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The Corsairs
When Alec MacKay escapes his Ayrshire mining town to join the police he discovers there are some things from which you just can’t run.
It’s 1987 and breaking ranks with the hostile attitudes of his mining community and estranged father, Alec MacKay joins the police. He is posted to Glasgow where he encounters a world of violence, deprivation and sectarianism. Alienated from his old life and struggling for acceptance in the new, Alec fights to win over the tight knit group he's assigned to, until a shocking discovery forces him to break ranks once again…
The Corsairs is a coming of age story. It tells the story of a young man forced to deal with the estrangement between himself and his father and the culture shock of becoming a police officer in a violent deprived community in 1980’s Glasgow. Set against a backdrop of sectarianism, the heroin epidemic and a Scotland undergoing profound change in the era of Thatcher economics, this is a tale of resilience and the roles that family and friendship play in a turbulent world.
It’s 1987 and breaking ranks with the hostile attitudes of his mining community and estranged father, Alec MacKay joins the police. He is posted to Glasgow where he encounters a world of violence, deprivation and sectarianism. Alienated from his old life and struggling for acceptance in the new, Alec fights to win over the tight knit group he's assigned to, until a shocking discovery forces him to break ranks once again…
The Corsairs is a coming of age story. It tells the story of a young man forced to deal with the estrangement between himself and his father and the culture shock of becoming a police officer in a violent deprived community in 1980’s Glasgow. Set against a backdrop of sectarianism, the heroin epidemic and a Scotland undergoing profound change in the era of Thatcher economics, this is a tale of resilience and the roles that family and friendship play in a turbulent world.
332 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 24, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 6, 2026
Wow, what a book. A powerful portrayal of life in the 1980s, the prevailing brutality of Glasgow crime both within and without the police, and the prejudices of the time in a small Scottish town. I was hooked from page one. A book where I truly had to pace myself, not only to fully absorb the quality of the writing and unraveling of the story, but also because it was a book that I wanted to last forever.
Alec Mackay, the lead character who, by breaking the expectations of his Father and those in his Ayrshire home town, signs up to be a police officer. This at a time when it was this very body who were seen to be part of the decline of the mining industry in his hometown, resulting in severe unemployment, poverty and extreme bitterness amongst those he had grown up with. When he completes his year one training, he is sent to Glasgow, where he faces a different, but largely familiar, reality.
The Corsairs had everything I look to from quality crime fiction. Prose that brings to life the characters of the time, convincing exploration of the mood and atmosphere of a time when extreme, unforgiving prejudice, and corruption was rife, and a high impact, gritty, hard hitting story line.
Kudos to Brian Cook as The Corsairs is one of the best books I have read for a while and I do not offer that lightly.
Alec Mackay, the lead character who, by breaking the expectations of his Father and those in his Ayrshire home town, signs up to be a police officer. This at a time when it was this very body who were seen to be part of the decline of the mining industry in his hometown, resulting in severe unemployment, poverty and extreme bitterness amongst those he had grown up with. When he completes his year one training, he is sent to Glasgow, where he faces a different, but largely familiar, reality.
The Corsairs had everything I look to from quality crime fiction. Prose that brings to life the characters of the time, convincing exploration of the mood and atmosphere of a time when extreme, unforgiving prejudice, and corruption was rife, and a high impact, gritty, hard hitting story line.
Kudos to Brian Cook as The Corsairs is one of the best books I have read for a while and I do not offer that lightly.
March 24, 2024
the corsairs
A cracking good read of policing in log time Glasgow. Brought back many memories and faces of old friends well worth a read.
A cracking good read of policing in log time Glasgow. Brought back many memories and faces of old friends well worth a read.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews