“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

Monday, October 15, 2007

Blame It On The Boogie

Crime Always Pays regulars will be familiar with Detectives Beyond Borders, given that Philly’s finest (a Phillystine?) Peter Rozovsky has been as unflagging in his support of THE BIG O as he is for international crime fiction in general. Still, it was a very nice surprise to wake up this morning to DBB’s appraisal of our first humble offering, EIGHTBALL BOOGIE, the gist of which runneth thusly:
“Chandler is famously said to have had no idea what was going on in THE BIG SLEEP. EIGHTBALL BOOGIE, while of a complexity confusing to its protagonist, is never so to the reader or, I suspect, to the author. Minor characters who lend colour early play pivotal roles late. Events here make suspense-inducing sense there and, though there are surprises, all are believable. Everything, shocking as it may be, makes sense in light of ground that had been laid earlier. Burke, I suspect, mapped out his plot more carefully than Chandler did, and if I’m right, he had quite a bit of mapping to do.”
Crumbs! Mentioned in the same breath as Chandler, and with nary a sign of ‘fourth-rate rip-off’ in the vicinity? Truly, our cup runneth over …
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