Hynes, James

The Wild Colonial Boy: A Novel [The Troubles - Northern Ireland]

New York: Atheneum, 1990. First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover with Dust Jacket.

No Flaws or Blemishes but minimal shelf handling and light aging visible on the textblock edges. Appears unread. The bindings are tight and square. Text is clean; light.

James Hynes’s debut, this political-literary thriller is set amid the Troubles that follows rogue IRA veteran Jimmy Coogan—determined to sabotage the movement’s turn toward parliamentary politics—and the naive American cousin he draws into a plot involving stolen plastique, clandestine couriers, and divided loyalties in Belfast and London; the novel balances taut suspense with an unsparing look at ideology, terror, and private love (especially Coogan’s marriage to Sinn Féin councilor Maire). 

Contemporary critics praised its Hitchcock-like tension and clear grasp of the conflict’s moral hazards, while later reissues underscored its status as both thriller and love story. 

Subjects: The Troubles (Northern Ireland); Irish Republican Army; Terrorism and counterterrorism; Ideology vs. pragmatism; Diaspora ties (U.S.–Ireland); Marriage under political pressure; Belfast and London settings; Moral ambiguity, Literary thriller; Political fiction; Irish/British historical fiction.

Item #21088
ISBN: 0689120893

Price: $20.00