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Rating: 
Summary: Interesting if Lightweight Twist on The Big Fella
Review: Bringing a historical character back to the present always offers interesting possibilities for humor and reacquaintance and this novel about Michael Collins' return to carry out a requirement for exiting Purgatory is no exception. The book is amusing and pretty well written, although the real Michael Collins probably deserves better. At the very least he should not be said to look like Liam Neeson (who played him in the film "Michael Collins") because he looked nothing like him. Maybe Brendan Gleeson (who also played him much more believably in "The Treaty")but not Liam Neeson. At any rate, this book is of interest mainly because of its subject, not its literary value.
Rating: 
Summary: One Dimensional Garbage
Review: I'm not sure whether I read a different book than what the reviewers above read. My copy contained a one dimensional Michael Collins, a forced recitation of every name that the writer has ever heard in his Irish History class at the local adult education center and a plot that could have been written, and probably should have remained, on the back of a napkin at the local pub. My suggestion is that if Mr. McEvoy ever actually leaves New York at travels to Ireland, he acquaint himself with the term gaoithean.
Rating: 
Summary: It Will Keep You Up Late
Review: If you think the movie about Michael Collins was exciting, wait until you read this page-turner of a novel about the Irish
revoluntionary who comes back to life as a "Terrible Angel" and visits present-day New York to rescue an IRA member unjustly
accused. Frank McCourt, author of the best-selling "Angela's
Ashes," put it this way: "A novel so intriguing you'll keep turning the pages. And turn them you will late into the night to follow the present-day adventures of the most romantic figure in all Irish history, the man who wrested control of the 26 southern counties of Ireland from the 700-year grip of the British Empire.
Operating out of the legendary literary pub, The Lion's Head,
with its legendary bartender, Tommy "Suge" Butler as his pal,
Collins cuts a daring swath through that shadowy New York world where it's often difficult to tell the cops from the bad guys.
Duplicity is piled atop double-cross but Collins, remember, had
maneuvered his way through much worse during the time of the Irish "troubles." This time, however, since he has come back to earth as an angel, he has to use his wits instead of the gun. Once again he is pitted against the British, a dangerous task he welcomes. And until the last minute the reader doesn't know whether Collins and his pals can pull off this bold rescue attempt.
The author, Dermot McEvoy, knows this turf for he was born in Dublin, which he often visits, and is steeped in Irish revolutionary history. And he knows New York, having lived in Greenwich Village, just around the corner from The Lion's Head, for nearly a half century. As the reader reluctantly turns the
last few pages, he hopes that Michael Collins will again return to the land of the living. In the meantime, Liam Neeson might
again be quite okay as the "Terrible Angel."
Rating: 
Summary: Some great high points, and only a few wobbles
Review: If you're not comfortable with the premise of Michael Collins returning(briefly) to earth 70 years after he died, then this book is not for you. If you are, it's a rich treasure trove of Collins nuggets. Given the premise, I found it amazingly believable. The characters carry conviction, and obviously the author has done both his Collins research and loves and knows New York City. So if you're interested in either New York or Michael Collins, this book is definitely worth reading. I found portions of it very moving, and the action carries the reader along. However, I'd recommend reading a non-fiction or two about Collins first, since at least half of the book's charm is the wonderful evocation of the Big Fella. I wish the author would write another book along the same lines.
Rating:
Summary: Some great high points, and only a few wobbles
Review: If you're not comfortable with the premise of Michael Collins returning(briefly) to earth 70 years after he died, then this book is not for you. If you are, it's a rich treasure trove of Collins nuggets. Given the premise, I found it amazingly believable. The characters carry conviction, and obviously the author has done both his Collins research and loves and knows New York City. So if you're interested in either New York or Michael Collins, this book is definitely worth reading. I found portions of it very moving, and the action carries the reader along. However, I'd recommend reading a non-fiction or two about Collins first, since at least half of the book's charm is the wonderful evocation of the Big Fella. I wish the author would write another book along the same lines.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting if Lightweight Twist on The Big Fella
Review: The archangel Michael sends Michael Collins back to earth to get out of purgatory. A little far fetched, but I gave it a shot. For the average Irish-American who had heard of Michael Collins but really didn't know the particulars of his life, it was a quick history lesson. The writing style was a bit simplistic and at times the characters get confusing. Yet the premise of the book was interesting. I enjoyed the dialogue and his amazement at the the way things had changed since 1922. Having learned about Michael Collins from a young age, I could understand the references to Kevin Barry and Eamon DeVelera, but if you dont already know about them you'd be lost. If you want to read about the real Michael Collins and his amazing life get Tim Pat Coogans book.
