THE ROOF WALKERS - Keith Henderson

It is 1864 and the Civil War in the United States is waning. Irish-Canadian Eoin O'Donoghue is hired as the personal secretary to William R. Roberts in New York. Roberts is the de facto head of the Irish Republican Army in New York. O'Donoghue is appalled at what he sees and the seemingly carelessness of Roberts and approaches Gilbert McMicken, head of Canada's secret police, and offers to spy for him.

Canada is still a federation of British colonies but on the verge of becoming its own country. The events in the young United States has put many on edge. The Irish Republican Army, under the direction of Roberts, is planning an invasion of Quebec to form a 'New Ireland' while leaving sowing fear and leaving a reign of terror in their wake. Eoin's information could prove invaluable to preserving the formation of the new country of Canada, but but working as a spy, so very directly, is extremely dangerous.

I suspect that if I grew up in an area where learning Canadian history was common I'd be familiar with the background of this - American William Roberts' work to lead an Irish army into Canada (the Fenian Brotherhood). And knowing this, I might have had a better appreciation for the romanticized presentation of Eoin O'Donoghue. 

However, knowing this background or not, my biggest problem with this book is that I found it quite dry. The book is told as a series of letters and reports (often "Private & Very Secret") which already sets an uncomfortable challenge for author Keith Henderson.  It's very difficult to build action and suspense through a series of letters, and by the very nature of letters, we're being told a story rather than participating in it or being shown something.

I struggled to read this book, having started it multiple times.  I just didn't find it engaging. I appreciate the historical background and it did have me looking up and reviewing the history here, but I actually found the Wikipedia pages surrounding this a much more interesting and entertaining read.

Looking for a good book? The Roof Walkers by Keith Henderson is a dry, epistolary narrative of the events surrounding a planned Fenian Brotherhood attack into the newly forming country of Canada.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

2-1/2 stars

* * * * * *

The Roof Walkers

author: Keith Henderson

publisher: DC Books

ISBN: 9781897190968

paperback, 276 pages

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