Reviewed By Liz

ISBN 1-55970-310-5

Divorcing Jack was like a blast from the past. Do you remember when the news from Northern Ireland always started with a body count? How many bombs in x number of pubs killed so many people. Film at 11:00. Divorcing Jack was written in 1995 by Bateman, a native of Northern Ireland, and he gives us a glimpse of what life was like during that time - an insightful, sometimes humorous, and often horrible peek.

Divorcing Jack is about Dan Starkey, a journalist, a native of Belfast, a frequent imbiber, and a first time philanderer who is immediately caught by his wife. His new female companion takes him home and then is promptly murdered while Dan runs out for pizza. It turns out she is related to someone important and Dan finds himself caught up in some very dirty politicking going on behind the scenes in preparation for the upcoming election.

Yes, there are some funny bits like the mysterious nun and the absurd practical aspects of living in a city divided, like the impossibility of getting a cab across town. But what strikes you most is the gross waste of human life described in the book. Frankly, I was glad to finish this book – it looks like entertainment but has a deeper moral there that stays with you.

The plot is interesting and the characters are very believable and sympathetic (you hope that he doesn’t kill them ALL off!) and I am sure that the setting was all too real.

Favorite character? The nun. Did I guess it? Yes. Will I read another? Perhaps. I would love to read a lighter book by Bateman, who obviously has the talent to write dry, witty characters in stories that suck the reader in.

Mystery Book Reviews by Liz at http://reviewedbyliz.com ©2007

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