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Thomas Paul Burgess
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White Church, Black Mountain: A Gripping Drama of Prejudice, Corruption and Retribution Kindle Edition

by Thomas Paul Burgess (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 47 ratings
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A Belfast policeman untangles crimes dating back to the time of the Troubles—in an investigation that could undermine a fragile peace . . .

In Belfast, Northern Ireland, the fragile peace process is still haunted by the crimes of the past. When Detective Inspector Dan Watson enters an interview room, he is astonished to see the familiar face of Eban Barnard, the younger brother of his late partner and mentor Detective Superintendent Alex, who was brutally assassinated by the Provisional IRA twenty years earlier.

What Dan learns in that room defies credulity and threatens to open a Pandora’s box of secrets that will unhinge the lives of all those involved—and endanger the very peace process itself.

Based on actual events and set against the backdrop of a society's hunger for redemptive catharsis, White Church, Black Mountain is a tightly constructed, fast-paced novel of murder, politics, and a traumatic childhood secret that explores themes of prejudice, corruption, retribution, and abiding grace.

Praise for Thomas Paul Burgess’s Through Hollow Lands:

“An inventive, extravagant, high-energy thrill ride of a book.” —Irish Times
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  1. Print length
    377 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Bloodhound Books
  5. Publication date
    May 11, 2021
  6. File size
    1784 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
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  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author


Thomas Paul Burgess was born in Shankill Road, Belfast Northern Ireland. Author pic - Paul Burgess.jpg He is a published academic, novelist and song-writer / musician with his band Ruefrex. Much of his song writing, poetry, prose writing and academic publication draw on his interest in the Loyalist / Protestant working class community of Belfast and their sense of cultural identity. He worked in Short Brothers Aircraft manufacturers before leaving to pursue a BA in English Literature at the University of Ulster, under the tutelage of the late Poet, James Simmons. He later attended Oxford University studying Ethics & Moral Education and University College Cork, where he was awarded a PhD for research into social policy developments in the area of conflict resolution. He has spent periods, variously as schoolteacher; Community Relations Officer in local government in Northern Ireland; and researcher for The Opsahl Commission of Inquiry into political progress in the Province. As a songwriter and performer with his band, Ruefrex, he achieved commercial and critical success with the release of seven singles and three albums. Most notable amongst these was the scathing commentary on American funding for Irish Republican violence, ‘The Wild Colonial Boy’ which entered the UK top thirty. The British music press, comparing his work to that of Yukio Mishima, described his writing as, “…a line of poetry written in a splash of blood.” And described Ruefrex as “…the most important band in Britain” at the time. The band played a prominent role in cross-community, anti-sectarian ventures and actively lobbied and raised funds for the (religiously) Integrated Education Movement in Northern Ireland. His first novel, ‘White Church, Black Mountain’ (Matador ISBN 9781784621612) is a political thriller, dealing with the emerging ‘post-conflict’ society of Northern Ireland and exploring the legacy of ‘the troubles’ and how its residue impacts on those who seek to build a personal and communal future in its aftermath. His second novel, ‘Through Hollow Lands’ (In production) is a dark supernatural thriller based loosely on Dante’s ‘Inferno’ and follows survivors of the 9/11 attacks, through the seeming purgatory of Las Vegas. He has published a number of academic works dealing with aspects of Education (‘A Crisis of Conscience: - moral ambivalence and education in Northern Ireland’ ISBN 1 85628420 4) Social Policy (‘The Reconciliation Industry: - community relations, community identity & social policy in Northern Ireland.’ ISBN 0 7734 70441) and Cultural Identity (‘The Contested Identities of Ulster Protestants’ ISBN 9 78113745393 8) as well as a number of treatises on Youth participation in European civil society. He lives in Cork, Ireland, where he is a Senior Lecturer and Director of Youth & Community Studies at The School of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09C6L9QQT
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloodhound Books (May 11, 2021)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 11, 2021
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1784 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 377 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 47 ratings

