All the Colours of the Town

Liam McIlvanney is Stuart Professor of Scottish Studies at the University of Otago, New Zealand. He is a regular contributor to the London Review of Books. All the Colours of the Town is his first novel.

A complex exploration of loyalty, betrayal and duty. The List ~ Scottish Summer Reads McIlvanney successfully delivers a powerful thriller, rich in colour and skilfully imagined ... As a debut outing, All The Colours of the Town refreshingly avoids cliche, and successfully discovers new ground within the conflict, with McIlvanney's snapshots of today's new values and the hypocrasies etched at the heart of our political system giving the story pace and substance. The List McIlvanney is deft at weaving the language of politics, both of the hearth and of ethical reportage, and the jargon of journalism into a thriller that is bolted together by both ... grit nestles grandeur with winning ease ... McIlvanney is inventive with language, and this malleability and playfulness satisfies immensely ... The book's real heft lies in delivering a gripping, unflinching meditation upon the suspicions that still twitch in the Northern Irish air like the proverbial net curtain. McIlvanney has flair and assurance and executes a powerful tale with all the dexterous sensitivity and ballsy swagger the subject is due. Scotland on Sunday All The Colours of the Town is a distinctive and striking debut. One quality that makes the novel stand out is Liam McIlvanney's portrait of the deep-rooted tribal tensions in Glasgow and Belfast. TLS Throughout there's writing that is as jagges and real as the crime novel form demands, yet allied with a consciousness of the beauty of words ... McIlvanney is good on the assumptions Glaswegians have made about the city across the water, and about the perverse appeal of such extreme vioence so near, and yet so far, for some young men ... The sense of belonging, willingly or not, to a city, to its territories and its allegiances, is what lingers underneath this tale of political exposure and is what gives it its real weight ... [McIlvanney] has a great deal to offer and I look forward to seeing more from him. Scotsman One of the triumphs of All the Colours of the Town is its painterly portrayal of modern Belfast and Glasgow Herald This exceptional debut novel ... McIlvanney manipulates his hero into a series of tight spots with a deftness that bodes well for the future. Daily Mail Thoughtful and evocative debut thriller. Big Issue A gritty, grey, realistic tale. Literary Review A pulse-racing debut ... [McIlvanney's] assured command of male characters in particular make this an excellent debut about identity politics in two different cities with an uneasy shared history. Metro There is nothing like a thriller done really well and All the Colours of the Town is a perfect example of why talented writers ought not shy away from tackling genre novels. Noir doesn't need to be pap; this is a smart and engrossing crime novel. -- Francesca Segal Observer a welcome addition to the quality post-Troubles literature that has gone from strength to strength in recent years ... The novel has been labelled a thriller, for marketing purposes, I suppose, but to me it's more of a thought-provoking literary affair. And a brilliant one at that ... What stood out, first and foremost, was the quality of the prose. McIllvanney's eye for detail and masterful use of imagery brings a fresh light to everyday sights in Northern Ireland. It wasn't action, tension or bloodshed that gripped me. It was the writing ... McIllvanney is a top shelf wordsmith. His writing is smoother than a thirty-year-old single malt and just as mature. It's hard to believe that this is a debut novel, for all the very right reasons. http://crimesceneni.blogspot.com Liam McIlvanney brings a freshness and energy to his story by weaving it into a tapestry of life in Loyalist Belfast and Glasgow as stark and vivid as a gable-end mural ... This is a remarkable debut. The pose crackles with the sort of neat descriptions Chandler would have been happy to copyright ... It's McIlvanney's fine eye for the detail that creates a strong sense of time and place that makes this more than a cut above the average thriller. Independent Where McIlvanney's novel succeeds most strongly is in lifting the lid on one of the most unspoken aspects of working-class culture in the west of Scotland: sectarianism ... All the Colours of the Town reminds us that the historical crosscurrents of Irish and Scottish culture have often been unpleasant and highly unpalatable; nonetheless, such truths remain important and deserving of both our creative and critical energies. Edinburgh Review McIlvanney turns his hand - and, most ieffectively, his ear - to an impressive fictional debut. Guardian This is a bold, impressive debut. Its best writing turns the conventions of noir fiction on the politics of devolution to find individuals compromised and nations wanting. Telegraph Full of local flavour ... [McIlvanney] slips some wonderful images into his apparently straightforward prose... fulfilling. Guardian