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Brond
After witnessing the mysterious Brond push a child off Kelvingrove Bridge, student Robert is drawn into Brond's plan to trap a dangerous IRA killer. "Brond" is a high-octane page-turner, full of political intrigue, a tale of evil and exploitation in the nightmarish landscape of a Glasgow where nothing is as it seems. Lindsay's writing is formidable and at its most thrilling and most unpredictable here. "Brond" was adapted into a memorable three-part series for Channel 4, directed by Michael Caton-Jones, and starring John Hannah and Stratford Johns.
- GenresFiction
208 pages, Hardcover
First published April 24, 1987
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25 people want to read
About the author
Frederic Lindsay
22 books2 followersFrederic Lindsay was a Scottish crime writer who was born in Glasgow and lived in Edinburgh. He was a full-time writer from 1979 and previously worked as a lecturer, teacher and library assistant.
Eight of Lindsay's thirteen novels are police procedurals featuring Detective Inspector Jim Meldrum, an officer with Lothian and Borders Police, as their main protagonist.
In 1987, his novel Brond was made into a three-part television series for Channel 4 directed by Michael Caton-Jones and featuring the actors Stratford Johns, John Hannah and James Cosmo.
Lindsay also wrote for radio and the stage.
Eight of Lindsay's thirteen novels are police procedurals featuring Detective Inspector Jim Meldrum, an officer with Lothian and Borders Police, as their main protagonist.
In 1987, his novel Brond was made into a three-part television series for Channel 4 directed by Michael Caton-Jones and featuring the actors Stratford Johns, John Hannah and James Cosmo.
Lindsay also wrote for radio and the stage.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 29, 2021
2.5 but I'm not feeling generous. There were a few lines that I would reread and think wow, if there was more of that I'd love it. These were just glimpses of hope though. Overall I found it quite convoluted and iffy. I am from Scotland so know the real world settings really well, but even so I wasnt able to picture the book's world.. Which was definitely down to the writing. I also hated the main character immediately but not in any sort of satisfying, clever way. He was just a boring, creepy, controlling guy with an underdeveloped backstory.
August 9, 2019
One of the 100 best Scottish Books.
Glasgow University student Richard sees a man throw a boy off a bridge into the River Kelvin but at first thinks he must have imagined it. Through the medium of fellow student Margaret Briody, whom he fancies and who asks him to deliver a package for her, it is not long before he is drawn into a complex situation involving IRA sleepers, multiple murder and the machinations of agents of the state against Scottish independence activists (though this last does not become clear until quite late on in the book.) Chief of those agents is the mysterious Brond of the title, whose baleful presence pervades the novel.
Before settling into the more or less standard thriller mode, though with the odd philosophical aside, the narrative has a tendency to be slightly overwritten, as if Lindsay is trying too hard, though there are some fine touches. (Of the noise-propagating acoustics of the University of Glasgow’s Reading Room Robert says, “It was such a drawback in a library I was sure the architect must have won a clutch of awards.”)
The politics of the plot are mostly relegated to the background. One character describes Scotland as a valuable piece of real estate, another opines, “here in Scotland we have this difficulty finding our voice.” One English girl questions Robert, “‘What do you mean “accent”?’” before adding, “‘I don’t talk like a Cockney... I talk like ordinary people who sound as if they don’t come from anywhere.’” One of the spooks speaks of the necessity “‘to forestall ... the risk, however remote, of the natives here getting restless.’”
In my view there are too many thriller/crime novels on that “100 Best” list. Brond is yet another. I can see, because of the background politics, why some people might regard it as a significant Scottish novel but it doesn’t, to my mind, really address the nature of Scottishness, or go much beyond “the state acts in its own interests” trope though it incidentally reflects attitudes of some English people to their neighbours.
It does, however, all pass easily enough but I was never able to suspend my disbelief to the required degree.
Glasgow University student Richard sees a man throw a boy off a bridge into the River Kelvin but at first thinks he must have imagined it. Through the medium of fellow student Margaret Briody, whom he fancies and who asks him to deliver a package for her, it is not long before he is drawn into a complex situation involving IRA sleepers, multiple murder and the machinations of agents of the state against Scottish independence activists (though this last does not become clear until quite late on in the book.) Chief of those agents is the mysterious Brond of the title, whose baleful presence pervades the novel.
Before settling into the more or less standard thriller mode, though with the odd philosophical aside, the narrative has a tendency to be slightly overwritten, as if Lindsay is trying too hard, though there are some fine touches. (Of the noise-propagating acoustics of the University of Glasgow’s Reading Room Robert says, “It was such a drawback in a library I was sure the architect must have won a clutch of awards.”)
The politics of the plot are mostly relegated to the background. One character describes Scotland as a valuable piece of real estate, another opines, “here in Scotland we have this difficulty finding our voice.” One English girl questions Robert, “‘What do you mean “accent”?’” before adding, “‘I don’t talk like a Cockney... I talk like ordinary people who sound as if they don’t come from anywhere.’” One of the spooks speaks of the necessity “‘to forestall ... the risk, however remote, of the natives here getting restless.’”
In my view there are too many thriller/crime novels on that “100 Best” list. Brond is yet another. I can see, because of the background politics, why some people might regard it as a significant Scottish novel but it doesn’t, to my mind, really address the nature of Scottishness, or go much beyond “the state acts in its own interests” trope though it incidentally reflects attitudes of some English people to their neighbours.
It does, however, all pass easily enough but I was never able to suspend my disbelief to the required degree.
December 16, 2024
I read this book because I thought it would help me understand the TV series which I had recently watched. It turned out that the TV series had stuck closely to the book and no enlightenment was forthcoming. Both were at times maddening but at the same time fascinating. People often describe something that is hard to understand as a jigsaw puzzle with some of the pieces missing. Brond is like a jigsaw puzzle with too many pieces. However you put it together, there are always pieces left over. Cryptic it certainly is. It remains an engrossing and frustrating product of its time.
January 3, 2016
A lot of the time I didn't have a clue what was going on in this novel, so disconnected and rambling the voice of the narrator, but understanding at the same time that was the point. And so much of the time, the writing was compelling, as was the pull to try and understand, that I stayed with it. And will re-read to better appreciate, since an unusually disjointed first go at this did it no favours either.
September 9, 2014
I struggled at the start of this book as it was not clear to me what was happening and what was just happening in the main character's imagination. I enjoyed it more later on as the author knows how to tell a story but for me he did not really have a story worth telling. All too cryptic and mysterious for me. I doubt I will read any more of his books.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews