Keepers

by Russell H. Greenan

This is Russell H. Greenan's seventh novel, published in 1979, introducing a new character to crime fiction, the highly articulate,cultured, Nigel, not averse to making a point by eating human flesh, years before the appearance of Hannibal Lecter. Nigel is kept behind bars by his politician brother whom he hates, but he has cultivated an empathetic relationship with a nurse and bides his time, discerning a special talent in a local starling, amongst other pleasures. The routine is disrupted by a new male keeper, Osgood, as a murder and its cover-up signal a change of fortune at the fortress meant to keep Nigel safely out of the way.

197 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Greenan grew up in the Bronx, had a tour of duty in the US Navy, and after attending Long Island University on the G.I. Bill, went to live in Boston in the early 1950s. For several years he worked as a traveling salesman selling industrial machine parts in remote corners of New England. His savings enabled him to travel to Nice, France where he stayed for a year to write. On his return to Boston he married Flora Bratko and opened an antique shop in Harvard Square. The business was short-lived but the experience provided an abundance of material for his subsequent career as a writer. In 1966, by then aged 40, he left his job as a ball bearing sales manager and traveled with his wife and three children to return to Nice with the intention of taking a year to finish a novel. This work was eventually published by Random House in 1968 titled It Happened in Boston? to significant acclaim.

Greenan maintained his career as an author by dividing his time between Europe and the U.S.A. and concentrating exclusively on writing novel-length works. To date ten novels by Russell H. Greenan have been published in the U.S.A. and France. Over 40 different editions of these novels have appeared in five languages.

Reviews

[Jack Strange · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greenan is a favourite author of mine, and in my view underestimated and neglected.

I love the quality of his prose, the wonderful plots of his novels, and the grotesqueness of his characters.

Keepers is about a small team of people tasked with looking after the deranged brother of a politician. He is kept in a flat with barred windows and locked doors, for his own good and for the safety of those around him.

As you would expect with Greenan, things quickly start to go wrong with the arrangement.

Ignore this book at your peril!

[🐴 🍖]

ya got your genteel madman, your impulsive murder, your new england setting, your historical trivia & puns... if greenan is taco bell then it happened in boston is his crunchwrap supreme; the other novels are the same beef & queso & whatnot rearranged into moderately less successful configurations. sure you could order something else but why not go for the apotheosis? (man now i want a baja blast)

[Hakim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though some aspects of the book did not age well at all, Keepers is a hysterical novel that is also smart and provocative. One of the things Greenan is amazing at is crafting colorful and vibrant characters; this one is full of them. Consider yourself lucky if you manage to lay hands on a copy of this book, as they're hard to come by... and if you do, enjoy the ride! It's a wild one.

[Janice Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greenan is an extraordinary author, who stopped writing in English years ago, so it is difficult to find his books. (According to Wikipedia he still has a following in France - so if you can read French...) I went to some lengths to find this book, which I read for the second time in 2003. The story is carried by a an amusing, complex, and totally cunning character, Nigel. I'm afraid to reveal too much beyond that from my notes, they are loaded with spoilers.