brutal and uncomfortable account of certain aspects of the troubles. it puts out uncomfortable truths and evidence based speculation at the heart of its writing making it engaging and stomach turning. it is effectively a murder mystery with a loose timeline of the troubles woven throughout to emphasis the ending point of the book. i don’t want this to sound like i dislike the book or thought it to be untrue because that couldn’t further from the truth, but i don’t think i would personally recommend it as a book for someone trying to get into the history of the troubles. like i said, it feels more like a narrative into the murder of jean mcconville exclusively, which is incredibly fascinating and heartbreaking, rather than an account of the troubles itself. it is a incredibly well written and focused account of certain people throughout the troubles and brings a lot of uncomfortable questions to the table regarding the legacy of violence in the north and consequences of that violence.