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Blind Arrows
Dublin 1919. A city at war with itself, a cauldron of soldiers, spies, rebels and political intrigue. The mysterious and seductive Lily Merrin, secretary at Dublin Castle, is on a mission, but whose side is she on and what is compelling her to consider the ultimate sacrifice? Charismatic Irish revolutionary leader Michael Collins burns with a vision for his country, but others are plotting his downfall. And now Martin Kant, an English journalist, enters the arena. A serial killer is at large and Lily is in mortal peril. Kant must employ every sinew of his declining resources if he is to rescue not only Lily, but his own soul. Can hope survive amidst the moral ruin, and love be sustained in a time of soaring ambition and bloodshed?
256 pages, Paperback
First published September 24, 2015
1 person is currently reading
22 people want to read
About the author
Anthony Quinn
10 books28 followersAnthony Quinn (b. 1971) is an Irish author and journalist. Born in Northern Ireland’s County Tyrone, Quinn majored in English at Queen’s University, Belfast. After college, he worked a number of jobs—social worker, organic gardener, yoga teacher—before finding work as a journalist.
His first novel DISAPPEARED was published by Otto Penzler's Mysterious Press in 2012, and was shortlisted for a Strand Literary Award, as judged by book critics from the LA Times, the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, CNN and the Guardian. It was also selected by Kirkus Reviews as one of the top ten thrillers of 2012.
BORDER ANGELS, the sequel, also features Inspector Celcius Daly and was published by Mysterious Press in 2013.
He has written short stories for years, winning critical acclaim and, twice, a place on the short list for the Hennessy Literary Awards for New Irish Writing. He also placed as runner-up in a Sunday Times food writing competition. He is represented by Paul Feldstein of the Feldstein Agency.
His first novel DISAPPEARED was published by Otto Penzler's Mysterious Press in 2012, and was shortlisted for a Strand Literary Award, as judged by book critics from the LA Times, the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, CNN and the Guardian. It was also selected by Kirkus Reviews as one of the top ten thrillers of 2012.
BORDER ANGELS, the sequel, also features Inspector Celcius Daly and was published by Mysterious Press in 2013.
He has written short stories for years, winning critical acclaim and, twice, a place on the short list for the Hennessy Literary Awards for New Irish Writing. He also placed as runner-up in a Sunday Times food writing competition. He is represented by Paul Feldstein of the Feldstein Agency.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 3, 2015
Blind Arrows – A Historical Cracker
Anthony J. Quinn has written yet another brilliant historical novel that is an absolute cracker, a pleasure to read. Quinn’s style of prose is a joy to read, it as if he is personally talking to you with his Irish brogue rolling off the pages. Once again another well researched book steeped in the history of the Ireland Quinn clearly loves, with a flourish of artistic licence.
Set in Dublin at the end of the Great War when the fight for Irish Independence is underway where another war is underway. This war is different as the freedom fighters are using every trick in the book to bring the riddance of the hated British from not only Dublin but from Ireland. Led by the charismatic Michael Collins and his very able women, the British will stop at nothing to stop him in his tracks.
Martin Kant is an English war reporter for the Daily Mirror and he is in Ireland reporting on the war and doing a bit of spying on the side for the British Intelligence services at Dublin Castle. He is also interested in a number of women who have escaped from Dublin Castle and he suspects have met a very grisly end. He also meets Lily Merrin, a mysterious and seductive secretary at Dublin Castle, who also goes missing. He realises his search for her will could endanger her and him.
Kant is often in the company of spies on the British side and Michael Collins on the other who gives him a set time in which he needs to leave Ireland, if not he will be killed. At the same time the Irish Republican Army are applying pressure on Collins and accusing him of misappropriating funds. Another part of the story that Kant is aware of and kicks over the stones and finds answers that may endanger him further.
