Harry’s Game (novel)

1979 paperback cover from Collins Educational Glasgow

“A British cabinet minister is gunned down by an IRA assassin, leaving an undercover agent to track down the killer before he himself is killed. In the wake of a national outcry, Harry Brown is sent in to find out what he can, with the killer having disappeared in the city of Belfast. For Harry Brown, suspicion is cast upon him from as soon as he arrives in Belfast, during the height of The Troubles, where a single wrong move could result in your immediate danger.”

Goodreads description

Title: Harry’s Game

Author: Gerald Seymour

Published: 1975

Genre: Thriller

This book is one that I would definitely recommend if you like thrillers. It was so good it got it’s own TV miniseries (which I will review). In novels especially, it’s not how you start, but it’s how you finish, and the ending was very fitting yet stunning to this book.

This book was taken from the Troubles in 1970s Ireland, and from the accounts of some people who lived through those times, it seemed very much like what it actually was. From the upper parts of the law down to the poor towns, it very much felt like it was real.

Gerald Seymour in this was an excellent storyteller, as it was pretty compelling the whole way through. He was a journalist in the Troubles before he wrote this book, so he tried to provide a balanced narrative the whole way through. It was a nice switch from the protagonist to the antagonist, although in this book, like sometimes in real life, there isn’t one and the other.

I enjoyed this book, despite being an American and not knowing much about the Troubles. This gave me a little insight into what it was like, and at the same time, giving a great and compelling story that kept you guessing what was going to happen next.