“Declan Burke is his own genre. The Lammisters dazzles, beguiles and transcends. Virtuoso from start to finish.” – Eoin McNamee “This bourbon-smooth riot of jazz-age excess, high satire and Wodehouse flamboyance is a pitch-perfect bullseye of comic brilliance.” – Irish Independent Books of the Year 2019 “This rapid-fire novel deserves a place on any bookshelf that grants asylum to PG Wodehouse, Flann O’Brien or Kyril Bonfiglioli.” – Eoin Colfer, Guardian Best Books of the Year 2019 “The funniest book of the year.” – Sunday Independent “Declan Burke is one funny bastard. The Lammisters ... conducts a forensic analysis on the anatomy of a story.” – Liz Nugent “Burke’s exuberant prose takes centre stage … He plays with language like a jazz soloist stretching the boundaries of musical theory.” – Totally Dublin “A mega-meta smorgasbord of inventive language ... linguistic verve not just on every page but every line.” – Irish Times “Above all, The Lammisters gives the impression of a writer enjoying himself. And so, dear reader, should you.” – Sunday Times “A triumph of absurdity, which burlesques the literary canon from Shakespeare, Pope and Austen to Flann O’Brien … The Lammisters is very clever indeed.” – The Guardian
Friday, July 27, 2007
Funky Friday’s Free-For-All: Being A Cornucopia Of Interweb Stuff ‘N’ Such
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Nobody Move, This Is A Review: 12:23 by Eoin McNamee
This review is reproduced with the kind permission of Eurocrime
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
The Kids Aren’t Always Alright
“When I was working on the Readers and Writers Programme, we identified Year 6, Year 7, the transition years between primary and secondary, as years in which children were often lost to reading. I remember my own transition being quite hard, so it is a time of life that I’m drawn to as a writer. If I’ve managed to create a readable book that helps children at that period to stay focused on the joys of reading, then I’ll be a really happy woman.”Batten down the hatches, Siobhan – there’s a veritable El Nino of happiness heading your way …
“Ya Wanna Do It Here Or Down The Station, Punk?” # 649: Sylvester Young
What crime novel would you most like to have written?
Love, Lies and Bleeding. It brought back many memories of growing up in Wolves.
Who do you read for guilty pleasures?
Four kids, a demanding wife, full-time job plus my own writing – for guilty pleasure I only have time for reading the best, the daily tabloids. A great source for plots.
Most satisfying writing moment?
After years of rejection, acceptance of my first book.
The best Irish crime novel is …?
Ronan Bennett, The Second Prison.
What Irish crime novel would make a great movie?
Love, Lies and Bleeding. I wish I had the know-how to make it into a screenplay.
Worst / best thing about being a writer?
Worst: constant rejection of a script. Best: holding for the first time your book fresh off the press.
Why does John Banville use a pseudonym for writing crime?
To switch personality as well as style - switching names can help in that process.
The three best words to describe your own writing are …?
Entertaining, thought provoking.
Sylvester Young’s Sleeping Dogs Lie is published in September by Raldon Books.
This Week We’re Reading … Missing Presumed Dead and Miami Purity
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
The Rime Of The Not-So-Ancient Mariani
“The idea for The Fulcanelli Manuscript was a coming together of a whole bunch of elements. The main part of the story is the hunt for a mysterious alchemical elixir that could save the life of a little girl. The alchemical material is something I’ve been researching for years. The Fulcanelli of the title was a real-life alchemist, whose disappearance in 1920’s Paris has never been explained. Rich ground for me, I thought. It was originally going to be a non-fiction book, and then about two years later I had the idea of incorporating it into a thriller with this character who had been floating around in my mind for a long time. His name is Benedict Hope, and he’s a kidnap and ransom consultant: in other words, he’s the guy who can fetch your loved ones back out of trouble when baddies have snatched them away. The various strands came together – I have a renegade scientist, a couple of crazy religious maniacs, a super-intense coffee-addicted neurotic French cop, a self-mutilating lunatic, a seriously sexy Italian historian lady who comes close to stealing our hero’s affections. And a lot of bullets. Oh, and a huge secret that could change the course of civilisation as we know it ... The action takes us from the west coast of Ireland to Canada, via the south of France and a nice Irish pub in Paris. You CAN get good Guinness in Paris ... that was the best part of the research, naturally!”Dan Brown, your ass is grass. For a download of the first chapter of The Fulcanelli Manuscript, alchemise yourself all the way over here …
