Blackwatertown, County Armagh 1950s
- Book: Blackwatertown
- Location: County Armagh, County Tyrone, Ireland, Northern Ireland
- Author: Paul Waters
BLACKWATERTOWN by Paul Waters
Sergeant Jolly Macken didn’t want to be a policeman anymore. He hated his job. He is a catholic in the mostly Protestant RUC and, when he is demoted and transferred to Blackwatertown, a sleepy border town in County Armagh, things go from bad to worse for him.
Blackwatertown is a thriller set in a sleepy village on the Irish border in the 1950s – and tells what happens when a maverick cop goes looking for a killer. The story follows Jolly Macken and his (mis)adventures over the course of a week. And what a week it turns out to be.
Considering the time and place in which the book is set, I was expecting a dark, desperate and depressing tale, but it is, in fact quite funny. Laugh out loud funny in places.
Don’t, however, be lulled into a false sense of security – this is still a dark and tense thriller, full of fast-moving action, explosions, shootings and deaths. But it is also a story of ordinary people, religion and superstition, intolerance, acceptance, love and (com)passion.
As the novel progresses, the story, the action and the relationships between the characters become darker and more complex as they lead the reader towards a truly disturbing and unimaginable climax.
The author, also a journalist and radio producer, is perhaps more used to telling stories in a succinct and direct manner. But in Blackwatertown he takes time to conjour just the right sentence or phrase to perfectly and poetically describe a person or a location. It has a cinematic feel about it and the characters and scenes are brought to life through his carefully adopted words.
This is a brilliant debut novel from the author which I enjoyed very much. In fact, it is so full of incident and action that it could quite easily have filled three volumes. And Jolly Macken is such a magnificent character that he should at least, get his own three book series!
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