Rating: 
Summary: Excellent testimony of a man's life within the IRA
Review: "Killing Rage" is an excellent testimony of Eamon Collins' life in the IRA. He shows what the IRA are really like behind what you read in Irish history books. As a supporter of the IRA and their movement I was appalled at some of the things Mr. Collins talked about in his book. From what I read in "Killing Rage" I feel that the IRA needs to reevaluate what its real goal is in existing in Northern Ireland or Ireland in general. From what Mr. Collins says I think that the IRA isn't the freedom fighting organization it makes itself out to be. But that still will not prevent me from supporting what their original goal was in being in Ireland: the independence of the Irish.
Rating:
Summary: Your country or your friend?
Review: "If I had to choose between my country and my friend, I hope I would have the courage to choose my friend" EM Foster. Collins chose the 'siren call' of tribalism, or country, and ending up killing at least one man who could have been his friend. He later hauntingly meets the man's daughter briefly. He admits that his Protestant neighbours had more in common with him than the Southern Nationalists with which he was supposed to be trying to unite. A deeply moving book, that makes one uneasy with what one thought were the certainties of Northern Ireland. One cannot read this book and come away thinking the IRA campaign justified, whatever the grievances suffered in the 1960s by Catholics in Northern Ireland. As good a memoir of a 'dirty war' as 'Despatches' about Vietnam, made worse by happening among Collins' workmates and in his home town.
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent book...
Review: ...but I would not recommend this as a first book on the Northern Ireland conflict. The conflict is incalculably more complex, polemically as well strategically, than is generally understood. If you are a reader from Great Britain or the United States, your media has grossly oversimplified its analysis of The Troubles of a span of years. In view of this disservice, you would benefit from reading a detailed, objective overview of the situation before taking on "Killing Rage".As others here have said, one cannot come away from this book with the feeling that the Provisional IRA's campaign is justified. This is unfortunate. What the reader can miss is the fact that there once were sound political positions behind the campaigns of the PIRA, most Loyalist paramilitary groups and the British Army. The duration of The Troubles stems directly from the fact that these sound positions were mutually excusive of each other. But because this is primarily a story of Eamon Collins' personal redemption, the PIRA's violence takes center stage among that of all the combatants. Thus the reader may feel encouraged to villify the PIRA exclusively because of the recantations of a former member. (The IRA did nothing to counteract this misimpression by murdering Collins.) But really fact the PIRA was, next to the British Army, merely the richest and best organized player (though not the most violent) in what amounted to little more than a street war between rival gangs. A second problem lies with Collins' contextual interpretations of the IRA's political stance. The IRA's violence is set against its stubborn belief -only recently abandoned- that Loyalism was an artificial construct of British political and economic interests. This is not Collins' fault, since he was after all a PIRA member. Indeed, until the late 1990's the IRA's Army Council simply couldn't believe that a majority of people in the Six Counties had no desire to be part of the Republic. This context gives us great insight into the delusions the PIRA perpetuated to motivate itself and its young trained killers. It doesn't tell us that such blindness perpetuated all parties to the conflict, or that absurdity of the violence was the result of a 30-year degenerative detachment of the violence from its justification as opposed to some philosophical weakness in particular combatant groups. This is not to say that the book is flawed. It's excellent. But it provides an incomplete picture of the issues at work. I would recommend Jack Holland's "Hope against History" as a good survey of the recent 30-year round of the The Troubles, and a good basis for more personal accounts. In light of Holland's moderate overview, "Killing Rage" would be one of several interesting and thought-provoking second steps. Ultimately, "Killing Rage" is a vivid story of an element always extant in paramilitary groups: relatively naive, regular guys with the honorable desire to fight for freedom, whose sense of personal honor saves their souls when that fight drifts from principle.
Rating:
Summary: Enthralling and Unflinching
Review: Eamon Collins provides an unflinching look at the life of a modern day IRA gunman. The controversy created by this brutally honest look into the inner workings of this complex and secretive organization cost Collins his life at the hands of an IRA assassin. Collins sets out the reasons for his involvement in the IRA as well as detailing the horrific results of his and his fellow gunman's actions. The author also provides a detailed and unprecedented look within the British interrogation chamber, and an inside story of the "Supergrasses." An important work and must-read for anyone interested in the modern history of Northern Ireland.
