The Black Hand

Crime/Mystery

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In the aftermath of Ireland’s most deadly gang war, Dublin’s ruling family has scattered to the wind.

Into the void steps a criminal genius known only as The Black Hand. His organisation’s powerful grip is ruthless, bloody and barbaric.

With Europe’s biggest crime in play, The Devil needs a distraction. And The Black Hand needs Jacob Boylan to return to Irish shores. He will stop at nothing to provoke Dublin’s most lethal criminal out of hiding.

But has the wily genius misstepped? As all eyes are on Jacob, the Dublin exile carefully plans a gangland wipeout, for he is nobody’s pawn.

My Review...

While we often think of gang wars having rough and tough violent members, we must remember too that many times money and powerful well-known people are behind much of the crime. This is a story about city thugs, powerful men and yet also the small code of honor that exists among criminals.

Jonathan Dunne created a violent criminal in his book named Jacob Boylan. He built a character that you know is violent, a killer, and yet one you want to be the hero throughout the whole story. Dunne’s portraits of the crime bosses, the thugs, the cops and even Jacob’s few friends, are clear and defined. But I think it was his descriptive writing of action that made the whole thing seem as if I were watching a movie.

I can only find a small couple criticisms about this whole book. #1, this story is actually printed like two books, two novellas in one book. For a moment I thought the book had ended and that I was reading one of those samples of a new book that authors always add as teasers in the back.   Because I was desperately seeking for more information about my favorite character, Jacob, I kept reading to see if he was mentioned. This is the only way I discovered it was not two different books but rather a different view of the continuing story. #2, Dunne must have a fondness for confusing people like me by creating characters with names that begin with the same letter. In the beginning there was Jacob and Jimmy and I kept flipping back and forth to see “who was who”. It became quite clear as I continued to read but nonetheless, confusing at first. And then…wait til you hear this. There was Grace and Gladys and Gemma. Grace was a wonderfully defined character, so I had no problem with her, but Gemma and Gladys were not as important, and it took me a little time to get them straight. Then as you can imagine I began to look for other characters with names of matching first letters.

No, seriously, I am only making light and giving the author of this good book a hard time about his character names. In the long run; they were well-defined or I wouldn’t be able to name them now.

So, in summary, as I have said, this was an exciting book to read. I can 100% guarantee that unless you cheat and read the last chapter 1^st, you will never figure out who The Black Hand might be, and I am most certainly not going to tell you. Read the book!

read an excerpt...

The white Isuzu’s exterior was emblazoned with Green’s Painters and Decorators. It chugged slowly out of London. Jacob drove, as the two youngsters stared hungrily at the cash bags.

Slowly, they drove into a lonely lane, where an abandoned bungalow awaited. They showered under a rusty water pipe before changing into new clothes. The old clothes were placed in a blazing stove and burned.

It took just under two hours to count the money, which totalled £146,400. It had been a good day. Split three ways, after expenses, they bagged £47,500 each.

Jacob shook hands with his two protégés as he watched the bungalow and the van burst into flames. Eventually, all three walked through a narrow-wooded walkway and into a dimly lit car park. It was here they spoke freely.

‘Have you the lodgements separated?’ asked Jacob.

‘Yes,’ replied Donny.

Vincent nodded. Jacob scrutinised the youngsters. ‘There’s no happy ending if you play the gangster. Do you understand?’ They looked at each other. This was old ground.

‘We’ll be careful, boss,’ said Vincent.

‘Lodge it in small amounts to all accounts. Nobody minds £5,000. They do mind £50,000.’

‘Not a problem,’ said Donny.

Jacob read their faces. They were good lads, quiet and careful in their deliberations. That was rare.

‘Well done, boys. You were very professional today.’ They beamed at his words.

When they left, Jacob scanned the CCTV in the car park. It had been disabled. He opened the door to his car and drove towards Essex.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Jonathan Dunne is a native of Dublin's north inner city. The Black Hand is his second novel in the crime genre. The Takeover - his first crime novel went on to wide acclaim and regularly featured in Amazon's bestseller lists.

He is also an avid MMA journalist who has penned articles for some of Ireland's biggest publications. He holds a Degree from the Dublin Institute of Technology and is a strong advocate of lifelong learning and education. After returning to complete his leaving certificate as an adult, Jonathan has gone on to have four novels published.

Social Media Links:

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http://jonathanwdunne.wordpress.com/

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