Rating:
Summary: michael collins..for the novice historian
Review: The archangel Michael sends Michael Collins back to earth to get out of purgatory. A little far fetched, but I gave it a shot. For the average Irish-American who had heard of Michael Collins but really didn't know the particulars of his life, it was a quick history lesson. The writing style was a bit simplistic and at times the characters get confusing. Yet the premise of the book was interesting. I enjoyed the dialogue and his amazement at the the way things had changed since 1922. Having learned about Michael Collins from a young age, I could understand the references to Kevin Barry and Eamon DeVelera, but if you dont already know about them you'd be lost. If you want to read about the real Michael Collins and his amazing life get Tim Pat Coogans book.
Rating:
Summary: Original and entertaining
Review: The banality of this book is beyond description. I would say that it has all the depth and subtlety of High School creative writing, but that would be an insult to High School students. Collins here is sort of an Irish James Bond -- women can't resist him, men are in awe of him. He's always three steps ahead of the Bad Guy. There's not one moment of suspense or doubt in the outcome. The basic racial formula is: Irish = good, virile, caring, righteous; English = evil, sadistic, gay, cowardly. I'm Irish and proud of it, but I was thoroughly insulted by this simplistic and ignorant racism, as well as the insult to my intelligence. There was absolutely no attempt at characterization beyond that basic formula. This book is not worth anyone's time. I found myself embarassed to be reading it. McEvoy actually has a character say that Collins looks like Liam Neeson, despite the photo of Collins on the book jacket to disprove it. The jacket says that McEvoy is a publishing lifer, and I imagine that's the only way something this fatuous could get into print.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible Angel; the fabulous female characters
Review: There is no doubt that Collins is charismatic. His adventures in New York are page turning fun, but it is the women that make the novel appealing. Naomi Ottinger is the perfect woman for our time. She's a smart, sassy and sexy New York bartender and single mom, who can hold her own in a bar full of always bright, often drunk men. She knows what she wants and doesn't hold anything back to get it. The romance that develops between Collins and Naomi is poignant and adds heart to the novel. Then there's Officer Patricia O'Malley. Classy and beautiful, who tries to attract Collins for information. She happens to be the mistress of Quentin Quinney, the two faced NYPD Intelligence officer. Collins won't bite. He only has eyes for Naomi. Last, but far from least, is Sadie. The homeless woman who has no pretenses, sees it all and gives Collins a clearer vision of New York and the people he encounters. I would have turned the pages anyway, but these women make me want to turn them again and again.
Rating:
Summary: Should be a terrific film!
Review: This whimsical, light comedy of "ancient Irish revolutionaries and mad archangels, all having [weird] fits," is just made for the screen! Telling the tale of famed Irish revolutionary Michael Collins, "The Big Fellow," who died in an ambush ten days after becoming head of the Irish Republic in 1922, McEvoy improbably brings him to life in New York City in the present day. Having spent these years since his death in Purgatory, Collins is the beneficiary of some "pull" by Sean O'Connell and Padraic Pearse with the Archangel Michael, who gives Collins one chance, at last, to make it into heaven. All he has to do is perform one earthly deed--spring Martin Twomey, an innocent man, from jail and prevent his deportation by INS to face trumped-up murder charges Britain.
Although author McEvoy includes a serious and helpful "Fenian's Who's Who," along with a prologue explaining the history of the Irish revolution, this is a far-from-serious, slapstick novel, relying on all the tried and true tricks of comic film for effect. Collins in New York is a man out of time, unfamiliar with everything that has happened in the world since 1922, allowing McEvoy to poke fun at his ignorance of modern inventions, clothing styles, politics and World War II, and changes in religion and social behavior. Throw-away lines about JFK, Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, and Mayor Koch, about the fact that Collins looks like Liam Neeson (who played Collins in the recent film), and about Michael Collins, the U.S. astronaut, are only a few of the comic references which keep this story hopping.
As is characteristic of broad comedy, much of the humor relies on stereotypes--the Bing Crosby-type priest, the huge and good-hearted bartender, the rapacious double agent, the down-on-her-luck vagrant with a heart of gold, the arrogant and boozing British official with a secret life, and even the archangel Michael appearing in thunderclaps and whirlwinds to remind Michael Collins of his mission. The humor is far more visual than literary, and the book is loaded with sentimentality, easy aphorisms, and moralizing, something one is more likely to accept in a light-humored film (where a character can raise an eyebrow when things sound preachy) than in a novel. As long as a reader can accept the premise--that a revolutionary like Collins, responsible for the execution of the entire British secret service in Dublin--is (like Colonel Klink on Hogan's Heroes) an appropriate subject for humor, the reader will be mightily entertained by this fast-paced spoof. Mary Whipple
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