I first read Lies of Silence back when it was published in the early 1990s, and even since I have regularly thought back on its awesome setup. The manager of a hotel in Belfast lies sleepless because he plans to tell his wife that he is leaving her. Before dawn, however, IRA terrorists break into his house and tell him he must drive his car, rigged with a bomb, onto the hotel property. They hold his wife hostage to ensure that he doesn't inform the police. He does report the bomb at the last minute. Is he a hero for doing the right thing or a heel for risking his wife's life rather than his own?
I refer to this scenario as the "setup" but it actually covers the entire first half of this short novel. The back half doesn't maintain the intensity. Both times I read the book I was disappointed that Moore focuses more on the social issues (should innocent citizens testify against terrorists?) than the personal ones (how does the wife interpret his betrayal?). To me, the most interesting character development would be the tension between his public heroism and his private sense of mercenary motives. I appreciated the later chapters more on this second read since my expectations were properly set.
Lies of Silence tells a very cinematic story, if a now somewhat dated one. When I read it I can't help but imagine how I would adapt it into a film. Needless to say, I would refocus the denouement.
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