Shape, Shine and Shadow - John Benacre

On Good Friday 2016, the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising in Dublin, a resurgent Irish Republican Army plans a massive attack on Central London. But it isn't just any old attack, even when compared to the likes of Bishopsgate or Canary Wharf, and it isn't just the IRA... because for this one-off spectacular they have crawled into bed with rogue elements from al-Qaeda, Eastern Europe and Islamic State. It is to be a short-lived marriage and a rough night's sleep. The attack is the brainchild of an IRA Cleanskin living and working under deep cover in London, and of his life-long mentor, an IRA elder from a bygone era. Both will pay a severe price for their audacity, and McCann, the Cleankskin, will spend many months on the run from it all: the IRA, Islamic terrorists, the British authorities...and life. Yet in the short term he will survive; that's one of the things he does best. His most frightening skill though is his manipulation of ordinary people to conceal extraordinary events, and Shape, Shine and Shadow traces his shameless exploitation of everyone he meets to reach his goal. No-one ever knows, and most enjoy the ride, but his journey through the shadows of everyday life unearth the full spectrum of human emotions, desires and frailty. You may well have spoken to him - you've almost certainly stood next to him - and who knows, you may even count him among your friends. But this book should at the very least prompt you to ask once more... do you really know who your neighbours are? The planning, preparation and meticulous build-up to the attack is the subject of the novel, Easter, Smoke and Mirrors, also by John Benacre. Both are highly topical, highly readable and vivid chronicles of the age.