Read Ireland Book Reviews
Issue 484
7 August 2010
New Irish Fiction
Gathering of Souls by Gerry O’Carroll
Large Format Paperback; 13 Euro / 18 USD / 11 UK; 320 pages
This gripping debut introduces series characters Detectives Moss Quinn and Joe Doyle in a race against time to find Quinn's abducted wife. A touch Denis Lehane meets Joseph Wambaugh, this suspenseful, contemporary Irish thriller looks set to join John Connolly and Alex Barclay s book as an interational bestseller. A year to the day after the death of their son, Moss Quinn's wife Eva Marie has been abducted. He is Dublin s star detective; investigating the disappearance of five women and the murder of another the year before. Moss's number-one suspect walks free from the subsequent trial amidst allegations of police brutality meted out by Quinn's partner, Joe Doyle an old-school cop. Quinn's world is in turmoil, his marriage is a mess, his reputation after the trial is in tatters and now his wife has been abducted. Somewhere out there, his wife is lying bound and gagged, she has been left to die of thirst. In 72 hours she will be in a coma or dead, and there is a voice on the phone telling him the clock is ticking and that the clues to his wife's whereabouts are in his past...Building to a heart-stopping finale, with a cast of credible and colourful characters from the criminal underworld and police ranks alike, The Gathering of Souls is an authentic, dark tale of obsession, revenge and redemption.
Falling Out of Heaven by John Lynch
Large Format Paperback; 13 Euro / 18 USD / 10 UK; 336 pages [Add To Basket]
Hauntingly told and emotionally charged, this is an immense story of consuming addiction and the betrayal of trust. Gabriel O'Rourke seemingly has everything: a loving wife, an adoring young son, a worthwhile job. He is rooted in a community, is part of a family, has a home. Yet, gradually, his world slowly pulls apart, until Gabriel finds himself homeless and destitute, living out of rubbish skips on the street. In a psychotic haze he is admitted into a secure unit, his body addled by alcohol, his mind broken. Here, by confronting the blighting reality of his own alcoholism, Gabriel is forced finally to unearth the muddled spectre of the past: the black betrayals by those around him, his traumatic relationship with his father, and the true darkness of some obsessions. Learning to navigate a landscape pockmarked with trauma to undergo a journey of painstaking absolution and halting reconstruction, Gabriel understands that only by untangling the mistakes of the past can he hope to reclaim his future.
Capital Sins by Peter Cunningham
Large Format Paperback; 15 Euro / 20 USD / 10 UK;
Ireland, 2006. Financial hysteria grips the nation. No one can speak of anything but the price of property - it is impossible not to make money. Developers gorge on massive loans. Bankers, egged on by politicians, trample over each other in the stampede to lend more and more. Millionaires are created every day as the stock market soars and Ireland audaciously becomes one of the world's wealthiest nations. But at the heart of this unholy multi-billion euro alliance between developers, politicians and bankers lies a hideous truth: the whole empire is built on sand. Two men face each other over the dark divide. One, Albert Barr, a developer, has everything to lose; the other, Lee Carew, a struggling journalist, suddenly realises that he has stumbled upon the story of a lifetime. And for the bankers, the developers and Ireland's Celtic Tiger, time is rapidly running out. With devastating accuracy and savage humour, Peter Cunningham's novel tells the story of the final year of the Celtic Tiger as it has never been told before.
If I Never See You Again by Niamh O’Connor
Large Format Paperback; 14 Euro / 18 USD / 11 UK; 336 pages [Add To Basket]
The Detective: Meet Jo Birmingham. Single mum, streetwise detective, and spiky as hell. Recently promoted, she is one of the few female detective superintendents on the Dublin police force. But with a failed marriage behind her and two young sons at home, trying to strike the right work-life balance has run her ragged. The Serial Killer: When Jo identifies the missing link in a chain of brutal killings, she comes under fierce scrutiny from her male colleagues in the force, especially her boss and ex-husband Dan Mason. But as the body count rises, so do the body parts. As fear stalks the city, it soon becomes obvious both to the police and to the media that a serial killer is at large. A Terrifying Game of Cat and Mouse: And so Jo embarks on a terrifying psychological journey to find out who the killer is, and how he is choosing his victims. Soon she is involved in a deadly game in which there are no rules. Because the killer is waiting for her...
You by Nuala Ni Chonchuir
Large Format Paperback; 13 Euro / 18 USD / 10 UK; [Add To Basket]
This is a debut novel from established short-story writer and poet about a 10-year-old girl who lives with her separated mother and two brothers. Set against the semi-urban backdrop of the River Liffey in 1980, the story unfolds through the narrator's observations and interactions, and her naive interpretations of adult conversations and behaviour. Heartbreaking at times, but it is also optimistic, humorous and enchanting. Praise for Ni Chonchuir's "Nude": '"Nude" is a gorgeous collection. It's sexy, intelligent, sensual, challenging and, even better, an addictive read. Highly recommended' - Jennifer Matthews, Southword. 'The stories are composed of agile narrative voices, lively dialogue and - there is a confident, suggestive power that lingers' - Katie Donovan, "Irish Times".