Rating:
Summary: Enthralling and Unflinching
Review: Eamon Collins provides an unflinching look at the life of a modern day IRA gunman. The controversy created by this brutally honest look into the inner workings of this complex and secretive organization cost Collins his life at the hands of an IRA assassin. Collins sets out the reasons for his involvement in the IRA as well as detailing the horrific results of his and his fellow gunman's actions. The author also provides a detailed and unprecedented look within the British interrogation chamber, and an inside story of the "Supergrasses." An important work and must-read for anyone interested in the modern history of Northern Ireland.
Rating:
Summary: Eye opening
Review: Growing up naive in the streets of Boston, you got the sense that this war against the British was fought with precision and intelligence. Eamon Collins does a wonderful job of detailing the real IRA, his personal roller coaster ride in and out of the organization, and the abilities and inabilities of both the IRA and the British Loyalists. Truly a sad story of a man, his family and life in the IRA in Northern Ireland.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely Moving
Review: Having read various books on the struggles in Northern Ireland, I picked up this book with a hint of skepticism. To my surprise, I could not put the book down. I went through a variety of emotions - anger, confusion, amusement, hopefulness and sadness. One thing is for sure - Collins planned, to the most minute detail, the killing of numerous loyalists over a ten year period.
Eamon was murdered some years after the release of this book even though he himself never pulled the trigger on anyone during his time in the IRA. His killers have, as of yet, not been identified. Was it the IRA? Was it one of the loyalist paramilitaries out for revenge? Was it somebody with RUC connections? It raised other questions as well. Did he deserve it? Should he have been forgiven? Do two wrongs make a right?
This book - and Eamon - deserve some answers.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely Moving
Review: Having read various books on the struggles in Northern Ireland, I picked up this book with a hint of skepticism. To my surprise, I could not put the book down. I went through a variety of emotions - anger, confusion, amusement, hopefulness and sadness. One thing is for sure - Collins planned, to the most minute detail, the killing of numerous loyalists over a ten year period.
Eamon was murdered some years after the release of this book even though he himself never pulled the trigger on anyone during his time in the IRA. His killers have, as of yet, not been identified. Was it the IRA? Was it one of the loyalist paramilitaries out for revenge? Was it somebody with RUC connections? It raised other questions as well. Did he deserve it? Should he have been forgiven? Do two wrongs make a right?
This book - and Eamon - deserve some answers.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down
Review: I bought this book for research purposes, but was pleasantly surprised at the hold it quickly put on me. Collins certainly had the story telling ability the Irish are so famous for. If you have any interest at all in the situation (is that a euphemism or what) in Northern Ireland, this is definitely a book that belongs in your library.
Rating:
Summary: Read It For What It Is
Review: I just got done with this book, and just got done reading some of the criticisms aimed at it. First, this isn't a prolonged analysis of the IRA stuggle. There are serveral book/sites that will give you that in cold, unemotional detail. Second, this isn't a balanced, objective look at the problems of Northern Ireland involving the IRA, Loyalists, RUC, and the British Army. This is an autobiographical account of ONE MAN's tale of being in the IRA. Collins isn't out to make friends here. He states honestly and openly about his cold heartedness of his vicitims and at other times about his agony over incorrect targets. And when you think he should feel guilty or upset, he tells you he doesn't. That is what makes this an honest tale for me. Collins made a career for himself in the IRA. About the time he was getting promoted, both in the IRA "nutting" squad and in Sinn Fein, he was really starting to feel used by the IRA, but couldn't find a way to quit. This was his state of mind when he was arrested by the Brits and held for 7 days, a policy designed to crack suspected terrorists, and one which he had held up under before. I really enjoyed this book. I'll never look at the IRA again the same way. The movies tend to glamorize them, making them out to be a crack army of professionals. Read this book and you'll never think that way again.
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