Ceecee's Reviews > Northern Spy

** spoiler alert ** Tessa works for the BBC in Belfast on a weekly political programme and gets the shock of her life when her sister Marion appears on TV participating in an IRA robbery of a petrol station. What unfolds is a scary journey for Tessa whose overriding thoughts are about protecting her baby son Finn. The story is told by Tessa.

First of all, the book definitely grabs your attention and there are certainly some scary and tense scenes as the threat level in Northern Ireland escalates. I like the premise of just how well do you actually know someone as Marion sure fools Tessa for years and it also about how a parent will do all they can to survive in order to protect a much loved child.

However, I have major issues with the book. The writing is very dispassionate except when describing Finn but I’ll give the author the benefit of the doubt on that one and assume that is deliberate and that Tessa’s actions are out of numbness rather than lack of emotion. I think the book would have been much more interesting and revealing if we’d had Marion’s perspective, after all its mostly her story. There are big plot holes such as Marion’s unmasked revealed face at the petrol station (she did put it on), that’s a rookie error that someone with seven years experience in the IRA would not make. Once the NI police know that Marion is IRA then no way would the cell ask Tessa to scout for them as they know Tessa would be under surveillance nor would Marion then attend a wedding for the same reason. I could go on as there’s at least one more especially towards the end. My biggest problem is that it describes the province during the Troubles and not years on from the Good Friday Agreement. I checked three times that it is set post GFA! I absolutely acknowledge this is a work of fiction and also that the problems have not magically gone away but I think it’s misleading. However, that’s just my opinion and others may feel differently. On a smaller point although I really like how the book gets its title, Northern Spy apples are not widely available in the UK and I’d never heard of them before!!

Overall, I really liked Flynn Berry’s previous books and I’ll always want to read what she comes up with but this one is not for me. There are some very good sections in it however not sufficient to outweigh my issues.

With thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for the arc in return for an honest review.