A Kind of Sleep

Withthe publication of his second novel, British author Ould (Road Lines proves to be a brave writer, this time realistically tackling terrorism from the point of view of terrorists. Though this narrative may disconcert some readers, it manages to involve us, eschewing stereotypes. In long, loping sentences amid paradoxically graceful images of decay, ruin and stagnation, we are plunged into the shadowy world of Joe Larne, a Provisional IRA member who has been in a ""kind of sleep'' (i.e., retirement) for several years. Joe works in a scrap metal yard in London, but he is ``awoken'' first by the reappearance of an old compatriot, Danny Mallon, and then young hit-man Dave Hagen. Joe belatedly realizes that once you're in the IRA, you're in for life. Danny is blown up, nine IRA members are subsequently arrested by the police and Joe is finally driven to act. In this world of urban terrorists, violent acts are casual and self-perpetuating. Ould's terrorists have lost sight of their organization's outraged origins, each violent act, instead, merely propagating another and failing to solve problems that beg such simple solutions. (July)