How to Murder a Man

by Carlo Gébler

All histories are really murder stories ... he who murders most, wins.

Written with style and a savage grace, How To Murder A Man by Irish novelist Carlo Gébler, is a gripping portrayal of a largely untold part of Irish history. Inspired by true events, the novel follows land agent Thomas French, appointed to bring order to a decaying profitless estate in County Monaghan, Ulster, following the Great Famine.

When he offers the poverty-stricken farmers free passage to America in exchange for the rights to their land, French attracts the enmity of the local Ribbonmen?a brutal and merciless secret society?who sentence the land agent to execution. A battle of wills ensues between French and Isaac Marron, the leader of the Ribbonmen, whose attempts at bloody retribution only serve to drive a divided community still further apart.

The unflinching depiction of casual violence and deep-rooted prejudice has strong contemporary resonance. Gébler's lack of sensationalism in describing horrific scenes of cruelty, and his refusal to oversimplify issues, ultimately increase the impact of this story.

Novelist, playwright and broadcaster Carlo Gébler was born in Dublin in 1954, the son of famous Irish novelist Edna O'Brien. A graduate of York University and the National Film and Television School, Gébler has directed a number of television documentaries and contributed articles to many prominent newspapers and magazines. He now lives in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. His other works include W9 And Other Lives , published by Marion Boyars in 1998.

"Gébler at his disturbing best."? The Sunday Times .

Genres: Historical Fiction, Irish Literature, Ireland, Fiction

373 pages, Hardcover

First published April 17, 2002

Reviews

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

"How to Murder a Man" is a fictionalized account of a series of events that actually happened in N. Ireland. It is the story of an estate agent, Thomas French, who is hired by a woman to collect rents from delinquent tenants on her land or else get them out of there. Sounds easy, right? NOT! French knows that evicting someone is not the easiest nor the smartest thing to do, so he comes up with a plan B: he will pay the debtor a total of 5 times his "tenant right" (what someone would pay to take over the land--in a nutshell--very complicated issue), which will give them enough to pay their debts and have a little money left over. Then he will pay their passage to America and will be able to rent out the land to someone new. Sounds good, but a certain group of tenant farmers took offense, and hired a mercenary group known as The Ribbonmen to kill French. French finds out & the story is about how he prevents himself from being killed. It is also a story of Catholic v Protestant, about early leanings against the British, and life in Ireland in the 1850s.

A wonderful book. I would definitely recommend it if you're interested in this time period.

[AGinNoCal · Rating 3 out of 5]

An odd and fascinating book that describes a painful and difficult time in post-famine Ireland with a spare narrative style that avoids emotion, despite the occasional gruesome events, and lets "the facts" tell the story, in police report fashion. Filled with interesting and oft-conflicted characters, I just was not as concerned and involved as I might have been had the style been a bit more expansive and descriptive.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beyond the main plot line of a land agent offering a way out for impoverished Irish tenant farmers, this is a sparsely written masterpiece exploring how desperation drives good people into terrible actions. It's crying out to be made into a film. One hopes that if it does make to the big screen it is not at the hands of the American studios which would kill it with sentimental slush.

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ribbonmen were a 19th century Irish secret agrarian vigilante society who exacted bitter vengeance on those they perceived to have mistreated tenant farmers. They were particularly active in the years following the Great Famine, and they were particularly harsh toward landlords and their agents, most especially if they happened to be British, which they frequently were. Their methods were brutal and often lethal, and their tale is presented in microcosm in this novel by Gebler, son of famous Irish writer Edna O'Brien. Gebler's tale is based on an actual historical account, but of course the details in this work are fictionalized. The themes of secrecy, of swift and horrible retribution on informers, of silent complicity on the part of ordinary members of the local community, of the belief that terror is justified by the persecutions suffered at the hands of the wealthy--all of these themes will be familiar to the student of the Irish Republican Army in its various permutations, and the Ribbon societies (or lodges, as they were usually known) predate the IRA by several decades. Gebler captures a great deal of what made the Ribbonmen so feared and yet so ultimately ineffective, and does so in prose that is muscular and chilling in its effect. Not even true romantic love is spared in this bloody novel.

[Çiler Erkan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yazarın gerçek bir olaydan esinlenerek yazdığı kitapta olaylar 1800'lerin ortasında İrlanda'da geçiyor. Kocasını kaybetmiş, zengin, toprak sahibi bir kadın, arazilerindeki kiracılarıyla büyük sorunlar yaşamakta ve kiralarını toplayamamaktadır. Sorunu çözmesi için bir kahyayı işe alır. Bu arada, etrafa korku salan Ribbon Çetesi herkes için ciddi tehdit oluşturmaktadır. Konu güzel, sürükleyici, dönemin yaşantısını çok güzel aktarıyor.

[Luisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of Thomas French converted into a thriller and embellished. I Binge-read this book.

[:.Cristina.: · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Steve M · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gruelling tale of prejudice, mis-guided vengeance and senseless cruelty delivered in virtuoso Irish style.

[Janet Cameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brutal and uncompromising story of violence and vigilante justice in post-famine rural Ireland. The suspense becomes unbearable as events play out - as they must. Once I was hooked into the story it was impossible to put this book down.

[Foreign]

French editor: Daniel Arsand

[Asha Stark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is brilliant.

For the first few chapters, I was wondering if it was ever going to make sense and come together, but in reality; I'm just so used to authors spelling everything out these days, that a paced and intelligent storyline threw me entirely.

And what a thriller this is. I'll definitely be reading this again.