Three Miles by Robert Dinsdale

Three Miles by Robert Dinsdale
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Category: General Fiction
Reviewer: Robert James
Summary: Excellent character study of a hero and a villain, both with multiple facets, as they struggle with each other and the war torn world around them.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 240	Date: March 2011
Publisher: Faber and Faber
ISBN: 978-0571260256
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Captain Abraham Matthews is so desperate to catch the villainous Albie Crowe and bring the youngster to justice that some people would say he was obsessed. After six months, Matthews has finally tracked down his prey, and captures him just three miles from the police station. But with Albie's boys trying to rescue him, other men without Abraham's moral compass more interested in vengeance than justice, and the Luftwaffe dropping bombs on Leeds, this is set to be the longest three miles of either of their lives...

I love crime stories and I love war stories so this was an easy choice for me to read, but as well as ticking both those boxes it also delivers incredibly strong characterisation in spades, something else I always look for in a novel. Matthews is a fantastic hero – morally upright and determined to do the right thing despite being haunted by a secret which author Robert Dinsdale reveals to us very gradually, and Albie is a superbly layered villain who the reader gradually learns more and more about. I really enjoyed the changes in narration between the exciting main part of the book, set on the night that Matthews finally captures Albie, and the flashbacks which are slower but do an excellent job of filling us in on the background of the two.

Even though it's a war-based story about a criminal and a policeman I'm hesitant to describe it as 'crime fiction' or 'historical fiction', by the way, for the simple reason that it's the characters that are the heart of it. This isn't a murder mystery or a whodunnit or anything like that – it's clear very quickly that Albie is a seriously nasty piece of work and the pleasure from reading comes as we find out exactly why it is there's such a personal grudge between the boy and the man, and we learn more and more about their characters. Similarly, while the description of the bombing is excellent and Dinsdale captures the period really well, it's more of a background to the feud than the main part of the novel.

One more point – having gone on for so long about the brilliant characterisation please don't let that make you think the book lacks excitement! It's truly gripping and kept me glued to the page as I tried to work out whether the two would make it to the station or not.

Speaking of which, I can see the ending being extremely divisive between the readers – I personally loved it and found it really satisfying although I'm not sure whether everyone will agree with me. Regardless, I'd strongly recommend this to everyone who loves well developed stories and characters with lots of twists and turns.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag.

Further reading suggestion: For another superb character study then Steve Cockayne's The Good People comes highly recommended.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Three Miles by Robert Dinsdale at Amazon.com.

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