“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, September 21, 2007
Death, Where Is Thy Sting? Oh, There It Is
The Best Things In Life Are Free ... Books
What is the name of the first Ken Bruen / Jason Starr collaboration?To be in with a chance of winning a copy, just email us the answer at the address in the top right of this blog, with ‘Bruen / Starr competition’ in the subject line, before noon on September 25. Meanwhile, here’s a sample chapter to get you onto Slide’s slippery slope …
Thursday, September 20, 2007
This Week We’re Reading … The Vengeful Virgin and The Wounded and The Slain
Landy: Of Hope And Glory
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Baa Humbug
“On a hillside near the cozy Irish village of Glennkill, the members of the flock gather around their shepherd, George, whose body lies pinned to the ground with a spade. George has cared for the sheep, reading them a plethora of books every night. The daily exposure to literature has made them far savvier about the workings of the human mind than your average sheep. Led by Miss Maple, the smartest sheep in Glennkill (and possibly the world), they set out to find George’s killer.”Like, sheep? C’mon, people ... “It’s rather as if Agatha Christie had re-written The Wind in the Willows, and I ended by loving it,” says Jane Jakeman in The Independent. That whirring sound you hear? Yep, it’s Dashiell Hammett perning in his eternal gyre …
The Neville Will Find Work For Idle Hands To Do
“When I went to Thailand on holliers I couldn’t get over the amount of prostitutes and the age at which they started into it. I loved the country but hated that. I also wanted to pay homage to a film I seen years ago, Last Exit to Brooklyn, and I took the name of the book from the song on Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks. That song tells the story of a fella falling in love with a prostitute and my book has elements of that too. It’s the latest and there is always a certain feeling of pride about your latest work but I love this book. It’s a move away from my normal but not too far removed.”Neville? Colour us intrigued already. Keep us posted, sir …
We Come Not To Bury Julius, But To Praise Him
I THINK I HEARD THE SHOT.If you haven’t yet got your grubby mitts on Gerard Donovan’s Julius Winsome, we urge you to do so with all due haste. In essence it’s a tale about a man who picks up his gun to avenge the death of his dog, but what makes it special is the voice, a hauntingly compelling tone that verges on the hypnotic, delivered by a character who is the antithesis of that old crime fiction staple, the unreliable narrator. For a shorthand reference, you could do worse than try to imagine Jim Thompson dabbling in the dark arts of literary fiction. If that’s not seductive enough, try a few sample chapters and immerse yourself in the workings of a unique mind …
It was a cold afternoon at the end of October, and I was in my chair reading by the wood stove in my cabin. In these woods many men roam with guns, mostly in the stretches away from where people live, and their shots spray like pepper across the sky, especially on the first day of the rifle hunting season when people from Fort Kent and smaller towns bring long guns in their trucks up this way to hunt deer and bear …
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Four Legs Good, Two Opinions Bad
“What Sarvas is reluctant to concede but is too intelligent to deny is what Richard Schickel, the film critic for Time magazine, eloquently affirmed in a blunt riposte, published in the Los Angeles Times in May, to the “hairy-chested populism” promoted by the boosters of blogging: “Criticism—and its humble cousin, reviewing—is not a democratic activity. It is, or should be, an elite enterprise, ideally undertaken by individuals who bring something to the party beyond their hasty, instinctive opinions of a book (or any other cultural object). It is work that requires disciplined taste, historical and theoretical knowledge and a fairly deep sense of the author’s (or filmmaker’s or painter’s) entire body of work, among other qualities.” Sure, two, three, many opinions, but let’s all acknowledge a truth as simple as it is obvious: Not all opinions are equal.”Pardon us while we vomit copiously into our pointy hat with the big fat D on the front. And now that we’re all out of bile, let’s just suggest (quietly, so Steve doesn’t get offended) that criticism and reviewing aren’t cousins, they’re Tweedledum and Tweedledee. The difference? People tend to steer clear of Tweedledum because he takes himself and life a wee bit too seriously, and isn’t much fun. Tweedledee, on the other hand, simply offers his opinion and isn’t going to sulk if he thinks you won’t order your life according to his rules. Because Tweedledee, along with most people, understands that if a writer needs an official interpreter wasting half a rainforest to explain what his or her book is trying to say, then said writer should think very seriously about taking a refresher course in Eng Lit 101. Tweedledee also thinks democracy and freedom of speech is a good thing. Sure, he can be a bit odd like that. But we like him.
Monday, September 17, 2007
“Ya Wanna Do It Here Or Down The Station, Punk?” # 397: JT Ellison
What crime novel would you most like to have written?
Honestly, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. The story both frightened and comforted, and the pov blew me away. It was one of those books where you close the covers and THINK. I LOVE that. And I liked the idea that Heaven is what you make it. Fascinating concept.
Who do you read for guilty pleasures?
