught up in a riot following a soccer game and is dumped in jail. When a British undercover agent shows up offering him a job infiltrating an American IRA cell with a specialty in terrorist style violence, Michael reluctantly signs on. His alternative is extradition to Mexico to face the consequences of his actions there which were portrayed in McKinty's earlier novel DEAD I WELL MAY BE.

Michael finds the cell, and without too much difficulty manages to gain access to the people involved. But whether through inept surveillance or underestimation of the cell's own intelligence, he finds himself working alone and in a great deal of danger.

The action in THE DEAD YARD is disjointed at times and not always easy to follow. McKinty remains an author worth watching - but I found his latest not quite the same caliber as earlier books.

Woodstock - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Woodstock - RAM