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Retribution
After a mysterious disappearance on the canal, Jock turns up in Belfast gun-running for the IRA during the 'troubles'. He hatches a more lucrative scheme with a Palestinian and the story follows the conspiracy to divert weapons to the Black September Organisation. Helen, Jock's erstwhile partner in a previous black market scam, is reunited with her son after a prison sentence and she fears for her safety while Jock is at large. We follow the arms shipment by road, Grand Union Canal and sea to a destination on the Suffolk coast where Jock is ultimately served his final retribution.
302 pages, Paperback
Published April 8, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 17, 2021
Content warning: Organised crime, Terrorism, Death, Murder, Violence
I don’t usually gravitate to historical fiction but when I read the synopsis I got exited to see how Bob Bennett would explore the 1970s and the gun-running concept which I believe is difficult too do well.
The narrative provided instant intrigue as I found myself wanting to uncover the mystery of the past with Ben as he found his mother again and began to understand her past. The ‘gun running’ concept gave me definite Sons Of Anarchy vibes, I recommend Retrubution if you enjoyed this show, or shows like it.
There is a lot of jumping from POV to POV throughout which made it confusing at times to keep up with the different characters and plot lines, I would have prefered if we stayed with a select few characters so we could develop their story instead of trying to keep track of such a large cast.
With so many different character types it was easy to choose people to root for, however they keep you questioning your decisions as most, if not all, the characters make questionable and at times morally ambiguous decisions.
Throughout I was dumbfounded at how Jock always managed to escape being caught and how he’s managed to survive so long without getting arrested or killed when he seemed to make reckless decisions regularly.
Also his dialogue was difficult to decipher in places as it leaned into the Scottish colloquialisms a bit too much.
I hadn’t anticipated the ending and found myself pleasantly surprised with the turn of events for Jock’s final retribution.
Overall this book just wasn’t for me unfortunately, although I recommend for anyone looking for a tense action packed read.
I don’t usually gravitate to historical fiction but when I read the synopsis I got exited to see how Bob Bennett would explore the 1970s and the gun-running concept which I believe is difficult too do well.
The narrative provided instant intrigue as I found myself wanting to uncover the mystery of the past with Ben as he found his mother again and began to understand her past. The ‘gun running’ concept gave me definite Sons Of Anarchy vibes, I recommend Retrubution if you enjoyed this show, or shows like it.
There is a lot of jumping from POV to POV throughout which made it confusing at times to keep up with the different characters and plot lines, I would have prefered if we stayed with a select few characters so we could develop their story instead of trying to keep track of such a large cast.
With so many different character types it was easy to choose people to root for, however they keep you questioning your decisions as most, if not all, the characters make questionable and at times morally ambiguous decisions.
Throughout I was dumbfounded at how Jock always managed to escape being caught and how he’s managed to survive so long without getting arrested or killed when he seemed to make reckless decisions regularly.
Also his dialogue was difficult to decipher in places as it leaned into the Scottish colloquialisms a bit too much.
I hadn’t anticipated the ending and found myself pleasantly surprised with the turn of events for Jock’s final retribution.
Overall this book just wasn’t for me unfortunately, although I recommend for anyone looking for a tense action packed read.
August 5, 2021
Just my mind if book
A lovely read following on from Easier Than it Seems, well researched details in an era that holds a lot of interest to me. Very believable characters make for nothing not to like I can't wait for the next one.
A lovely read following on from Easier Than it Seems, well researched details in an era that holds a lot of interest to me. Very believable characters make for nothing not to like I can't wait for the next one.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews