tom o. keenan
The Father
​
​
I have to confess to reading this book in excellent circumstances, in the beautiful guest house run by the author and his wife on the west coast of Scotland.
I was completely shocked and immersed in this very dark and powerful tartan noir first novel from a man with rich experience and qualifications for telling this tale. A week later and I still feel hungover from Rooney's descent into drunken hell. The psychological convolution add to the paranoia of seriously damaged characters.
I'm glad to have surfaced for air but can't wait to dive into the next instalment
​
The Father
​
​
This book blew me away. An outstanding and unique piece of crime writing. Very dark & deep, but so much dark humour. Sean is a troubled man. Alcohol dependency, and suffering from mental illness. But there is no stopping the guy. Genius writing, and looking forward to more!!
​
The Father
​
​
Really loved this book by Tom O.Keenan. Found the beginning a little challenging at first but persevered and boy was that worthwhile! Loved the portrayal of the central characters DCI Jacqueline Kaminski and her ex husband Sean Rooney and their differing approaches to solving the intriguing crimes contained in this story. A huge amount of research and hard work has been put in to this novel. I highly recommend " The Father". Looking forward to the second book in the series.
​
The Father
​
​
Loved the book although had to read through twice to get it. My employment background is similar to the authors so maybe that's why it resonated strongly with me. Looking forward to the next book but publisher please slightly larger typeface
​
The Father
​
Great thriller - couldn't put the book down til the very end.
​
Once I got into the book I couldn't put it down. Having lived in Arrochar for a period I know all the places in the book and this made it all the more real. A great thriller with a dark undertone which kept me enthralled up the the very end. I'd recommend this to anyone who likes crime thrillers, especially if you know the streets of Glasgow or the hills of Arrochar. Looking forward veryu much to reading the next book featuring Sean Rooney.
​
The Father
​
​
This is a powerful, well written story that doesn’t shy away from facing some difficult issues. First and foremost is Rooney and his problems. He’s a total screw-up and drinks to excess. He loses whole days to hangovers. Keenan doesn’t shy away from portraying his alcoholism and the implications of his behavior. Rooney and Kaminski once had a fling, and again the author is willing to dig around in the wreckage that remains with them. But it is hard to like the characters in The Father – any of them. Their good points are few and far between. So why root for them, other than wanting to see the killer put away?
All in all The Father is a decent read, after a challenging start, from a promising and talented writer.
Originally reviewed for Crime Fiction Lover
​
The Father
​
Tom O Keenan packs an awful lot into his debut, an odd hybrid of procedural, the darkest of Scottish noir, political thriller, black comedy and bad B action movie which launches a series featuring the alcoholic and mentally ill former forensic profiler Sean Rooney. In fact, if anything he’s overdone it.
But despite the questions and criticisms, this is a dark, disturbing and compelling exposition of the problems of mental illness and alcoholism, written with a hard edge that will keep you riveted to the page.