The Quaker

Glesga Ripper

As someone who calls the Dear Green Place home, I was keen to read this novel. Even when the subject matter is as dark as this, there's something pleasing in understanding all of the streets and venues mentioned and understanding the Glaswegian Scots patter. Very pleased I live in the city as it is today, rather than in the 1960s - this book paints a grim, yet from what I understand, accurate past.

In many ways, this is a book about basic human rights. I'm sure it won't be sold as such, but it recognises the danger to women when they choose to do nothing more than go to a simple dance hall for a night out and when people make life choices that don't accord with others' belief systems.

The details are in part gory, as the victims "re-live" the nights of the crimes involved and I found myself wanting things to end differently, even though I knew what was going to happen.

The pace of the book was wonderful - really kept me wondering how it was going to finish and I think that, given the ending, we'll be seeing more of McCormack!

Many thanks to NetGalley, HarperCollins UK and Liam McIlvanney for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

THE QUAKER by Liam McIlvanney is an atmospheric Thriller that grips the imagination in the harshness of a 1969 Glasgow. The attention to detail is breathtaking. I could smell the cigarette smoke, the damp, and the sweat. I felt totally immersed in the story.

The lead character, DI McCormack searches for the truth in a case that sees women dying in terrible circumstances. The writing is refreshing and gritty.

Thank you to #Netgalley and #HarperCollins for the opportunity to review this book. #THEQUAKER

★★★★★ 5 STARS

I have never read anything by Mcllvanney before but I will definitely read more.
I was totally absorbed in this tale, loosely based on a real life event that happened in Glasgow in the 1960’s, DI Duncan McCormack is set the task of investigating a series of murder a that happened several months previously. A fast paced , gritty and terrifying read. Highly recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this publication in return for a honest and unbaised review. As someone who loves this genre of books and a resident of Glasgow, this publication was of immediate interest.
I have to say that the first few chapters didn't exactly grab me right away, but once it got going this was an excellent read with a more than a few large twists, some of which I saw coming, others I didn't.
Don't want to give away the plot, but think it is likely that there will be a follow up featuring some of the characters.
A definite FIVE STARs and thank you very much.

This is superb. The story has everything you could want in a crime novel. The background of Glasgow,the gangster city,is perfect for the serial murders. The characters are well drawn and the lead detective is a character that draws your support and affection. You want him to win. He does, of course,but rather differently from what the reader might guess. This is high quality writing and will be a huge success.

Fifty years ago, an unknown killer terrorized Glasgow. His clean-cut visage, an artist’s impression from witness statements, stared from newspaper front pages. ‘Bible John’ butchered three women who’d been enjoying nights out at a local dance hall, and left the police chasing smoke. He was never caught.

Literary professor and award-winning novelist Liam McIlvanney explores the effect of those killings on his home city in The Quaker, a novel with strong echoes of Glasgow’s real past. He shows a deft touch for character and setting throughout this absorbing, atmospheric read. Duncan McCormack is the man tasked with sorting out the long-stalled investigation into the murders of three women. He’s parachuted into the ‘Quaker’ investigation from the elite Flying Squad, with instructions to work out what’s gone wrong and why the Quaker hasn’t been caught. It’s a test for the fast-rising copper from the Highlands, and a poisoned chalice. His new colleagues are tired, frustrated, and dislike him on sight, the bosses are demanding certain outcomes for political purposes, and he’s harbouring dangerous secrets of his own.

McIlvanney has crafted a superb tale with a vivid sense of time and place. 1960s Glasgow was a different era, but he also brings some modern sensibilities by giving the female victims a voice, rather than being inert props for the male cops and criminals. The Quaker is an evocative slice of the past that’s populated with an array of intriguing characters, tough issues, and some nuanced interplay between them.