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Amazon.co.uk Review
Exile is every bit as atmospheric and idiosyncratic as Mina's earlier novel, Garnethill but with an increased sharpness in characterisation that makes for a highly compelling read. The Glasgow setting of this piece is rendered with a gritty authority that might not please the Scottish Tourist Board, but is perfect for the reader. Mina's protagonist Maureen O'Donnell is working in the Glasgow Women's Shelter when she encounters Anne Harris, suffering from two broken ribs and fighting the effects of a crippling descent into alcoholism. A fortnight later, Anne's body turns up in the river, grotesquely mutilated and embedded in a mattress. Is Anne's husband the murderer, as he so clearly seems to be? Maureen and her friend Leslie try to penetrate the indifference surrounding Anne's death, but Leslie is curiously close-mouthed about what she knows. Attempting to escape from the turmoil of her own life, Maureen travels to London, but she is soon immersed in a dangerous world of violence and drug abuse.
Utilising the classic structure of the thriller (the investigator in danger of encountering the same fate as the victim) Mina brings a level of compassion and understanding to her grim tale that ensures a remarkable experience for the reader. She is unblushing in confronting the darker side of life, and her conflicted heroine is satisfyingly embroiled in the revelations she is forced to confront. The final effect of this idiosyncratic and dark thriller is both life-affirming and exhilarating, and though we may all soon need a holiday from the dark alleys of Scotland, it isn't time yet.
--Barry Forshaw --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
"'Head and shoulders above the superficial ganster glamour of much contemporary British crime fiction' Val McDermid 'Confirms Mina's place in the premier division... atmospheric,intense and full of the disturbing flavour of inner-city lowlife' Guardian 'This fast-paced first novel set in Glasgow romps its way to a satisfying conclusion in which the evil doer receives rough justice of a most apt and unpleasant kind...Funny, raw, compassionate, often brutal, Garnet Hill turns a wry humour on the shortcomings of its very human characters' Independent 'A corking page-turner that flows like a dream' The List 'Mina,a feisty new crime-writing voice, carves a taut, humane whodunit into Glasgow's impassive face' Scotland on Sunday"
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I picked up this, the second book in the series, without reading the first, and was immediately welcomed into a dark world that was so bitter and realistic I had to pick the grit out from between my teeth afterwards.
Denise Mina has written a book that does not flinch from the more unpleasant side of life. Troubled protagonist Maureen O'Donnell delves deep into a world pitted with alcoholism, drug abuse and death, jaded with her own existence yet outraged by the suffering inflicted on Anne Harris, a mother of four who is brutally murdered, and her widow, a man who seems even more beaten down by life than Maureen herself.
Having read Exile, I am keen to purchase the others in the series, particularly the first, Garnethill, as the references to the events of it in Exile are particularly tantalising.
I can't fault Exile in pace, plotting, or characterisation. All are fantastic, and it's easy to see why Mina won the John Creasey award for her first novel. I only hope that her talents are further recognised in the future, as she is one of the most exciting writers to come out of Scotland since Irvine Welsh.
Denise Mina has written a book that does not flinch from the more unpleasant side of life. Troubled protagonist Maureen O'Donnell delves deep into a world pitted with alcoholism, drug abuse and death, jaded with her own existence yet outraged by the suffering inflicted on Anne Harris, a mother of four who is brutally murdered, and her widow, a man who seems even more beaten down by life than Maureen herself.
Having read Exile, I am keen to purchase the others in the series, particularly the first, Garnethill, as the references to the events of it in Exile are particularly tantalising.
I can't fault Exile in pace, plotting, or characterisation. All are fantastic, and it's easy to see why Mina won the John Creasey award for her first novel. I only hope that her talents are further recognised in the future, as she is one of the most exciting writers to come out of Scotland since Irvine Welsh.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Garnethill hinted at something special and Exile confirmed the fact of a major writer using the Crime Novel as outlet. Maureen the passionate gathering around herself a band of damaged, frightened victims. Leslie, Liam and the wonderful Kilty. The past has treated them all badly and while barely functionial they set out to help and mend the shattered souls of Glasgow and London. This is not nicey nicey it involves revenge and heartbreak and death.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Like Denise Mina, I studied Law in my native city of Glasgow. I gasped when I picked up this novel as (owing to a maternity hospital overload), I was actually born in Ruchill the former fever hospital whose menacing Gothic tower is the book's central icon. Well-paced and involving, the novel also has enough real-life Glasgow resonances to keep city dwellers enthralled - Neil 'Bananas' Hutton's true identity is not too difficult discern. Most striking, perhaps, is the portrait of life amid grinding poverty, and the endless drudgery of the life to which Jimmy Harris and his weans have been sentenced. As I now work in London, I have some familiarity with Brixton, and found that interlude slightly less convincing. But Kilty Goldfarb is a wonderful creation, and I look forward to a return appearance in the next Mina instalment.
All in all, top-notch thriller-writing, with much of the chillingly imaginative sparkle that made Garnethill such a remarkable debut.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Reads as If Burnt on a Map of Glasgow
Exile,"second book in Denise Mina's acclaimed "Garnethill" trilogy, followed upon the earlier book's award-winning heels, for Garnethill; upon its publication in 1998, won the John... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Stephanie DePue
Fantastic Characters
I know Glasgow quite well and think the characters are wonderful. So Scottish. All Denise Mina's books are good reads. I was kept interested from start to finish.
Published on 21 July 2009 by Mrs. Margaret Mcdougall
Exile
This improves on Garnethill, a book I found strangely unsatisfying. Though as in the first I think the crime aspect loses momentum towards the end. Read more
Published on 28 Sep 2008 by Rich
Excellent
This was the first Denise Mina novel i read and it got me truly hooked. Reading Garnethill second, i thought Exile was much better but of course its great that novelists get even... Read more
Published on 26 Jan 2002
One to watch
Denise Mina's debut novel was a wake-up call to any writer considering writing a contemporary crime novel, and with Exile, she has avoided the traditional second novel slump. Read more
Published on 6 Oct 2000
One of those books you are compelled to read to the end
'She's dead' said the woman. But she wasn't, she was alive and she heard them.
In this the second book by Denise Mina, Maureen O'Donnell is attempting to come to terms with the... Read more
Published on 8 Sep 2000 by Ms. E. Hayes
Another great murder mystery from a rising star
Denise Mina once again takes the Tartan Noir genre a step further with her newest book about the dark and twisted world of Glasgow, gangs and female friendship. Read more
Published on 3 Sep 2000
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