posted on 13 Jun 2017

Rook by Anthony McGowan

This is the final book in a trilogy about some memorable and unusually human characters. Actually even the non -human characters are drawn in tremendous depth. So in this story the opening scene gives us the point of view of the eponymous bird set upon by a male sparrowhawk in retaliation for an earlier attack by the 'mob' of rooks. This is such a clever device because we are straight into the edgy world of gangs and violence that McGowan writes about so skillfully in his other books. Somehow he makes the gang of rooks sound really threatening and makes me the reader think about whether they deserve our sympathy. It seems that the violent struggle between the two birds is going to end in certain death:

'She opened her wings around him, like a tent, as if to hide the final horror. Because she would at him while he still lived. He would watch her pluck the short feathers on his breast, tear out strips of dark flesh, throw back her head and swallow'

Wow - what a thrilling opening scene!

But McGowan is able to seamlessly shift to other gears very quickly and his portrayal of Nicky, his brother Kenny and the rest of the family at the centre of the story is impressive. The two kind brothers rescue the badly injured rook and take him home, as they did with the injured badger in the first book of the series, Brock. They belong to a family that has experienced plenty of difficulties but all the relationships within it are fiercely caring. I love the way in which each of the individuals in the family continue to develop and mature through the three books. Kenny, a big lad with learning difficulties is particularly interesting because he is now becoming more confident, independent and shows us flashes of a wicked sense of humour. His younger brother Nicky is at that horrible age where he agonises over decisions about what to wear and is increasingly self -conscious. McGowan manages to remind me of the horrors of being a young teenager very well. He does this with a masterful light touch that has echoes of similarly tender portrayals of early adolescence in films like Gregory's Girl, P'tang,Yang, Kipperbang and Napolean Dynamite. The atmospheric writing is consistently fabulous whether he is describing nature or people: 'Sometimes you can hear someone smile, a sound like someone carefully taking the wrapping off a present'

This is another cracking story from McGowan packed with strong characters and plot. His writing manages to convey elements of anxiety, despair, fear and hopelessness but all is underscored with a dash of exuberant humour. The likeable Nicky once again shows us a strong sense of morality and not a little courage when facing up to the hard stuff of life. Although this purports to be the final book in the trilogy, I really hope that we might meet Nicky again one day as he grows in maturity:

'Our lives are about the stories we tell. In fact our lives are a story. And it’s up to you how you tell it. You can tell it sad or you can tell it happy. You can be a good guy or a bad guy'.

I am confident that he will turn out to be one of the good guys.

Karen Argent

June 2017