The Twelve follows Gerry Fegan: alcoholic, ex-hitman, haunted by the twelve people he murdered during the ‘troubles’ in Ireland.

Fegan has done his time in jail, but when he meets the mother of one of the men he killed, the ghosts of the people he killed appear and start to scream in the night. They are telling him to kill everyone that arranged the murders. When he does, they start to disappear, so one by one he tracks down and kills the crooked politicians and heavies that he worked with before he went to prison.

Although this is a really gripping book, it is pretty heavy. Lots of guilt, endless remorse, and lots and lots of shooting/killing. Fegan is meant to be the hero, killing the evil people who organised murders twenty years ago, but he’s still a pretty horrible character. He falls in love with a woman and her daughter, and wants to be forgiven for his past. But he is a drunk who is still killing people, so I don’t feel that sympathetic…

If you liked Taken, you will like this book. If not, give it a miss.

The Twelve by Stuart Neville