Flick Lit # 109: Dark Passage
“It was a tough break. Parry was innocent. On top of that he was a decent sort of guy who never bothered people and wanted to lead a quiet life. But there was too much on the other side and on his side of it there was practically nothing. The jury decided he was guilty.”Parry breaks out of prison, becomes a fugitive, and embarks on a nightmarish hunt for the person who framed him for the murder of his wife. The desperate gamble he takes to gain time – submitting to a quack surgeon’s knife for plastic surgery – allowed the director of Dark Passage (1947), Delmer Daves, to follow on from a technique pioneered in 1946’s The Lady in the Lake, in which the camera’s point-of-view plays the part of the detective. When the bandages finally come off, the comely features of Parry, aka Humphrey Bogart, are revealed. The film’s producers made much of the fact that Bogart and Lauren Bacall were back in harness again, for the first time since The Big Sleep (1946). And, as usual, their timing, screen presence and ability to play off one another is impeccable. But anyone expecting the rapid-fire dialogue and crackling sexual chemistry of Howard Hawks’ classic was to be sorely disappointed. Goodis, who co-wrote the screenplay with Daves, had other fish to torture. Parry distrusts everyone and everything, wallowing in his misery until it seems he must surely drown. That the film doesn’t sink under the weight of its own pessimism is down to Daves’ crisp pacing, a brooding, atmospheric depiction of San Francisco, and a wonderfully eccentric supporting cast of noir misfits, including Bruce Bennett, Clifton Young, Douglas Kennedy and Hollywood’s best-ever on-screen WASP, Agnes Moorehead. Noir purists decry Dark Passage’s implausibly upbeat denouement, but to be fooled by the happy ending is to ignore all of the preceding ninety minutes. The success of Dark Passage, first as a serialised tale in the Saturday Evening Post, then as a film, led to work as a Hollywood screenwriter. However, Goodis fell out with Hollywood and retreated to his home town of Philadelphia. There he moved in with his mother and began a long and lonely slide into alcoholism. Successful as a novelist during the ’50s – Cassidy’s Girl, one of nineteen novels, sold over a million copies – his star dimmed as the ’60s wore on. By the time he died in 1967, Goodis was broke and – with the notable exception of French film directors – languishing in squalor and obscurity. The pity is that he never turned to autobiography: his life would have become his finest novel.- Michael McGowan
Monday, July 23, 2007
Ask Not For Whom The Poll Bells
“Well, I would be truly staggered and honoured if I won, but I would prefer not to count my chickens until I actually get my hands on the cheque. And it is cashed.”Hmmm. Wethinks there’ll be an unconscionable number of uncounted chicks around chez Bateman in the weeks and months to come … Meanwhile, cast a cold eye on the new poll, above right, and tell us who you think is the Best Irish Crime Fiction PI, Like, Ever™. The countdown staaaarts … now.
“Ya Wanna Do It Here Or Down The Station, Punk?” # 247: Andrew Nugent
What crime novel would you most like to have written?
The Secret History by Donna Tartt.
Who do you read for guilty pleasures?
Bill Bryson. He is so politically incorrect.
Most satisfying writing moment?
When I have tried up to twenty times - and it suddenly clicks: I just know I have got it right.
The best Irish crime novel is …?
My guilty secret: I don’t read much crime – so I don’t really know.
What Irish crime novel would make a great movie?
Ditto.
Worst / best thing about being a writer?
Worst thing: It is bloody hard work. Best thing: You are present to yourself in a new and deeper way.
Why does John Banville use a pseudonym for writing crime?
It must be because he regards it as “guilty pleasure”.
The three best words to describe your own writing are …?
Good-humoured, hopeful, sincere.
Andrew Nugent’s Second Burial goes into paperback in August.