This is a fascinating fast paced novel through the Dublin of 1919, where you can see the grime, feel the heaviness and the smell the rotten smells of the poor and the horses! This is a mixture of crime and spy thriller that packs a powerful punch in a small but wonderful story. This is a book that you will love and will pass on because it is that good.
Anthony J. Quinn has written yet another brilliant historical novel that is an absolute cracker, a pleasure to read. Quinn’s style of prose is a joy to read, it as if he is personally talking to you with his Irish brogue rolling off the pages. Once again another well researched book steeped in the history of the Ireland Quinn clearly loves, with a flourish of artistic licence.
Set in Dublin at the end of the Great War when the fight for Irish Independence is underway where another war is underway. This war is different as the freedom fighters are using every trick in the book to bring the riddance of the hated British from not only Dublin but from Ireland. Led by the charismatic Michael Collins and his very able women, the British will stop at nothing to stop him in his tracks.
Martin Kant is an English war reporter for the Daily Mirror and he is in Ireland reporting on the war and doing a bit of spying on the side for the British Intelligence services at Dublin Castle. He is also interested in a number of women who have escaped from Dublin Castle and he suspects have met a very grisly end. He also meets Lily Merrin, a mysterious and seductive secretary at Dublin Castle, who also goes missing. He realises his search for her will could endanger her and him.
Kant is often in the company of spies on the British side and Michael Collins on the other who gives him a set time in which he needs to leave Ireland, if not he will be killed. At the same time the Irish Republican Army are applying pressure on Collins and accusing him of misappropriating funds. Another part of the story that Kant is aware of and kicks over the stones and finds answers that may endanger him further.
This is a fascinating fast paced novel through the Dublin of 1919, where you can see the grime, feel the heaviness and the smell the rotten smells of the poor and the horses! This is a mixture of crime and spy thriller that packs a powerful punch in a small but wonderful story. This is a book that you will love and will pass on because it is that good.
November 25, 2021
*2.5 stars
August 22, 2015
Blind Arrows - Anthony J Quinn
I read The Blood Dimmed Tide with reservations. There seemed to be an attempt for the novel to function on too many levels for it to succeed as a cohesive whole. That having said I did enjoy the book.
And so my initial response to receiving Blind Arrows from Real Readers was one of curiosity. That deepened as I read the blurb not least because, again, the author choose a real life character to weave his tale around. Only this time it was Michael Collins, not W.B.Yeats.
Whether Mr. Quinn read my review of The Blood Dimmed Tide or not I don't know !! But he seems to have achieved a more accessible level with this story and not tried to scatter it with too many sub plots.
It's a thriller interwoven with the politics of a 1919 Ireland and both need each other for the book to succeed and it does succeed in my opinion.
Something that struck me strongly was the authors solicitude for his characters and the labyrinth of intrigues that they find themselves in. there is an almost Kafkaesque atmosphere as Kant struggles to find his killer.
Also of interest and serves to depend our involvement in Kant's odyssey is that the reader is given the identity of the killer by Chapter 6 so our sensibilities as directed towards how Kant can seek out that identity. We are saved the job in one sense and therefore put all of our energies into observing if and how Kant can do it.
It's a novel of secrets; of unravelling those secrets and identities and realising that not everything is as it seems.
There's a pervasive bleakness to the whole story, perhaps because, historically, we know what happened in Ireland but I didn't feel that detracted from what is ultimately a well written book with an intriguing storyline.
I read The Blood Dimmed Tide with reservations. There seemed to be an attempt for the novel to function on too many levels for it to succeed as a cohesive whole. That having said I did enjoy the book.
And so my initial response to receiving Blind Arrows from Real Readers was one of curiosity. That deepened as I read the blurb not least because, again, the author choose a real life character to weave his tale around. Only this time it was Michael Collins, not W.B.Yeats.
Whether Mr. Quinn read my review of The Blood Dimmed Tide or not I don't know !! But he seems to have achieved a more accessible level with this story and not tried to scatter it with too many sub plots.
