When I chose this book, I was expecting a sort of punch-fest through Montreal with maybe some interesting side information next to a Dirty Harry style plot. Even with that, I was surprised at how fun this book was to read though. The reader follows Constable Eddie Dougherty around 1970's Montreal as he chases, questions and assaults criminals in pursuit of various crimes. Dougherty navigates his career through the police as an Anglo in a French run department and is looking for a promotion. Meanwhile working out his relationship with his girlfriend while the famed 1976 Montreal Olympics change the city.
As someone with an interest in Montreal and history, I found the book really engaging on a few levels - there were the detective stories of Dougherty and information sprinkled throughout about Montreal and some of the major developments. It seems like McFetridge has a pretty strong interest in the city, even if he's not exactly from there. There are tons of music references too, with more than a couple flying over my young head. In fact, the book starts off with a quote from The Band about saving your neck or your brother and while that didn't fit into the main character, Dougherty's story, it was a nice motif throughout.
The characters were ok, I liked them all for the most part. They tended to be a little too on the nose for the time period; there was a divorced couple, and lots of stuff with Quebec's potential separation that felt a little one dimensional. It didn't detract from the story though and I think it was appropriate for the genre. The ending felt a bit rushed (doesn't it always though?) and a bit deus ex machina but the rest of the book was so good that it didn't really matter.
After reading this one, I think I'd like to read more of the Dougherty series. It was a pretty fast, engaging read with plenty of history and action.
As someone with an interest in Montreal and history, I found the book really engaging on a few levels - there were the detective stories of Dougherty and information sprinkled throughout about Montreal and some of the major developments. It seems like McFetridge has a pretty strong interest in the city, even if he's not exactly from there. There are tons of music references too, with more than a couple flying over my young head. In fact, the book starts off with a quote from The Band about saving your neck or your brother and while that didn't fit into the main character, Dougherty's story, it was a nice motif throughout.
The characters were ok, I liked them all for the most part. They tended to be a little too on the nose for the time period; there was a divorced couple, and lots of stuff with Quebec's potential separation that felt a little one dimensional. It didn't detract from the story though and I think it was appropriate for the genre. The ending felt a bit rushed (doesn't it always though?) and a bit deus ex machina but the rest of the book was so good that it didn't really matter.
After reading this one, I think I'd like to read more of the Dougherty series. It was a pretty fast, engaging read with plenty of history and action.