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Thomas Paul Burgess

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
47 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Peter McCartney
5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful read
Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2015
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At turns revealing, brutal and funny. Holds up a mirror to the struggles of Northern Ireland...... a sad reflection unfortunately. A wonderful read.
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Thomas Mitchell
4.0 out of 5 stars but it is relatively easy to tell what time the author is writing about
Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2017
This is a political novel dealing with post-Good Friday Agreement (GFA) Northern Ireland. It deals with the Historic Enquiries Team (HET), a section of the Police Service of Northern Ireland charged with investigating past murders and other serious crimes from the period of The Troubles (1969-98) and the search for reconciliation. The story is a rather convoluted story about a lynching at the start of The Troubles in 1970 that has ramifications for the main character, a witness to it, down the decades. From the low bar of the numerous thrillers about the IRA set in Northern Ireland this is informative. But I found it less interesting than the pair of military thrillers by British thriller writer Gerald Seymour set in Northern Ireland. I also found it inferior to The Resurrection Men, a novel about the Shankill Butchers. The book deals with the problem of the victims of The Troubles, unionists and nationalists, who are often ignored by the political class when they aren't being used to advance the agendas of that same class. The main character is a unionist/loyalist from a working-class background. Other characters include nationalists and foreign visitors. The book leaps back and forth in time from 2014 to 1970 to 1991, but it is relatively easy to tell what time the author is writing about.
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Top reviews from other countries

camac
2.0 out of 5 stars Not thrilling
Reviewed in Spain on April 20, 2015
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It was interesting to get a look into post-civil-war Northern Ireland. I was appalled to learn that having declared amnesties and tried to find a road back to peace, they set up a body of police to investigate 'historical crimes'. Why would they? One could surmise vested interests, unrequitted hatred.

Anyway, the story itself concerns not a single character who isn't pathetic, except perhaps the 'victim' of the crime being investigated who we never get to meet and know only a little about through words of his sister who clearly was keen to see him in the best light possible.

I found the story of the man who witnessed the crime and his trauma unsympathetic. In the extreme, to be truthful. I came away feeling he created his trauma just to participate in a trauma-ridden society. This self-traumatising simply went on to cause more deaths.

Where was the reconciliation process we've heard so much about? Doesn't reconciliation make good thrillers? I would find it pretty thrilling.
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Perthstar
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding debut novel
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 18, 2015
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‘White Church, Black Mountain’ is quite simply a tour-de-force and then some. It’s clear that as a debut novel, this is a painful testimony that was a long time in gestation. (Much like that of the main character, Eban Barnard). It seems to traverse genres; thriller, serious literary fiction, harrowing documentary with (it seems to me) undeniable glimpses of auto-biography.

There have been many novels dealing with the troubled past of Ulster. However, ‘White Church, Black Mountain’ seems to genuinely transcend these with ease. It does so by bridging the past and present in an effortless-if harrowing- journey through the lives of ordinary people whose existence has been blighted, directly or indirectly by the troubles. All victims... even if some of them do not realise this.

As with the re-booted Province itself, maybe enough time had to pass for a book like this to emerge. Burgess has written something important here. Uncompromising, unapologetic, searingly honest, deeply compassionate, it is the kind of novel that comes along once in a very long while.
The kind of novel that should be on an ‘A’ Level Literature school syllabus. Most especially in Northern Ireland.

This book may well be the first authentically ‘classic’ work trying to come to terms with a society of post-conflict survivors.
5 people found this helpful
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Mucker60
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb characters and fun read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 16, 2017
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This was a very enjoyable read and I suspect that I have met every one of these characters in person at some time in the past!

The story deals with the horrible divided times of the 1970's Northern Ireland in an even handed way and also describes very well the optimism of the post troubles present day where we are encouraged to move on and look to the future. However many are caught in the cracks and find it difficult to move on.

But this is not a glum story - far from it. It has many humorous passages. The highlight for me was how Tootsie Malloy got his name. You will have to read it to find out!
2 people found this helpful
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willie graham
5.0 out of 5 stars Halfway through this excellent book, it's keeping me up too late reading ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 29, 2015
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Halfway through this excellent book , it's keeping me up too late reading it , always want to read just another chapter before sleep , and then another . Brings back many vivid memories of this dark time in our history ,
2 people found this helpful
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m d jamison
5.0 out of 5 stars Good read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 17, 2019
Verified Purchase
Great
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