I'm having a really hard time writing this review. I've been staring at a blank screen for awhile now and nothing is really coming to me. I mean, I really enjoyed the book, in the way that one can enjoy such a dark, gritty tale. I thought the characters were well imagined and portrayed and, while they each represented a different aspect of this somewhat poverty stricken, "down on it's luck," city/community, they were still written to be more than just a caricature of a vice. And I really appreciated the slow talespin for each character that the author was able to create, the reality of a slow slide downwards that, when looked at a piece at a time, is hard to follow. It's that type of slide that, for people who aren't on it, makes it tough to look at those who've reached the bottom and understand how they could have gotten there, what steps/decisions brought them to that point. But when you read it slowly building, or crumbling as the case may be, then you can really see, and (if written well and read by a person capable of empathy) start to understand. I also liked the exploration of the "down the line" side effects of an overly strict religious zeal, where that type of faith leaves those on the outside (as were all the characters in this novel). The voice of the author was real - it felt like someone reading out loud to you - her intonation and preciseness of dialogue was so smoothly put into words. And while I had to look up some Irish phrases and slang, it really added to the atmosphere that was created. So apparently I have a lot to say in general, but it's the characters that I'm having trouble with. I think perhaps they were too real. The decisions they made that had me almost yelling "NO!" out loud because I thought if only they could hear me, that would help stop their slide. And while they can't hear me, of course, there are so many people in similar situations, facing similar choices, and feeling similarly that they have no other option. And maybe they don't - so many moving parts in each life are happening outside the control of the people living those lives. Tony cannot control that he was "picked" by JP to help with a job, Ryan cannot control his father's drinking or his neighbor's choices, Maureen cannot control her son's actions, Georgie could not control Maureen's reaction to Robbie or the people who took away her daughter, and the economy, those hard hits, are outside of each characters' control. The best they can do is try to ride out life with the cards they were handed. But that's the thing exactly. It's hard to write reviews on people that just seemed so real and whose struggles are the same as so many I've seen and heard. How do you give stars or write judgement on that?