All the Little Guns Went Bang, Bang, Bang

by Neil Mackay

Pearse Furlong and May-Belle Mulholland are two normal eleven year-olds meeting one summer in small town Antrim, Northern Ireland, in the early 1980s. They have little in common except a shared experience of violent, abusive parents. They form an unlikely alliance and as their games and shared fantasies spin out of control their friendship becomes something much darker, with theft, arson, sickening brutality – and eventually murder – all lying ahead.

A veteran of twenty years of reporting on children who kill, as well as many of the biggest stories during The Troubles in Northern Ireland, award-winning news journalist Neil Mackay has created a shocking, pitch black debut novel. Through blackly comic and often visceral prose, he not only demonstrates his deep understanding for his subject but also an extraordinary empathy for children damaged by society’s neglect. In Pearce and May-Belle he has created an unforgettable folie à deux and a coruscating satire on the brutality that many prefer to ignore.

Genres: Fiction

278 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 17, 2013

Reviews

[David Kenvyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you really want to understand what is happening in Northern Ireland, this is the book that will bring the full horror home to you without any mercy for your sensibilities whatsoever. Pearse and May-Belle are little monsters, but you will be on their side in some ways because of what the adult world is doing to them.

Once you have finished this book, you will need to pause, rest, think and (in my case) have a glass of wine to recover.

Neil Mackay is someone who definitely has a career ahead of him as a novelist. He writes with passion, deep understanding, knowledge and wit. This is well worth the read.

[Sal Noel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book deserves a deep rooted internal response. This book should and will affect you. This is like Tarantino with kids and without the humour. Throughout I was wondering why Mackay wrote this. I also wondered why I was reading it. This is as dark and disturbed as it gets. yet the violence and depravity is somewhat balanced with family ( and other ) histories, which play a part in trying to explain some of the horror. This book is not for everyone. I would not have thought it was for me but I rate it highly. Well written. Well done Neil. You got to me.

[Allan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really didn't enjoy this book. Set in Antrim, a town about 15 miles from Belfast in the early 80s, in a council housing estate similar the one I lived in for the first 8 years of my life in similar town in the same county, it follows its 11 year old protagonists, Pearse and May Bell as they are brutalised by their parents' neglect, interspersing the story with stories of Pearse's family history, as well as local interest tales, both factual and mythical. It is for these interspersed tales that the book gets its one star from me.

I just couldn't believe the main characters Mackay created. I may be a little naive, but the level of neglect suffered by the kids would in the first instance surely have been picked up upon. Secondly, I found the levels of violence portrayed sickening at times, unbelievable in their enactment by their perpetrators- indeed the level of sophistication shown by the two main characters in planning and carrying out such acts was way beyond believable, as it would've been even for individuals from a well adjusted background. And as for the incompetence of the RUC when they briefly came in to play, and of the lack of interest shown by the public after horribly committed crimes-come on now, really?!

I read in a review below that this novel will help you understand what is happening in NI-that's a joke. There's no way, even in the 70s, which preceded this book, that society in general was as brutalised as this. Saying that, the conflict barely even touches on the story, aside from one albeit major incident that simply confirms the path the main characters are travelling on. Mackay has used a setting that he is familiar with for the story, and shoehorned the conflict in to suit a purpose, but it could've been set anywhere, and I'd still not have believed it any more than I was able to.

I struggled to finish this book, but did so to justify a review in which I could tell others to avoid at all costs.

[Sylvie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book although a horrifying subject was skilfully written and you do think how can I find the antics of these children highly humorous at times. Maybe because it is written by a journalist that it has been cleverly carried off in the story. I love the way that you can actually feel you're in Ireland when you read the Irish expressions and the accent in each character. There are other stories within the main story that keep you interested to the very end. I don't want to give away too much of the story but I'd say it's not for the faint hearted but worth a read. I'd love to know what other people that have read this book think of the ending. Although maybe it would be better if they were hidden as it suggests below because of spoilers.

