February's Son by Alan Parks

          So, I've more or less given up on the whole Crime / Thriller genre as it seems to provide nothing but tired old cliches and convoluted plots with more holes than a mesh bag.  One little explored area for me is the whole Tartan Noir thing and as this seemed to fit - well it's set in Glasgow with a very Scottish set of characters - why not give it a go?

You know what, I'm supremely glad I did!

Harry McCoy is your typical damaged detective, how my heart sunk at the first couple of chapters when I realised this. But, and it is a huge one, he is damaged in the right way.  He doesn't go all Maverick on the reader, he tries to follow the rules but just seems to slip between the cracks of legality once in a while.  He is very definitely Old School though and thinks nothing of threatening, and enacting, violence to get a confession.  Maybe this is why the book is set in 1973, it's not a stretch of the imagination to see an Officer of the Crown acting in this way.

Throw in his complete lack of an upbringing and you can understand his actions and why some of his friends are very definitely rooted in the Underworld.  I don't know how far this is explored in the first book but I will definitely be going back and finding out.  It certainly has a huge impact on this storyline but without feeling contrived or inserted as a get out clause, it is just part of Harry.

The plot is as much about the relationships Harry has with his superior Murray, his sub-ordinate Wattie and his childhood friend Stevie as it is about the investigation in to the gruesome rooftop murder of an up and coming footballer.  Everything does cycle around the opening event but often takes unexpected paths which don't necessarily feel like they have a basis in reality but the writing hooks you in and holds you there; mainly through dialogue which is profane but accurately reflects the time and place.

I honestly found so much to enjoy about this novel that does break from the genre in that it is much more about how your past influences your present.  The whole Glaswegian Gang Culture and the place the Police occupy in it is accurately reflected for the time period and feels strangely nostalgic.  The bad guys are bad but strangely empathetic, even the ever fragmenting Connolly has a pathos to him.

Written with a verve and gusto that doesn't allow Harry to take himself too seriously it means that all the characters come alive on the page.  Whilst women are pretty much given a back seat the ones that do appear are disparate in background and wholly believable as characters.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read and am looking forward to reading much more from this author.

THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED FROM READERS FIRST.