Ravenhill

by John Steele

Belfast, 1993: Jackie Shaw is a young tearaway running with paramilitaries in Belfast. He treads a fine line keeping psychotic hard-man Rab Simpson in check while sleeping with gang leader Billy Tyrie’s beautiful wife on the side.

When a bomb claims nine lives, he is given the role of the getaway driver in a planned reprisal killing, a key role in a major operation. But Jackie may not be who he seems...

Twenty years later, Jackie returns to the city for his father’s funeral after disappearing in mysterious circumstances. He wants to mourn then leave, but when figures from his past emerge, he is left with no choice but to revisit his violent former life.

The first in the Jackie Shaw series, RAVENHILL is a gripping début novel from a brilliant new voice in crime fiction. The second in the series, SEVEN SKINS, is coming soon.

‘Tense, unsparing, compassionate and exceptionally well-written, this brilliant thriller brings vividly to life East Belfast in war and peace, its self-appointed community defenders turned brutal predators, and the security forces who struggled to contain them.’ Ruth Dudley Edwards

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Ebooks, Mystery

308 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

There are multiple other John Steele authors.

Please check the correct space between first and last name (^) for the correct author page.

Reviews

[Sonia Santos]

Entertaining

This was a seek thrilling tale of the Irish. It was engaging and had me enthralled by its twists and turns.

[i.s. wallace]

Not too bad

This was quite a struggle for me with it jumping from the past to the present every other chapter. A lot of the story was surrounding the Irish trouble and I feel it could have benefitted from telling how Jackie Shaw joined the RUC and how he got to be an inside man in the UVF. The book was well researched and written though and it could be interesting to see where the story goes from here.

[Dan A. Foster]

Language

Profaning the sacred and mixing with f-bombs is not literature. The story may be good but it is not worth wading through the mire.

[Nicki]

Split over two timelines, this book tells the story of Jackie Shaw, a man who leads a complicated life. In 1993, he's a young up-and-coming member of the Ulster Defence Association, a loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland. Twenty years later, his past catches up with him when he returns to Belfast for a funeral.

Jackie is an interesting character, part of a terrorist organisation, but reluctant to see anyone hurt. He's a man capable of violence when necessary, but not one who simply lashes out.

Set against the background of the Troubles, Jackie's story is interesting too in that it's from the loyalist point of view rather than the IRA. The author paints a picture of what it was like to live in Belfast in the thick of sectarian violence and how indiscriminate the taking of lives could be.

Jackie is a well-rounded character, as are many of the supporting characters - violent men, careworn women, broken victims. I enjoyed this book and will definitely pick up the sequel.

[Anne]

Irish Noir: Grim and Realistic

Sectarian Belfast then and now is depicted with affection, tempered by first-hand acquaintance with the violence always lurking just under the surface.

The Belfast-born-and-raised protagonist, Jackie Shaw, was an undercover Special Branch officer inserted into the Protestant ‘Loyalist’ UDA. Twenty years after his exfiltration, Shaw returns for his father’s funeral and is thrust back into danger. The Good Friday agreement ended that era of ‘The Troubles’ only to see the former combatants turn their expertise towards illicit (but profitable) ends. Cell leaders became gang leaders and they have long memories and well-stocked arsenals. It’s not only Jackie’s skin at risk.

Although written as fiction, much of the account of times past, and present, rings true: a warts-and-all account of hard men and a gritty city in dangerous days.

[John Murphy]

I read a lot of fiction based around the Irish conflict as I find it such an engrossing subject. Ravenshill was unique to me in that it was from the other side of the tracks if you like in that it was centred on a UDA gang and their mission to take out a top republican.
Although pure fiction there are references to real events that took place in the province and the first chapter will remind a lot of people of a fairly prominent event in the history of the 6 counties.
The story was riveting and the characters well developed and flawed to fuck. I see there is another book in this series and I'll be checking it out as soon as I finish the other 200 books in my recommended list.

[Morag Gillespie]

Absolutely brilliant debut novel from John Steele. A gripping thriller with moral struggles for Jackie Shaw. Wonderful local flavour and detail will ring true to anyone familiar with Northern Ireland, not a requirement to enjoy this great yarn though. I can't wait for the next Jackie Shaw book - pre-ordering now!

[Mr Michael R Stevens]

First In The Series

Thoroughly enjoyed this first Jackie Shaw Book, I guess several tours in Ulster around the time this story is set helped.
I know the streets he is describing and the type of people. It’s s good read flitting between the early nineties and today the author weaves the story well.
Looking forward to the next instalment.

[ged bannon]

Great book, usually with novels about the troubles in the North of Ireland there are usually either for or against 1 or the other.
In this book no sides were taken which made it a refreshing read.
The book itself is fantastic, grips you from the off and sucks you in.
You really get a feel for the main character.

[Pardner]

Hat mir nicht schlecht gefallen, wenn auch nichts sehr außergewöhnliches.
Verdeckter Ermittler, wird erst spät offengelegt, die üblichen Thriller- Cliffhänger, gähn. Aber fluffig geschrieben, very irish und man bleibt dabei. Motivation der Figuren war für mich aber häufig nicht nachvollziehbar. To be honest.

[C. Brian]

Having been born and bred in N. Ireland, and with my father, and two of my brothers being in the RUC, I found this novel interesting. However, the profanity and foul language, whilst no doubt true to the characters involved, is not necessary in a novel. There were also a couple of discrepancies that I have noted, in the text.

[Owen Scott]

Good

Loved the way the book was structured going between time. Good couple of twists and also some insight into troubles

[Alan Main]

I found the story and characters riveting,but like other reviewers found the jumping of Time zones a little disconcerting.

[Sue Dilks]

Pleasantly surprised

I've read more Irish novels that I can count but few with a Protestant point of view. Very well done.

[Didi]

Excellent story well written in Local Belfast

[Peter]

Gritty, violent and very good.

John Steele's "Ravenhill" was one of my holiday books and was unfortunately so good that that my wife accused me of neglecting her because I read it in one day, lying in the hot Egyptian sun.
It is a gritty violent excursion into the world of the Belfast para militaries who with the Good Friday Agreement morphed into organised crime gangs, trading their "ideology" for drug driven profits.
It's this murky world that Jackie Shaw returns to for his father's funeral, only to find that the present is still inextricably linked to the past; a last that he must somehow navigate to stay alive.
Highly recommended.