The Abstainer was the first book by Ian McGuire I have ever read.
I enjoyed the beginning of the story, the voice and the dynamics. I really liked the historical base: Manchester in the late 19th century and the division within society, the Fenians and non-acceptance of Irish or any other migrants within British society.
However, by the middle the story left me. I found it too slow-buring and too much of mind-searching mumblings, I read on because I wanted to see how the story ends and how will prevail at the end. Well, the ending left me wanting...
Unfortunately, what started as an interesting read ended up being a very long and dragging.

Like his stunning "The North Water," Ian McGuire's "The Abstainer" pits good against evil, but this time the devil, ex-Civil-War hard man, Stephen Doyle, come to nineteenth-century England to wreak death on behalf of Irish terrorists, rides in nuanced with war's burdens. And this time the steady hero, policeman James O'Connor, sags under the burden of family loss and alcoholism. When O'Connor's valiant tracking efforts are subverted, his world unravels. The author writes dense, propulsive prose that evokes the dark, dank times and captures the intrinsic savagery of the battle between the Irish and the English. As in "The North Shore," the result is a tale of unfettered brutality and inexorable tragedy. However, "The Abstainer" lurches rather than glides through the story, and the duel between troubled cop and troubled killer somehow fails to achieve gravity. Even the Cormac-McCarthy-homage of a finale, impressive as it is, cannot lift this dark tale above the tale itself. A fine read but not a patch on its predecessor.

‘I do my duty, sir … as best I can.’

Manchester, 1867. The Fenians are intent on ending British rule in Ireland. Three men, the Manchester Martyrs— William Phillip Allen, Michael Larkin, and Michael O’Brien— are to be executed for the murder of a police officer in Manchester. A new cycle of violence is about to begin.

Two men are central to this novel.

James O’Connor has left Dublin. The death of his wife had driven him to drink and has made a sober start as Head Constable in Manchester. His mission is to discover the plans of the Fenians and thwart them. He has a network of informers.

Stephen Doyle, an Irish American veteran of the American Civil War and a Fenian, arrives in Manchester from New York. He is seeking vengeance: a high-profile assassination in retaliation. On the same boat as Stephen Doyle, is Michael O’Sullivan, James O’Connor’s nineteen-year-old nephew.

The fates of Doyle and O’Connor become entwined. Informers become victims; O’Connor becomes a convenient scapegoat. His tentative hopes for the future are dashed.

The novel starts as a police procedural and then becomes thriller, as Doyle’s plans near conclusion. We learn about both men: their flaws and strengths.

And then there is a twist, which takes the action to America.

This is a tense, well-developed story with a couple of twists which both held my attention and had me wondering about justice.

Highly recommended.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster (Australia) for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith