Terrible Angel: Michael Collins - Hardcover

Mcevoy, Dermot

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1585747424 ISBN 13: 9781585747429

Publisher: The Lyons Press, 2002

Synopsis

In this intriguing work, an Irish hero seeks redemption on the streets of NewYork 70 years after his death.

About this title

Review

"The great tradition of Irish-American literature welcomes a bright new light with this stunning first novel. ..In this colorful, suspenseful, moving imagining by McEvoy, a PW contributing editor, Collins awakens in Heaven after 70 years in Purgatory to be handed a task that will determine his soul's final fate: God, with Michael the Archangel as his intermediary, orders Collins to go to Manhattan to spring from behind bars one Martin Twomey, falsely accused of terrorism and about to be extradited to Britain to stand trial; the hitch is that Collins must not use violence to free Twomey. In New York, Collins makes contact with several IRA sympathizers, confronts several enemies-most notably a corrupt NYPD detective and the sadistic head of MI-5's Belfast Division-and, taking inspiration from a common street scam, hatches a clever plan. McEvoy's meticulous depictions of the city's neighborhoods and characters reveal a deep knowledge and love of Gotham; the salty, witty dialogue expertly sparks the narrative as the pages surge toward their satisfying conclusion. Mostimpressive is the author's rich portrayal of Collins, here neither saint nor devil but a flawed, good man struggling to do right without resorting to the ease of bloodshed. In Collins's heartfelt, necessarily brief affair with a Jewish waitress, McEvoy captures the poignancy of human temporality; in this novel as a whole, he captures, in a voice as fresh as sea spray, theindomitable romance of the Irish spirit."--"Pulishers Weekly "

From the Back Cover

On August 22, 1922, Michael Collins was assassinated at Beal na mBlath in County Cork. The charismatic Collins was 31 years old and the leader of the Irish Free State. In the previous six years he had been busy: He fought in the 1916 Easter Rebellion, invented the IRA, financed the new Irish state, assassinated the entire British Secret Service in Dublin, and negotiated the treaty that drove the British out of twenty-six counties of Ireland for the first time in 700 years. Terrible Angel, Dermot McEvoy's suspenseful and lightning-paced romp through New York's streets, finds Collins 70 years after his bloody death desperately seeking to make amends for his violent life by completing one last worldly mission: springing a wrongly accused Irishman from the clutches of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, the British MI-5, and a certain life sentence in a British jail. You'll meet a cast of characters who entertain, frighten, and amaze: Tommy Butler-a 275-pound bartender at Greenwich Village's famed Lion's Head saloon, who can tell a tale and handle a thug with equal ease. Earl Holder-a black retired detective first grade, NYPD, with a nose for intelligence and a passion for justice. Sadie Robinson-a homeless woman who becomes Collins's guide to a grimy underworld that few New Yorkers ever see. Naomi Ottinger-the sexy Village bartender who knows what she wants, and she wants Michael Collins. Quentin Quinney-a double-dealing detective in the NYPD's intelligence unit who's after Collins's head. Sir Ian Boxer-Clegg-chief of MI-5's Belfast Division, with a penchant for the more exotic things in life, be they fine wines, young boys, or fugitive Fenians. Dermot McEvoy was born in Dublin in 1950 and emigrated to New York with his family in 1954. A graduate of Hunter College, he has worked in publishing his entire career. Terrible Angel is his first novel.

About this edition

• Publisher: The Lyons Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1585747424
• ISBN 13: 9781585747429
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304