Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: "The Keepers of Truth" is set in a small, once vibrant, now dying industrial town in the American mid-west where the rumble of machinery, the glow of furnaces are no longer: only the husks of stripped-down machines, "the carcasses of industrialism", remain in the wasteland of factory yards. The smalltown community has lost its raison d'etre, the lives of the townsfolk made obsolete by the closure of the factories. The factories that kept the town alive, now abandoned and rusted, have been displaced by fast-food outlets and strip malls.The plot revolves around the disappearance and suspected murder of a local good-for-nothing, old man Lawton, the main suspect being his no-good son, Ronny. The only evidence found is traces of blood and a joint of the old man's finger. The narrator, Bill, a reporter covering the investigation for the local newspaper, The Truth, has doubts about Ronny's guilt. Bill - himself a lonely, troubled figure burdened by memories of his father's suicide and his immigrant grandfather's tyranny - is drawn into involvement with Ronny who lives in a shack and works at the local Denny's where he is designated Employee of the month; and, almost against his will, is also sucked into involvement with Ronny's estranged wife. Small lives, small desperations, in a small, depressed townscape - the flip side of the American Dream. The novel is an uneasy blend of murder mystery and social commentary on American society in the eighties. Collins has a reputation for producing "literary" novels with powerful narrative and the "Keepers of Truth" is written in this style. Bill, the reporter, as well as narrating the unfolding murder mystery, also functions as social commentator, belabouring the theme of industrial decay blighting towns and lives. This intermingling - as opposed to seamless integration - of murder plot narrative and social commentary, while adding to the "literary" weight of the novel, in my view, diminishes the power and pace of the narrative in the exposition of the murder mystery. In a nutshell, the pace and drive of the strong murder plot narrative is sometimes compromised by overload of side commentary and philosophical musings on American society. Certainly, a book that makes the reader think is laudable but this must be balanced against engaging - and retaining - the reader's interest. Collins at times verges on disengaging the reader's interest.
Rating: 
Summary: Connect/disconnect
Review: Bill is a washed-up reporter trapped in a place that he doesn't want to be. His inheritance from his father left him wealthy, but only on the condition that he stay put in the dying mid-Western town where he was born. He has no motivation beyond finding things to make his life there bearable. He is permanently inside, but by virtue of his money, permanently outside.
The murder that occurs gives Bill an at least temporary reason to get up in the morning, and provides the reader with an excuse to examine the details of small town life with clues that do not fit together and a crime which is, after all, a crime just like any other.
The qualities that earned this book a Booker nomination were obvious yoon reading. Collins is a skilled writer who manages to provide a smart, outsider look at small town life in the US. The tone and the plot work well together in the a palette of claustrophobia and surreality that never indulges in self-conscious tricks or far-fetched coincidences.
A fine book-- a read that made me want to find more by Collins.
Rating: 
Summary: A Revealing Dark Vision of America by an Irish Writer
Review: Bill, a law school dropout, is living in his home town because his cryogenically preserved grandfather has made it a condition of his will. Bill's father killed himself shortly before the he came home and he had a breakdown because of it and is slowly rebuilding his life, despite the break with his girl friend Diane. He gets a job working for the dying town's dying newspaper, "The Daily Truth," which is run by two old men, Sam, the owner, and Ed, the paper's photographer. Sam and Ed believe Bill, who is somewhat of a wordsmith and given to fanciful prose, will someday turn out to be a good journalist. Salvation for the newspaper comes when Ronny Lawton's father disappears. Lawton is a tattooed burger flipper at Denny's, who despite having reported his father's absence, becomes a suspect for the presumed murder. The case re-energizes the "Truth's" disillusioned staff, but the initial promise of a scoop for Bill gradually translates into an obsession with Lawton and his estranged wife. As the crime casts its shadow on the lives of his newspaper colleagues and on the nightmarish reverberations of his own father's suicide, it also begins to take on symbolic dimensions as many people in the town try to take advantage of the murder. Michael Collins won the Irish Book of the Year Award for this book and it's easy to see why. It deserves the high esteem it has won in Ireland and I highly recommend it. Karen Holtz, New Jersey Book Girl
Rating:
Summary: I almost stopped reading in the middle
Review: Despite all the glowing reviews, I found this book a little hard to get through, particularly during the long segments when the narrator drones on about the decay of society evident in the rusting factories that once provided the town's bread and butter. He does this repeatedly, saying virtually the same thing each time. Collins' writing is very good, don't get me wrong, and the story was just interesting enough to keep me reading. But the ending was not as profound as other reviewers thought. It was a little disappointing, actually. So while this book verges on good, and paints a detailed picture of a small town and its myriad problems, it may be a bit ponderous at times.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent novel
Review: I thought The Keepers of Truth was excellent, a very well-told story of crumbling Americana circa late70s-early eighties. The novel takes place in a dying industrial town in the mid-west. The narrator, Bill is in his early twenties, wealthy in the sense that his ancestors in the town left him with a mansion, and writes for the local newspaper. Bill makes most cynics look like Pollyanna, yet is an engaging narrator, telling a compelling story. Old man Lawton is reported missing by his son Ronny. Murder is suspected and Ronny is the main suspect. Bill becomes obsessed with Lawton's disappearance, becoming involved with those he suspects may be involved in the murder, Ronny, who realizes near celebrity status after being accused, Ronny's ex-wife, who seems more concered about who will get the Lawton family home than anything else, and several other characters from this small town. Collins' vision of America is dark and unseemly. The novel is really a fabulous dark comedy, psychological drama and crime novel rolled into one. And it works, it works fabulously well.
