Four Shots in the Night: A True Story of Spies, Murder, and Justice in Northern Ireland

by Henry Hemming Narrated by Jamie Parker, Henry Hemming

Overview

Four Shots in the Night*is the story of a political murder: the killing of an IRA member turned British informant.*

The search for justice for this one man's death-his body found in broad daylight, with tape over his eyes, an undisguised hit-would deliver more than the truth. It exposed his status as an informant and led to protests, campaigns, far-reaching changes to British law, a historic ruling from a senior judicial body, a ground-breaking police investigation, and bitter condemnation from a US Congressional*commission. And there have been persistent rumors that one of the country's most senior politicians, the Sinn Fein leader Martin McGuinness, might have been personally involved in this particular murder.

Relying on archival research, interviews, and the findings of a new complete police investigation,*Four Shots in the Night*tells a riveting story not just of this murder but of his role in the decades-long conflict that defined him--the Troubles. And the questions it tackles are even larger: how did the Troubles really come to an end? Was it a feat of diplomatic negotiation, as we've been told--or did spies play the decisive role? And how far can, or should, a spy go, for the good of his country?*Four Shots in the Night*is a page-turner that will make you think.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

[A]n exciting, at times astonishing read... Hemming’s book is an evenhanded account of the clandestine murders that still haunt so many.”—The New York Times Book Review

“The best book about the Troubles since Patrick Radden Keefe’s Say Nothing. Both unwind painful stories of old political murders. What unites the two books is outstanding reporting and an unflinching focus on the facts at hand.”
 —The Wall Street Journal

"Gripping, urgent, superbly reported and brilliantly written. Henry Hemming unfolds a true story of violence, politics and spycraft that sits right at the edge of journalism and history."—Dan Jones

“Hemming artfully unspools this complex tale with the skill of a suspense novelist.”
 —BookPage

"One of the most compelling books I've read in a very long time. An absolutely extraordinary tale of secret intelligence, infiltration and murder, FOUR SHOTS is a brilliantly pieced-together psychological drama that is all the more gripping - and unsettling - for being real rather than fiction. The story is expertly woven together, exploring the characters and motivations of the four main characters into a truly page-turning, compulsive and also profoundly moving narrative. Superb."—James Holland

"Both a sinewy spy thriller and a wider history of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Four Shots in the Night is edge-of-seat stuff: beautifully crafted, shrewdly observed, frighteningly immersive and utterly compelling."—Jessie Childs

"A masterly achievement and a riveting read."—Peter Taylor, author of 'Operation Chiffon'

"Meticulously researched and brought to life with the finesse of a first-class storyteller, Four Shots in the Night is an absolutely gripping tale of murder, The Troubles, and the good and bad that lurks inside us all. I was in its thrall from the first page to the last."—Charlotte Philby, author of 'A Double Life'

"A superb portrait of the Troubles . . . Gripping and revelatory."—Saul David

"If another book has been written that has zoomed in so closely on the relationship between handler and agent, I have yet to find it. A not-so-chance meeting on an isolated Road to Perdition ends in ultimate destruction for one of the parties. What began in silence morphs into staccato, as Four Shots in the Night enter the brain of a once lonesome dog walker. Henry Hemming with sublime clarity peels away an opaque film allowing the reader to stare through a humane window into the horrendous world of espionage."—Anthony McIntyre, author of 'Good Friday'

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2024-02-10
A swift-paced exposé of the Northern Irish Troubles and the fraught interactions among British intelligence and the Irish Republican Army.

Hemming, the author of Agent Mand Agents of Influence, delivers a true-crime tale narrated with the skills of a whodunit pro. The author opens with the murder of a British agent, his body left beside a country lane. The British agent was also a member of the IRA, with responsibilities that included storing weapons used in the war against Britain. He was killed, Hemming charges, by another IRA member, possibly on the orders of Martin McGuinness, who became a prominent politician in Northern Ireland and was famously granted an audience with Queen Elizabeth II, an interaction that speaks to the well-worn observation about Northern Irish politics: “If you’re not confused, you don’t know what’s going on.” The killing, notes the author, was marked by “savage intimacy,” carefully planned from start to finish; the IRA leadership surely knew about it beforehand, but MI5 may have had an inkling before the fact as well. Hemming writes confidently of matters that the IRA has surely tried to keep silent—not just political murders but also everyday tactics, such as the use of dog and horse transports to move weapons around, those transports being difficult for British canine sniffers to expose. One extraordinary revelation is that British intelligence had so thoroughly infiltrated the IRA that the organization was brought to an effective standstill, its stalwarts not knowing whom to trust. One British handler reveals that military intelligence wanted to force the IRA out of the military and into the political arena, against the wishes of the British government—even if Margaret Thatcher, Hemming notes, did authorize secret negotiations to curb the bloodshed.

A riveting tale of bad guys all around, engaging from start to finish.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940159606556
Publisher:	Hachette Audio
Publication date:	04/02/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged

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