Picador USA
New York - ©1992 - 271pp
ISBN: 0-312-26766-5
In 1921, Ben Sheridan learns that his Irish-American father is not his real father after he dies from Ben's blood transfusion. Ben seeks out the truth, and his real father, in Ireland and becomes involved in the bloody Irish Republican Army war against the brutal British troops.
I like Watkins' style, reminding me somewhat of Hemingway. His prose seems very laid-back, almost lethargic, yet his action sequences of fighting in the war take your breath away.
I love the set up...the father dying because what would seem to be a straightforward blood transfusion fails because Ben is not the real son -- something he never knew.
Becoming involved in the IRA through deception and circumstance works well, but I do feel that Watkins missed out on giving us (and Ben) the information we were looking for about his American father. The meeting between Ben and his real father happens after the book ends, and that works, but without the information that we were off to learn, I feel cheated.
To be fair, information does come about, but it seems (even to Ben, I think) romanticized fondness or jealous anger and I never felt that the truth was anywhere in there.
I like Paul Watkins and will seek out more of his work, but this is not one I'd recommend to a new-comer.
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