by Flynn Berry
First published 2021
Tessa works as a producer at BBC Belfast when breaking news arrives about an IRA robbery at a gas station. As the anchor asks viewers to help identify the masked perpetrators, Tessa watches in horror as her sister Marian appears on screen, pulling a black mask over her face. The police suspect Marian has joined the IRA, but Tessa knows this cannot be true. The sisters were raised to reject Republican violence and have attended peace vigils side by side. Besides, Marian told her yesterday she was relaxing at the seaside. When Tessa discovers what really happened to her sister, she faces an agonizing decision between her principles and her family loyalty. She must choose between staying safe on the sidelines or taking dangerous action. Every step she takes puts her deeper in peril, and she fears most for her infant son, whom she loves even more than Marian. Set against the backdrop of post Good Friday Agreement Belfast, where bomb threats and military helicopters have become routine, the story explores the crushing weight of an unresolved conflict on ordinary families.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, contemporary, political-thriller, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, fast-paced, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-drama, moral-dilemma, principles-vs-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: BBC Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Period: Post Good Friday Agreement
288 pages · Hardcover · Viking
Content warnings: anxiety, depression, violence