Diana Gabaldon, J.K. Rowling, Lionel Shriver, and stories from my past, like Jean Auel, Madeleine L’Engle, and Daphne du Maurier. Now isn’t that funny, I’ve just realized the entire list is comprised of women. I wonder what that means. Oh, nearly forgot – Lolita. Nabokov’s like a symphony to me.
Most satisfying writing moment?
It’s funny, as a debut author, you keep having these moments you think can’t be topped. First it’s meeting a hero, getting an agent, getting a deal, your name mentioned online, finishing the second book, the first panel, the first time you see your book, the first time it’s online for pre-sale ... I could go on and on. But the best so far, by far, was seeing it listed on my local library website. I wasn’t expecting to get picked up because I’m paperback, and a librarian from another county told me she never orders paperbacks. To find the unexpected, I think that becomes the most exciting moment of all.
The best Irish crime novel is …?
I am woefully under read in Irish crime fiction. Of course, I’m woefully under read in all crime fiction, I think. So this is a thus far … I have to go with John Connolly’s Every Dead Thing. As a debut novel, it’s timeless, and the writing was inspirational to me. Now, as I’m broadening my horizons, I’ve become a fan of Ken Bruen ...
What Irish crime novel would make a great movie?
Again, I’ll refer back to Connolly. I think capturing Charlie Parker onscreen could be difficult, but if done well, quite intriguing.
Worst / best thing about being a writer?
I haven’t found a worst thing. I love this. I love being able to say I’m a writer, and know deep in my heart I’m pursuing my dream. I feel inordinately lucky to have the opportunity to communicate with strangers. The best thing? Finishing the first draft of a manuscript. Suddenly, you’re not writing a book, you’re revising. And the pressure is off.
The pitch for your next novel is …?
Has the Snow White serial killer, dormant for twenty years, resurfaced, or is there a copycat working Nashville? It’s called 14.
Who are you reading right now?
M.J. Rose, The Reincarnationist, Jason Pinter The Mark, a biography of Mary Shelley by Miranda Seymour, Eightball Boogie and a few paperbacks. I tend to jump around when I’m working on my own stuff, there never seems to be enough hours in the day to read everything I want. My to-be-read pile is ridiculous, and constantly growing.
The three best words to describe your own writing are …?
Tight, taut and intense.
JT Ellison’s All The Pretty Girls is published on November 1.
The Embiggened O: Instant Karma’s Gonna Get You
“Declan Burke’s The Big O has everything you want in a crime novel: machinegun dialogue, unforgettable characters, and a wicked plot. Think George V. Higgins in Ireland on speed.”Is it really necessary to say our cup runneth over like we’re Oliver Twist standing under Niagara Falls? Yes indeed, Momma never told us there’d be days like these …
The Monday Review
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Yet More Independent Publishing, Sort Of
Edna O’Brien’s novel In the Forest tells the dark story of a beautiful young woman and her little son who live in a cottage on the edge of a forest in rural Ireland and are murdered by a deranged killer who has become obsessed with her. The book is based on the true story of Imelda Riney and her son Liam, who were murdered by Brendan O’Donnell in Co Clare in 1994. The mentally disturbed O’Donnell went on to kill local priest Fr Joe Walshe. When the book was first published in 2002 it caused a lot of controversy and O’Brien was accused of exploiting the grief of the families involved. But if the novel makes use of a real life event, it does so for a valid artistic reason. This book is a brilliant exploration of exactly how such a horror -- and others that have happened since then -- can come to pass. It takes us deep into the mind of the killer and makes us feel the unspeakable terror of the victims. It is told in a calm and factual way, but in language of such intensity that the reader feels part of what is happening. It is at once terrifying and spell-binding to read.All of which leads us to wonder when the Indo will get around to a series of contemporary Irish crime novels. Our humble suggestion runs, in no particular order and excluding novels currently in the first flush of publication, thusly:
1. Quinn by Seamus SmythAnyone you think we might have left out? As always, canvassing will immediately qualify …
2. The Guards by Ken Bruen
3. Dead I Well May Be by Adrian McKinty
4. The Dead by Ingrid Black
5. Every Dead Thing by John Connolly
6. The Polling of the Dead by John Kelly
7. Little Criminals by Gene Kerrigan
8. Divorcing Jack by Colin Bateman
9. The Guilty Heart by Julie Parsons
10. Bogmail by Patrick McGinley
11. Death the Pale Rider by Vincent Banville
12. The Butcher Boy by Patrick McCabe
13. The Third Policeman by Flann O’Brien
14. In the Forest by Edna O’Brien
15. The Colour of Blood by Brian Moore
16. Revenge by KT McCaffrey
17. The Assassin by Liam O’Flaherty
18. Resurrection Man by Eoin McNamee
19. Death Call by TS O’Rourke
20. A Carra King by John Brady