Rating:
Summary: American Dream
Review: Michael Collins gives an intriguing look into the mid-west America, offering an absorbing crime story/ dark comedy/ character study. Phil is a reporter from a local newspaper named "The Truth" who starts working on a murder case that happened in his town. The main suspect of the crime is Ronny Lawton, the victim`s son. Along with his newspaper mates Sam and Ed, Phil begins a complex investigation where he tries to prove Ronny`s innocence, since he thinks that he wasn`t the murderer. In the process, Phil develops a strange and unexpected relationship with Ronny`s ex-wife Teri. Michael Collins manages to deliver a somewhat interesting crime story here, focusing the peculiar envoironment of an american little town as well. As the story evolves, the investigation scenario turns more confuse and complex, presenting intriguing new elements. Collins takes this situation as an example of the fall of modern civilization, using it as a starting point to deliver some thoughts and ideas about post-industrial systems. Although he raises some food for thought at parts, most of his observations soon become repetitive and tiresome, creating a couple of uninteresting and boring chapters that damage the flow of the book. The resolution of the murder investigation is also a weak element to the story, providing a disappointing and anticlimatic finale. Despite its flaws, "The Keepers of Truth" is a gripping and relevant effort nonetheless, delivering a clever analysis of today`s societies and entering the shadow zone of the "americann way of life". As a whole, this novel is a witty and well-written work that drags in some moments and is a tad too long, but it suceeds in presenting the strenght of one of the best Irish writers around. A keeper, indeed.
Rating:
Summary: American Dream
Review: Michael Collins gives an intriguing look into the mid-west America, offering an absorbing crime story/ dark comedy/ character study. Phil is a reporter from a local newspaper named "The Truth" who starts working on a murder case that happened in his town. The main suspect of the crime is Ronny Lawton, the victim`s son. Along with his newspaper mates Sam and Ed, Phil begins a complex investigation where he tries to prove Ronny`s innocence, since he thinks that he wasn`t the murderer. In the process, Phil develops a strange and unexpected relationship with Ronny`s ex-wife Teri. Michael Collins manages to deliver a somewhat interesting crime story here, focusing the peculiar envoironment of an american little town as well. As the story evolves, the investigation scenario turns more confuse and complex, presenting intriguing new elements. Collins takes this situation as an example of the fall of modern civilization, using it as a starting point to deliver some thoughts and ideas about post-industrial systems. Although he raises some food for thought at parts, most of his observations soon become repetitive and tiresome, creating a couple of uninteresting and boring chapters that damage the flow of the book. The resolution of the murder investigation is also a weak element to the story, providing a disappointing and anticlimatic finale. Despite its flaws, "The Keepers of Truth" is a gripping and relevant effort nonetheless, delivering a clever analysis of today`s societies and entering the shadow zone of the "americann way of life". As a whole, this novel is a witty and well-written work that drags in some moments and is a tad too long, but it suceeds in presenting the strenght of one of the best Irish writers around. A keeper, indeed.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant! You won't be disappointed...
Review: Mr. Collins writes like a house on fire! It is rare for me to enjoy a book so much, but this author's use the language is scintillating. The storyline and characters are quirky; the locale is bleak and depressing, but the descriptions of both the setting and internal landscape of the main character are captivating. I also greatly appreciated the author's observations about the post-industrial despair that befell this fictional midwestern city; observations that are occasionally humorous, often poignant but always convincing. But again, the author's use of language is so exceptional that I almost didn't care who the characters were or where the story was leading. I just wanted to bathe in Mr. Collin's delicious prose. If you love fine writing, you won't be disappointed!
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant! You won't be disappointed...
Review: Mr. Collins writes like a house on fire! It is rare for me to enjoy a book so much, but this author's use the language is scintillating. The storyline and characters are quirky; the locale is bleak and depressing, but the descriptions of both the setting and internal landscape of the main character are captivating. I also greatly appreciated the author's observations about the post-industrial despair that befell this fictional midwestern city; observations that are occasionally humorous, often poignant but always convincing. But again, the author's use of language is so exceptional that I almost didn't care who the characters were or where the story was leading. I just wanted to bathe in Mr. Collin's delicious prose. If you love fine writing, you won't be disappointed!
Rating:
Summary: Unsettling Genius
Review: NPR does a great service in bringing us voices that we may otherwise never hear. Michael Collins is one such voice. Hailed in Europe and lauded with prizes, I'd never heard of him. In his interview he gave such a personal account of his struggle and survival in America as a young immigrant, that I decided to read his book. He seemed to suggest that we as a nation had lost our ability to think politically, to react to world affairs. Needless to say, I bristled at this contention. I wanted to ask him why he stayed?
I can't say I agree with everything in this book, but it is an uncanny vision of America, a re-vision of past events overlayed with some heavy, but insightful analysis of us as a country. His contention that over 20,000 people were murdered and this constituted an undeclared revolution within America in the early eighties now seemed more insightful than when I first heard the figure. Collins contended in the interview that Americans were apt to dismiss this figure as gang related, to mitigate the level of violence to a subgroup of our nation. However, in The Keepers of Truth he has created the emotional and political landscape of America, peopled it with all the hopes and fears we share. He shows the rise and fall of characters, not always their own fault, but victims of society, and we are asked to have humanity and understanding for those who fail, and indeed, in this book, failure seems inevitable, or at least decline. (It is hard to decide what I feel about this contention.)
Collins raises serious societal issues in of all genres to adopt, a crime, or mystery novel, and he pulls it off with such verve of language, suspense and pace, that one had to give him his moments on the soapbox. As a denizen of the midwest I can vouch for at least the atmosphere and tension Collins creates. It is a startling achievement for a foreigner to understand, or maybe, not understand, but question us with such probing questions.
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