“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, January 4, 2008

Funky Friday’s Freaky-Deak

Yep, it’s the ever-irrelevant interweb mash-up, back by popular-ish demand. First off, John Boyne is back in business this year, when he publishes MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY, his take on that most benighted of sailing vessels, in May. Mind you, Simon Trewin, newly ensconced with United Agents, is referring to it as THE KING’S SHILLING. More confusion anon, no doubt … Meanwhile, it’s a belated congratulations to Tana French, given that her IN THE WOODS made the Top 10 Editors’ Picks of Mysteries and Thrillers for 2007 at Amazon US, the news – as indeed all the best news does – coming courtesy of Euro Crime. Not bad going for a debut novel, considering Tana is keeping company with the likes of Laura Lippman, Michael Chabon, Joe Hill, Charlie Huston and Chelsea Cain … Adopted Irishman and very much this season’s Black, PAYING FOR IT author Tony Black gets the nod from the Edinburgh Evening News as one of the city’s ‘rising stars’ for 2008. Actually, there’s tons of stuff going on with Tony Black right now, including a follow-up to the yet-to-be-published PAYING FOR IT (which received a rave from the venerable Sir Kenneth of Bruen) and a brand spanking new website, so we’ll do a proper post on him next week … The Irish Voice brings us the news that crime-writing priest Andrew M. Greeley publishes IRISH TIGER next month, vouchsafing the opinion that, “The unflappable Nuala is more than a match for evildoers everywhere, and her sleuthing skills make for a hugely entertaining new novel.” You had us at ‘Nuala’, people … Over at Edmund’s Saltmines, the news is that Benny Blanco’s THE SILVER SWAN will feature in the March issue of Vanity Fair, in the “Hot Type” column. Which is a pretty big deal, apparently … Finally, it’s time for some hot Irish-Canadian action, courtesy of John McFetridge, whose grainy black-and-white vid for EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS IS NOWHERE (to be released in July) does not, sadly, have Neil Young on the soundtrack. Boo. Ah well, it can’t be Mills & Boon every day, right? Cue the vid …

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