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Where I feel the book lost its way is that firstly we don't know the definite period it is set in. Published in 1998 it has missed the worst periods of the Northern Ireland conflict and therefore comes over as a bit of a Johnny come lately. Although of course it could have been set in a time earlier than this we get no indication of that this is the fact. Secondly it doesn't quite know what sort of book it is, there is certainly a feel of a Gerald Seymour thriller about the style but it just doesn't have that level of bleakness and consequently can seem a little wishy-washy at times. On the other hand it does go in for some lengthy passages of romantic or relationship dialogue which just isn't that well written. The main characters themselves are guilty of a lot of the faults of the romantic elements as I just don't believe they would fall into any sort of relationship with each other. One final gripe is the use of real life personalities within the book, so we get Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein fame making an appearance which is just plain clumsy.
On the plus side the plot idea is fine and there are some minor characters which are well written and considering it is the author's debut offering perhaps we shouldn't be over critical. There are some great passages in the book; the shooting of Paddy for example is an extremely well written chapter. Certainly all in all it hasn't put me off trying another one of his books.
The central premise for 'Shadow Dancer' is pretty strong and it feels like a novel similar to 'Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy'. There is a lot of tension and intrigue throughout the book. However, Bradby has failed to actually write anything of interest and a large part of the book is spent on internal monologues of the main two characters rather than setting up any action. Some people may feel this adds to the tension, I found it mind numbingly boring and far too descriptive. Bradby needs to learn to balance action and emotion if his books are going to be interesting reads.
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