[Russell Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book isn't for readers with a weak heart, it's full of real horror shown through the eyes of children. The style is mostly engaging, though I found myself switching off a little during some of the myth-history sections. However, the main story and its expression are engaging and disturbing, with dark humour and many unsettling moments. The cream story, classroom scene and tree initiation are particularly harrowing, albeit my "favourite" moments. Perhaps there is too much pain here,a few more rays of light were needed I think, which is maybe why some readers found it a bit unbelievable. Still, it shows how we make monsters and how man passes on misery to man very well. "Enjoy" isn't the right word, but this book can affect you and it holds a serious and relevant message.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Set in the violent Antrim but laced with historical stories and myths surrounding character's histories as well as the violence that has permeated the history of the town, this novel explores the way that the treatment of a child by their parents really does influence their understanding of what is and what is not acceptable behaviour. The narrative voice was perfect creating a juxtaposition between innocence and violence that really added to the power of the story. Pearse and May-Belle, two little characters that will remain with me and add to the nature/nurture debate for years to come.

[Gemma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the violence hard to stomach yet I couldn't tear myself from the pages. This is well written, powerful and deeply disturbing.

[Helena B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based in the 1980s in Northern Ireland, this story follows two eleven year-olds, Pearse and May-Bell, who both have abusive parents. The two have little in common yet they become good friends that play games together. Eventually these game turn darker and they develop into theft, arson, physical abuse and eventually murder.

Firstly, I don’t know a lot about the conflict in Northern Ireland. Secondly, I need a breather after finishing this book. I am not sure how historically accurate this story is, but it does paint a good (yet sad and somewhat scary) picture. Both Pearse and May-Bell are little monsters but is it because of the way their parents treated them? Their parents neglected them, beat them and raised them in these dire circumstances. If you do read this book, be aware that it is very graphic. The story is well written so you can imagine these horrendous scenes way to easily. I did find it difficult to believe that these two 11 year-olds did what they did. I know that there are child murderers about but it just seemed unbelievable for children to murder in the way they did due to the sophistication of the attacks. You do feel somewhat sorry for these kids.

I really struggled when books don’t have proper chapters, like this one, but that is purely a personal preference. Some of these ‘chapters’ go back into Pearse’s family history and I found that kind of confusing and it didn’t seem to add a huge amount to the storyline. Some of the words are written in ‘Irish’ so it does help you think you are in Ireland in the midst of this story. While this story is very dark, somewhat unbelievable it is still very well written.

[Tony Connolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read a few too many side stories but a gripping tale of abuse and what it can lead to. Gritty

[Megan Geissler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yikes. That's all I have to say. Dreary and grim but it kept my attention.

[Lizzie Eldridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Neil Mackay has done something in this novel which means, once you've read it, you'll never feel the same again. And that's no exaggeration. The book takes us into territory most choose to turn away from, both in fiction and in reality. It's the story of two little children, and we never forget that they're children, who commit horrific murders.
Growing up in in Northern Ireland in the early '80s, May-Belle and Pearse are deeply traumatised little creatures whose lives are saturated in violence. Brutal abuse becomes normality in homes where the level of assault and neglect, particularly in the case of the little girl, is excruciatingly painful to witness, even from the apparent safety of the fictional framework. There is nothing safe about the world these children inhabit and this is emphasised by the realistic and unsparing writing style which leaves us, as readers, as spectators to the horror and desperation as the events unfold. In this respect, Mackay's incredible abilities as a writer combine with his journalistic accuracy as he presents us with an objective, yet deeply sensitive, account of children whose behaviour would usually be depicted as arbitrary, monstrous and depraved.
For all the brutality of the subject matter, and in the context of the experience this novel so skilfully depicts, the writing veers away from anything remotely judgemental and enables us to understand where the children's behaviour emanates from, simply through the telling of the story and the way in which it's told. The 'unnatural' becomes almost 'natural' and our heart breaks when often it would turn to stone.
This novel is powerful, radical, disturbing and compelling. It is a unique and brilliant book.

[JoAnne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a disturbing book

This was a story set close to where I live. There were some interesting aspects to the book but overall I found it quite disturbing.

[Cath · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a hard read about how lives are lost.