Free Books? No Best, There Is None …
Yep, we’re a cheap date, and getting cheaper by the minute …
Sunday, July 22, 2007
The Monday Review
“I finally got around to finishing off this addition to the Artemis Fowl series, and I must say The Lost Colony keeps up the tradition: a non-stop action story. Seriously, Eoin Colfer knows how to drop you right into the action at sixty miles per hour and keeps the foot on the gas until the finish line is crossed,” says Jason at Probably Not … There’s also a veritable lost colony of positive vibes at Amazon.com, although our favourite is the line, “Another great addition to the Artemis Fowl series from Eoin Colfer, certified genius.” They’re handing out certs for genius now? Ours must have got lost in the post … Pat Mullan is becoming a name to watch for, people, as Harriet Klausner has discovered: “The Circle of Sodom is a terse political thriller that never lets up until the final confrontation occurs. The story line is fast-paced and loaded with action … Mr. Mullan displays his skills as fans will easily follow along this one-sitting thriller.” Nice one, Pat … Benny Blanco (from the Bronx) gets the hup-ya from Josephine Damian, to wit: “In spite of these flaws it is pathologist Quirke’s inner conflict over betraying the very people he owes and loves that makes Christine Falls a worthwhile read. According to the jacket flap, we’re to see more of Quirke, for this book is the start of what promises to be a psychological and character-driven crime series.” The Mean Streets likes Ken Bruen’s latest quiet a lot: “With an ensemble cast, multiple intersecting plot lines and machine gun prose, this one is Bruen at his mordant best. On one hand Ammunition is just another full-throttle ride down the mean streets of Southeast London with one of the most innovative and entertaining tour guides working in the genre today. On another level, however, this book offers a disturbing critique of a society run amok … What McBain did for the police procedural in the 20th century, Bruen is doing in the 21st – taking it to a new level entirely!” Mmmm, yummy … Yet more smoke being blown up Tana French’s nether regions. First, the Washington Post: “Now add to that distinguished list Tana French’s ambitious and extraordinary first novel. And rank it high … Whether the ending succeeds will likely be debated, but French’s decisions are unexpected and unnerving – a bold close to a daring novel,” says Art Taylor, while Karen Chisholm at Aust Crime Fiction is equally impressed: “Ultimately In The Woods is fascinating. It’s one of those books that twists and turns and moves and shape-shifts to the point where you really don’t know what you did or didn’t think you knew a few pages before … It’s also one of those books that ends with not everything nicely answered / tied up / resolved – just like life really.” Intriguing, no? … What of Derek Landy’s Skulduggery Pleasant? “An incredible piece of writing that is lively and wild! Humour, adventure, magic and suspense are all in this piece of writing! A nice break from the dull, realistic or overly imaginative books of the 21st century. Down to the ground, but still in the air kind of book. You CANNOT miss this one! I give it 5 stars!!” says J.B. at the Young Young Critics Club over at Perrot Library … Eoin McNamee’s 12:23 has been receiving mixed reviews but we love it and Peter Millar at The Times is inclined to agree: “McNamee has a better claim than most to be heir to John le Carré as master of the genuinely literary thriller, if only he could acquire just a little English understatedness.” Erm, exqueeze us? English understatedness? Wtf, etc.? … Finally, some nice reviews for Gene Kerrigan, first from Publisher’s Weekly for The Midnight Choir, to wit: “While much of the fun is in puzzling out unfamiliar words like “gurriers” and “gaff,” it’s Kerrigan’s firm control of the procedural genre and the breathtaking twist he gives his plot that show him to be a master of the form.” Which is nice, but Maxine Clarke, reviewing for Eurocrime, goes one better for Kerrigan’s debut, Little Criminals: “I was not sure I’d want to read a book about an Irish gang who kidnap a businessman’s wife and demand a huge ransom. But … I decided to try it. And I am glad I did: it is excellent.” Cheer up, Weepy Gene – we all loves ya, baby!
Bruen Up Several Storms
“I’ll be lighting lots of candles to St Jude. The publishers are so stunned they’re springing for the fares. Now that really is sweet …”We couldn’t agree more. Watch out for those polar bears up in Alaska, man - they may look cute, but they don't have a wood to shit in. And you know how crazy that makes a bear ...
A Starrett Is Born
“It was great fun to write a Starrett story set in Donegal. I love the county and spend a lot of time there. I’ve used the character Inspector Starrett before in a Kennedy book, I’ve Heard The Banshee Sing, and in a short story, In The Midnight Hour, which was included in the Meeting Across The Water anthology. So he was there in the back of my mind screaming for more attention, if you know what I mean. I suppose what I’m trying to say is that I lived with the character for a long time as opposed to sitting down in front of a blank screen waiting for magic. But the short answer to your question would be, “Great.””And the short answer to the question ‘What the ruddy hell’s the novel called, then?’ is The Dust of Death. Ooooh, spooky, no?