Trouble

by Michael Gilbert

Anthony Leone, a savvy London parole officer, has the dual mission of monitoring warring youths in a racially tense waterfront neighborhood and aiding the army and the police in an attempt to capture an escaped terrorist and thwart a major IRA offensive. In a desperate race against time he uncovers an appallingly brilliant and complex scheme

Genres: Mystery

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Born in Lincolnshire in 1912, Michael Francis Gilbert was educated in Sussex before entering the University of London where he gained an LLB with honours in 1937. Gilbert was a founding member of the British Crime Writers Association, and in 1988 he was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America - an achievement many thought long overdue. He won the Life Achievement Anthony Award at the 1990 Boucheron in London, and in 1980 he was knighted as a Commander in the Order of the British Empire. Gilbert made his debut in 1947 with Close Quarters, and since then has become recognized as one of our most versatile British mystery writers.

He was the father of Harriett Gilbert.

Reviews

[Edgar Raines · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a Michael Gilbert fan for many years. This is one of his best novels, intricately plotted, told from multiple points of view. In this book, Gilbert provides a slice-of-life look at Great Britain in the 1980s---a Russian, possibly a Soviet agent, attempts to bring a load of high explosive into London for the IRA's intended Christmas bombing campaign while feuding security agencies attempt to disrupt the plan. These efforts play out in the context of feuding youth gangs---white and Pakistani---with outsiders attempting to inflame the situation.

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set against racial tensions in 1980's London, Parole Officer Anthony Leone is tasked with keeping tabs on two gangs of boys - one group Pakistani, and one group English. Taking on the fight of their fathers, the two sets of boys hate one another for their color as much as anything else. Leone is soon pulled into a bigger investigation when authorities realize that what looks like troubled youth may be a part of a bigger plot. Leone is in the best position to monitor the boys, while the police force, the army, and even special forces all team up to avert an attack on their country by the IRA.

This book delivers tension in spades. It's a well laid out mystery, though at times the sequence of events gets confusing, as does keeping all the characters straight. In part I think this happens because of Gilbert's extreme commitment to keep the identities of many of his characters hidden for a bigger unveiling. What you don't understand won't hurt you, though, as the major players and sinister plot become clear in the end.

[Lila · Rating 4 out of 5]

A complex plot that goes on for sometime as we wait for the parallel plot lines to converge. Focus is on the conflict between two groups of boys whose adolescent conflicts feed into England's racism.