Woundlicker

Woundlicker

Cover art to first edition of "Woundlicker" by Jason Johnson

Cover art from Blackstaff Press, 2005
Author Jason Johnson
Country Northern Ireland
Language English
Subject Espionage, Northern Ireland
Genre Thriller
Published Belfast: Blackstaff Press, 2005
Media type Book
Pages 165
ISBN 9780856407741
OCLC [1] 62343891[2]

Woundlicker is a novel by the journalist[3] Jason Johnson,[4] which is set in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The story takes place during the slow-moving Northern Ireland peace process talks of 2004 and is written as the verbatim transcription of a covert British government recording. Johnson said his debut novel, published in 2005, was "a story without heroes set in a city where there are far too many."[5]

Plot summary

The story is narrated by a disagreeable misfit and heavy drinker called Fletcher Fee[6] who works in a car wash at the Stormont government building. Some days after witnessing the violent abuse of an 18-year-old called Molly Duddy, Fee finds a listening device secreted in one of the government's black Mercedes cars which he is cleaning. He begins defining his character to the device, informing it and the reader that he is the product of a violent marriage between a Catholic father and a Protestant mother. Ultimately, Fee explains, he plans to break free from the shackles of a divided society. He develops a mild obsession with Molly, whom he refers to as Wee Blondie, as well as a plan to befriend her.

During a protest, overzealous police shoot Fee's only friend, a Muslim colleague called Karim. The killing, which gets second place in a news media obsessed with Northern Ireland politics, spurs 25-year-old Fee towards a dangerous and violent form of revenge. His targets are politicians and paramilitaries from both traditions in Northern Ireland, Loyalist and Republican. The police, as well as both sides of the polarised community, are soon baffled as to who is carrying out these murders because they do not fit the traditional template of killing in Northern Ireland. After each murder, Fee returns to work and gets back in to the car. There he describes what he has done and attempts to explain why he did it.

After a savage and public double-killing which follows Fee's first sexually charged meeting with Molly, he flees as the police try and fail miserably to track him down. The final chapter contains an official government response denying that it or any of its agents were aware of Fee or of his activities before his final act. It also contains a denial, aimed at a suspicious Press, insisting that the government played no part in facilitating Fee's escape. Rumours from Stormont had suggested that unscrupulous powers had viewed his attacks as a way of getting both sides to refocus on the issue at hand, by way of a common enemy. However the reader is already aware that all of Fee's words are a transcription from secret government recordings in which the protagonist is codenamed Woundlicker.

In a follow up police operation, a letter from Fee is found in Molly's house suggesting that she join him as he begins to make a new life for himself. Molly, like Fee, is nowhere to be found.

Reaction

Woundlicker, Johnson's debut novel, was well received by critics in Ireland, with the author being described by playwright Nell McCafferty as "The Irish Irvine Welsh"[7] due to its colloquial and visceral style.

However, Belfast minister David McIlveen called for it to be reviewed, saying "We need to ban this sort of filth...As far as I can see it's done for sensational purposes and shows an inability for the author to be constructive". Johnson responded that it was "authentic and reflects life in some parts of Belfast"[8]

Woundlicker is published by Belfast publishing house Blackstaff Press.[9]

Other work

Alina, by Jason Johnson.

References

  1. ↑ "Wound Licker". OCLC Worldcat. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  2. ↑ "Wound Licker". OCLC Worldcat. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  3. ↑ Byrne, Simon (November 12, 2006). "Irish Author is Threatened: Exclusive novel 'Alina' sparks reaction ganster's fury at Jason". The People.
  4. ↑ Boland, John (October 7, 2006). "BOOKworm". Irish Independent.
  5. ↑ Harkin, Greg (October 9, 2005). "Troubles to be Satirized in New Novel". Independent on Sunday (London).
  6. ↑ Carton, Donna (October 8, 2006). "Now That's a Novel Idea: Book your claim to fame Belfast-based author Jason sells of parts in his latest racy thriller 'to pay the bills'". Daily Mirror, Ulster Edition.
  7. ↑ Bissett, Alan (2006-11-16). "We can't all be Irvine Welsh | Books". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
  8. ↑ Trainor, Liz (October 16, 2005). "Espionage Novel 'Wound Licker' is...F***ing Filthy;...and Now Minister Slams Ulster Writer Johnson's Shock Book".
  9. ↑ "Northern Ireland's leading book publisher". Blackstaff Press. Retrieved 2014-02-01.

External links