It's a thriller interwoven with the politics of a 1919 Ireland and both need each other for the book to succeed and it does succeed in my opinion.
Something that struck me strongly was the authors solicitude for his characters and the labyrinth of intrigues that they find themselves in. there is an almost Kafkaesque atmosphere as Kant struggles to find his killer.
Also of interest and serves to depend our involvement in Kant's odyssey is that the reader is given the identity of the killer by Chapter 6 so our sensibilities as directed towards how Kant can seek out that identity. We are saved the job in one sense and therefore put all of our energies into observing if and how Kant can do it.
It's a novel of secrets; of unravelling those secrets and identities and realising that not everything is as it seems.
There's a pervasive bleakness to the whole story, perhaps because, historically, we know what happened in Ireland but I didn't feel that detracted from what is ultimately a well written book with an intriguing storyline.
May 1, 2018
This story is set in Dublin in 1919, against a background of the turbulent struggle for Irish independence from Britain. There is a serial killer at large, and each of the main characters has a connection to the brutal murders, as well as to the political intrigues which are central to the period. If “the trick of a good spy is to hide in other people’s secrets”, this is amply demonstrated in Anthony J. Quinn’s latest novel because spies and secrets certainly abound in this tautly-plotted and well-told story. I found that all of the characters, both historical and fictional, were credible, and I thought that the author evocatively captured the moral dilemmas, as well as the labyrinthine intrigues, which drove the passions of those involved in the battle for the future of Ireland. Political intrigues and treachery formed a central part of the story and were skilfully incorporated in a very effective way. A sense of tension was created from the opening page, and this was maintained throughout the story – quite an achievement considering the fact that the identity of the murderer was revealed in Chapter 6! I enjoyed the fact that the author evoked such a powerful sense of the city of Dublin: this really enhanced my feelings of engagement with the characters and with the plot.
This story immediately engaged my interest, partly because, since my twenties, I have had a fascination with the events which lay behind this turbulent period of history. However, the quality of Quinn’s writing also played a major part, and I really appreciated the rather spare elegance of his literary style. I hadn’t previously read any of his books but will certainly now have a look at his back-list.
Thank you to Real Readers for sending me this review copy.
This story immediately engaged my interest, partly because, since my twenties, I have had a fascination with the events which lay behind this turbulent period of history. However, the quality of Quinn’s writing also played a major part, and I really appreciated the rather spare elegance of his literary style. I hadn’t previously read any of his books but will certainly now have a look at his back-list.
Thank you to Real Readers for sending me this review copy.
September 6, 2015
I was lucky enough to receive a copy of this book from Realreaders
to review. I have not read anything by Anthony J Quinn before so
his work was new to me. The book is a historical thriller set in
Dublin in 1919 amongst the turmoil and politics of the time.
Although political novels are not usually my cup of tea I was
surprised at how quickly the book grabbed my attention. Quinn has
skillfully woven both murder mystery and political thriller in one
well written book. Quinn successfully portrayed the sheer passion,
complexity, subterfuge and danger of the political troubles at the
time. The central characters of Martin Kant, reporter, Michael
Collins, infamous revolutionary leader and Lily Merrin, spy are
brought to life vividly through Quinn's descriptive and evocative
writing. Indeed his portrayal of all the different characters
showed the human side of the troubles, with all the love, lust,
treachery and self serving narcissistic behaviour creating a
multifaceted intriguing story line. There was certainly enough
history, adventure, intrigue, murder and mystery to keep the reader gripped
throughout the novel. Overall I was impressed at how various
layers of the story were interwoven without the reader feeling
overwhelmed or confused. The many twists and turns which ultimately
bring the story to its conclusion made for a gripping read.
to review. I have not read anything by Anthony J Quinn before so
his work was new to me. The book is a historical thriller set in
Dublin in 1919 amongst the turmoil and politics of the time.