Dangerous Pity by Elizabeth Wassell
Large Format Paperback; 13 Euro / 18 USD / 10 UK; 238 pages [Add To Basket]
That morning, I walked down the plunging streets of vieux Nice, beside the coral-coloured houses, the cafés and socca bars, the displays of mountain ham and olives. And I bought loads of food and a bottle of vin du Var for lunch, almost as though I were expecting a visitor. Sebastian Clare is a well-known author living in the south of France and slowly coming to terms with the death of his mother. Onto the scene arrives the impish Ursula, a former student, who quickly insinuates herself into his life. Sebastian casts his mind back to the time when he and his wife, Claudia, had taken on a driver who became a menacing presence. Ursula continues her parasitic existence in Sebastian's life until events take a dramatic turn. In Dangerous Pity, Elizabeth Wassell superbly depicts a rich cast of characters, and captures the city of Nice in all its varied moods.
The Devil by Ken Bruen
Large Format Paperback; 12 Euro / 16 USD / 10 UK; 288 pages [Add To Basket]
America - the land of opportunity, a place where economic prosperity beckons: but not for PI Jack Taylor, who's just been refused entry. Disappointed and bitter, he thinks that an encounter with an over-friendly stranger in an airport bar is the least of his problems. Except that this stranger seems to know rather more than he should about Jack. Jack thinks no more of their meeting and resumes his old life in Galway. But when he's called to investigate a student murder - connected to an elusive Mr K - he remembers the man from the airport. Is the stranger really is who he says he is? With the help of the Jameson, Jack struggles to make sense of it all. After several more murders and too many coincidental encounters, Jack believes he may have met his nemesis. But why has he been chosen? And could he really have taken on the devil himself?
The House of Slamming Doors by Mark Macauley
Large Format Paperback; 13 Euro / 17 USD / 11 UK; 208 pages [Add To Basket]
My name is Justin Alexander Torquhil Edward Peregrine Montague, but my father calls me 'you little bollocks', or when he is in a good mood, 'old cock'. Like I'm married to a hen. My best friend is Annie, Annie Cassidy. Annie is thirteen, just like me. It's 1963 in a country house in west Wicklow during the heady summer of JFK's visit to Ireland. Turbulence is in the air as Justin is locked in combat with his angry and inebriate father. A dark and poignant comedy unfolds and progresses to winter as Kennedy is assassinated and Justine ends his oedipal struggle and comes of age. Replete with the perennial tensions between native and settler, servant and master, Camelot and Leinster House, this poignant tale concerns identity and first love, and the pain of a knowing child living amongst aliens. Told with the panache of PG Wodehouse crossed with Caroline Blackwood, it conveys the spirit of a bygone age and the very present emotions of a fast-growing boy. It is a masterful debut novel.
Danny, Mario & Me by Denise Sewell
Large Format Paperback; 14 Euro / 19 USD / 11 UK; [Add To Basket]
"Danny, Mario and Me" is a story of friendship between three teenage boys in an Irish border town in the 80s. Taidg, Danny and Mario are best friends, thick as thieves, untouchable, until one Friday night, when Danny hangs himself in a field at the back of his family home. Haunted by the manner of his friend's death, Taidg wants answers. In his endeavour to unfold the events that led to the tragic night, Taidg reaches out to Billy's mother, Margaret, to help him understand. But is this an impossible task? Can any one human being ever fully understand why another chooses to take his own life? Either way, it's a journey that Taidg feels compelled to travel, a journey that may bear unexpected fruit. The story deals with a lot of difficult issues: the Troubles, suicide, depression, anorexia, family relationships and teenage friendships, as well as accurately observing the vagaries of small-town Irish life.
The Priest by Gerard O’Donovan
Large Format Paperback; 13 Euro. 18 USD / 10 UK; 384 pages [Add To Basket]
HIS NAME IS THE PRIEST. HIS WEAPON IS A CRUCIFIX. HIS VICTIMS DON'T HAVE A PRAYER. A killer is stalking the dark streets of Dublin. Before each attack, he makes the sign of the cross; then he sends his victims to God. After a diplomat's daughter is brutally assaulted and left for dead, her body branded with burns from a scalding-hot cross, the case falls to Detective Inspector Mike Mulcahy. Mulcahy is one tough cop, but this crime is beyond imagination -- and the Priest is a nemesis more evil and elusive than any Mulcahy has ever faced: an angel of death with a soul dark as hell. As a media frenzy erupts and the city reels in terror, Mulcahy and his new partner, Claire Brogan, must stop the Priest in his tracks before he can complete his divine mission of murder. Light your candles. Say your prayers. Confess your sins. The Priest is coming.
Please note: Prices were correct at time of original posting but are subject to subsequent change without notice.
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