Blind Arrows

By Anthony Quinn

Dublin 1919. A city at war with itself, a cauldron of soldiers, spies, rebels and political intrigue. The mysterious and seductive Lily Merrin, secretary at Dublin Castle, is on a mission, but whose side is she on and what is compelling her to consider the ultimate sacrifice? Charismatic Irish revolutionary leader Michael Collins burns with a vision for his country, but others are plotting his downfall. And now Martin Kant, an English journalist, enters the arena. A serial killer is at large and Lily is in mortal peril. Kant must employ every sinew of his declining resources if he is to rescue not only Lily, but his own soul. Can hope survive amidst the moral ruin, and love be sustained in a time of soaring ambition and bloodshed?

• Language: English
• Publisher: No Exit
• Release date: Sep 25, 2015
• ISBN: 9781843445364

Anthony Quinn

Anthony Quinn (b. 1971) is an Irish author and journalist. Born in Northern Ireland’s County Tyrone, Quinn majored in English at Queen’s University, Belfast. After college, he worked a number of odd jobs—social worker, organic gardener, yoga teacher—before finding work as a journalist. He has written short stories for years, winning critical acclaim and, twice, a place on the short list for the Hennessy Literary Awards for New Irish Writing. His book Disappeared was nominated for the Strand Critics Award for Best Debut Novel, and Kirkus Reviews named it to their list of 2012’s Top 10 Best Crime Novels. Quinn also placed as runner-up in a Sunday Timesfood writing competition. Border Angels is his second novel, the sequel to Disappeared, which also features Inspector Celcius Daly. Quinn continues his work as a journalist, reporting on his home county for the Tyrone Times. 

Reviews for Blind Arrows

[shizz_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Blind Arrows - Anthony J QuinnI read The Blood Dimmed Tide with reservations. There seemed to be an attempt for the novel to function on too many levels for it to succeed as a cohesive whole. That having said I did enjoy the book.And so my initial response to receiving Blind Arrows from Real Readers was one of curiosity. That deepened as I read the blurb not least because, again, the author choose a real life character to weave his tale around. Only this time it was Michael Collins, not W.B.Yeats.Whether Mr. Quinn read my review of The Blood Dimmed Tide or not I don't know !! But he seems to have achieved a more accessible level with this story and not tried to scatter it with too many sub plots.It's a thriller interwoven with the politics of a 1919 Ireland and both need each other for the book to succeed and it does succeed in my opinion.Something that struck me strongly was the authors solicitude for his characters and the labyrinth of intrigues that they find themselves in. there is an almost Kafkaesque atmosphere as Kant struggles to find his killer.Also of interest and serves to depend our involvement in Kant's odyssey is that the reader is given the identity of the killer by Chapter 6 so our sensibilities as directed towards how Kant can seek out that identity. We are saved the job in one sense and therefore put all of our energies into observing if and how Kant can do it.It's a novel of secrets; of unravelling those secrets and identities and realising that not everything is as it seems.There's a pervasive bleakness to the whole story, perhaps because, historically, we know what happened in Ireland but I didn't feel that detracted from what is ultimately a well written book with an intriguing storyline.

[atticusfinch1048 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Blind Arrows – A Historical CrackerAnthony J. Quinn has written yet another brilliant historical novel that is an absolute cracker, a pleasure to read. Quinn’s style of prose is a joy to read, it as if he is personally talking to you with his Irish brogue rolling off the pages. Once again another well researched book steeped in the history of the Ireland Quinn clearly loves, with a flourish of artistic licence.Set in Dublin at the end of the Great War when the fight for Irish Independence is underway where another war is underway. This war is different as the freedom fighters are using every trick in the book to bring the riddance of the hated British from not only Dublin but from Ireland. Led by the charismatic Michael Collins and his very able women, the British will stop at nothing to stop him in his tracks.Martin Kant is an English war reporter for the Daily Mirror and he is in Ireland reporting on the war and doing a bit of spying on the side for the British Intelligence services at Dublin Castle. He is also interested in a number of women who have escaped from Dublin Castle and he suspects have met a very grisly end. He also meets Lily Merrin, a mysterious and seductive secretary at Dublin Castle, who also goes missing. He realises his search for her will could endanger her and him.Kant is often in the company of spies on the British side and Michael Collins on the other who gives him a set time in which he needs to leave Ireland, if not he will be killed. At the same time the Irish Republican Army are applying pressure on Collins and accusing him of misappropriating funds. Another part of the story that Kant is aware of and kicks over the stones and finds answers that may endanger him further.This is a fascinating fast paced novel through the Dublin of 1919, where you can see the grime, feel the heaviness and the smell the rotten smells of the poor and the horses! This is a mixture of crime and spy thriller that packs a powerful punch in a small but wonderful story. This is a book that you will love and will pass on because it is that good.