Although political novels are not usually my cup of tea I was
surprised at how quickly the book grabbed my attention. Quinn has
skillfully woven both murder mystery and political thriller in one
well written book. Quinn successfully portrayed the sheer passion,
complexity, subterfuge and danger of the political troubles at the
time. The central characters of Martin Kant, reporter, Michael
Collins, infamous revolutionary leader and Lily Merrin, spy are
brought to life vividly through Quinn's descriptive and evocative
writing. Indeed his portrayal of all the different characters
showed the human side of the troubles, with all the love, lust,
treachery and self serving narcissistic behaviour creating a
multifaceted intriguing story line. There was certainly enough
history, adventure, intrigue, murder and mystery to keep the reader gripped
throughout the novel. Overall I was impressed at how various
layers of the story were interwoven without the reader feeling
overwhelmed or confused. The many twists and turns which ultimately
bring the story to its conclusion made for a gripping read.
September 5, 2015
The early twentieth century and the tumultuous affairs of Ireland feature prominently in this story of treachery and subterfuge, skilfully weaving between the political strife in Dublin in 1919, and the story of Lily Merrin, a young secretary at Dublin Castle, who becomes embroiled in a political backlash. After a chance encounter with Lily, Martin Kant, an English journalist, is concerned when he learns that she has gone missing and sets out on a mission to track Lily down. However, these are dangerous times, and Martin’s involvement is not without extreme risk. Intertwining the story with that of the charismatic revolutionary IRA leader, Michael Collins, gives an authentic historical feel to the narrative, and the air of menace which ensues, allows the story to evolve in compelling detail.
I’m always impressed by this author’s ability to tell a good story. He obviously writes about subjects he cares passionately for, and, in Blind Arrows, he shows the very human side of political strife. The characterisation is good, and the added inclusion of real political figures makes the story all the more thought-provoking. Inevitably, as the history of the period shows, this was a dangerous time in Irish politics, and the multi-layered stranding of the story clearly emphasises the uncertainty of living through such treacherous times.
I’m always impressed by this author’s ability to tell a good story. He obviously writes about subjects he cares passionately for, and, in Blind Arrows, he shows the very human side of political strife. The characterisation is good, and the added inclusion of real political figures makes the story all the more thought-provoking. Inevitably, as the history of the period shows, this was a dangerous time in Irish politics, and the multi-layered stranding of the story clearly emphasises the uncertainty of living through such treacherous times.
September 27, 2015
Once again I am indebted to Real Readers for introducing me to another new author, they provided Blind Arrows for me to read and impartially review.
This book is a standalone novel but the second part of the author’s trilogy of historical fiction based in Ireland, during the First World War and War of Independence.
According to the “blurb” on the back of this copy, Dublin 1919 is a city at war with itself, a cauldron of soldiers, spies, rebels and political intrigue, and that pretty much reflects the actual story.
There is a mix of real and fictional characters cleverly interwoven into the story, our hero is Martin Kant “Sickly” Daily Mirror reporter, who encounters and is besotted by Lily Merrin a typist employed by British Intelligence who is being forced to betray her country, his sometimes friend sometimes foe is wanted man Michael Collins charismatic Irish Republican Army leader.
Kant discovers Merrin is not the only woman accused of helping the IRA to disappear from the city and some have since been found murdered and brutally mutilated in very similar circumstances, to suggest there maybe a “lust” murderer on the loose.
Whilst this may not exactly be a gripping page turner, I had no trouble reading and enjoying the book, it was never boring, the characterisations interesting and engaging, with a likeable somewhat pitiable hero, and a cruel killer.
This book is a standalone novel but the second part of the author’s trilogy of historical fiction based in Ireland, during the First World War and War of Independence.
According to the “blurb” on the back of this copy, Dublin 1919 is a city at war with itself, a cauldron of soldiers, spies, rebels and political intrigue, and that pretty much reflects the actual story.
