This just about earned a third star, and although I enjoyed it, I won't be rushing to read any more. The Irish setting is interesting at first, but once the global elements creep in, it loses focus and, to some extent, believability.
Why are young journalist's so often called Jimmy? ( )

This is the second book I've read that was written by Alan Glynn, and I am growing increasingly frustrated by his endings. He gets a great story going - and then stops in the middle of it, or at least before the larger ramifications of the story have really unfolded. It's not that I can't imagine how everything might end, it's that I would like to know what Glynn imagined as the ending, since it's his story in the first place. ( )

Terrific conspiracy novel that is a bit challenging in that there are lots of characters and multiple points of view, but sharp writing, excellent plotting, and an appealing young Irish out-of-work journalist who has a commission to write a biography of a silly celebrity but stumbles upon a multinational scheme to make money off a mine in Congo and people who will dispose of anyone who gets in the way. Cracking read.

When out of work journalist Jim Gilroy is approached to write a biography of dead model Susie Monaghan strange things begin to happen. Gilroy was caught up some time earlier by the downsizing of Ireland's press industry, lost his job, and this is his first chance to earn for some time. So when he is contacted by a former mentor and advised to drop the job, he can't help wondering why.

Then a drunken former prime minister tells him that "it was never about Susie. She was just collateral damage." So, Gilroy asks himself, who is it "it" really about? And what exactly is "it"? Threads begin to converge as Gilroy persists.

This was a very tight read. The style is a little disconcerting as the narrative changes point-of-view rather abruptly and I found myself searching the text for clues to whose voice it was. There was a similar situation with settings as we bounce from Dublin to London to Paris, New York, Washington, and The Congo.

The blurb is right: this is about corruption in high places, and in big business, but it is also about the subtleties of economic multinationalism, and the webs that connect us all wherever we live. ( )

The connections beneath the surface

In a marketplace filled with legal thrillers, techno-thrillers, and crime thrillers galore, a true conspiracy thriller is a rare animal indeed. This one opens with some sort of paramilitary operation in Congo. The reader is thrown into a heightened situation without any exposition or background, and it’s a little disorientating.

From there, we are in the study of a young, Irish journalist, Jimmy Gilroy. These are hard times for journalists. Papers aren’t hiring, so you take what you can get. What Jimmy has gotten is a cheesy biography of a troubled actress who died in a helicopter crash a few years earlier. He is stunned when a former mentor calls and puts some not too subtle pressure on him to drop this utterly inconsequential job. But it’s a paycheck, and he needs it.

Next, the reader is introduced to a series of powerful men on both sides of the Atlantic, from businessmen to politicians. Glynn isn’t spoon-feeding readers his story, and it takes a while to make the connections. What other readers describe as being “slow,” I chalk up to complexity and brilliance. The author made me work a little. There were a lot of names, places, and people to keep straight and links to discover. I got to uncover what was going on alongside Jimmy Gilroy, and I loved it every step of the way!

Now, this isn’t a novel with a lot of room for character development. Actually, I think there was more “lack of character” development, because there were some seriously morally bankrupt people in this tale. But I did think it was well written. More than anything, I just thought the plotting was so deliciously complex and smart. It was a pure joy putting these pieces together. I thought the world of international powerbrokers in which Glynn set his story was fascinating.

While this novel didn’t have the same kind of pacing as an action thriller, I found myself unable to stop turning the pages. Intellectually, I just NEEDED to know what was going on. Mr. Glynn gave me several satisfying twists and turns, and I never came close to guessing the ending. Tension builds throughout the novel as Jimmy gets closer and closer to the truth, and as those who are obfuscating it get increasingly desperate. It’s all believable enough to make one wonder how much of the world really works like this.

I’d highly recommend Bloodland to patient readers willing to work a little for a solution. ( )