There is a mix of real and fictional characters cleverly interwoven into the story, our hero is Martin Kant “Sickly” Daily Mirror reporter, who encounters and is besotted by Lily Merrin a typist employed by British Intelligence who is being forced to betray her country, his sometimes friend sometimes foe is wanted man Michael Collins charismatic Irish Republican Army leader.
Kant discovers Merrin is not the only woman accused of helping the IRA to disappear from the city and some have since been found murdered and brutally mutilated in very similar circumstances, to suggest there maybe a “lust” murderer on the loose.
Whilst this may not exactly be a gripping page turner, I had no trouble reading and enjoying the book, it was never boring, the characterisations interesting and engaging, with a likeable somewhat pitiable hero, and a cruel killer.
August 14, 2015
pies and lovers prosper by hiding in the secrets of others. Dublin 1919. A city at war with itself, a cauldron of soldiers, spies, rebels and political intrigue. The mysterious and seductive Lily Merrin, secretary at Dublin Castle, is on a mission but whose side is she on and what is compelling her to consider the ultimate sacrifice?
Charismatic Irish revolutionary leader, Michael Collins burns with a vision for his country but others are plotting his downfall. And now Martin Kant, an English journalist, enters the arena. A serial killer is at large and Lily is in mortal peril. Kant must employ every sinew of his declining resources if he is not only to rescue Lily but his own soul.
Can hope survive amidst the moral ruin, and love be sustained in a time of soaring ambition and bloodshed?
What a subject - the book could have been much longer with more of the history coming out. Still I enjoyed it and would recommended it to all.
Not my usual crime fiction read and judging by the cover I would never had picked it up as the cover looks more of a romance than crime to me.
I received my copy for review from Real Readers.
Charismatic Irish revolutionary leader, Michael Collins burns with a vision for his country but others are plotting his downfall. And now Martin Kant, an English journalist, enters the arena. A serial killer is at large and Lily is in mortal peril. Kant must employ every sinew of his declining resources if he is not only to rescue Lily but his own soul.
Can hope survive amidst the moral ruin, and love be sustained in a time of soaring ambition and bloodshed?
What a subject - the book could have been much longer with more of the history coming out. Still I enjoyed it and would recommended it to all.
Not my usual crime fiction read and judging by the cover I would never had picked it up as the cover looks more of a romance than crime to me.
I received my copy for review from Real Readers.
August 9, 2015
Dublin 1919, post the Great War and Ireland is still in turmoil. Lily Merrin is a woman on a mission but for whom? What is her secret? The charismatic Michael Collins (who really existed) is leading the IRA but can he trust all his supporters? Enter Martin Kant , an English journalist who has an unexpectedly intimate meeting with Lily that leaves him with a growing desire for her and to find out her secret and what has happened to her son. A serial killer of a particularly sadistic kind is on the lose and Kant is also determined to find out who is behind the killings. Political intrigue, twists and turns abound in this tautly written, well plotted thriller. Collins, who really existed, seems true and the other characters are very believable. Early 20th century Dublin comes vividly to life. I received this book from Real Reads in exchange for a review- I confess I would not normally have picked this up in a book shop but really enjoyed it
September 5, 2015
Blind Arrows was going to be a book I would thoroughly get lost in, it contained two of my favourite genres 'History and Mystery'. The title itself hides a potential love story of trying to hit its mark which I found quite good. The concept for the story was very appeasing, but, the problem I felt was I had trouble connecting to the characters and the era. I had trouble believing they were real.
Some of the sentence structure didn't have a good rhythm and flow to it. I just couldn't get lost in the plot in the end.
I hope to re-read it one day though and give it another chance. I do also look forward to seeing other work by Anthony J. Quinn because he has a good foundation for his stories.
Some of the sentence structure didn't have a good rhythm and flow to it. I just couldn't get lost in the plot in the end.
I hope to re-read it one day though and give it another chance. I do also look forward to seeing other work by Anthony J. Quinn because he has a good foundation for his stories.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews