“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 25, 2008

Reed All About It

Writing a newspaper feature on the Edgar nominees earlier this week, we asked a few people why they thought Irish crime fiction was becoming so popular in the US. Reed Farrel Coleman’s (right) answer came back a little late to meet the deadline, but given its generosity to Ken Bruen, a fellow nominee and theoretically a rival for the Edgar ‘Best Novel’ category, we thought we’d bring it to your attention. Quoth Reed:
“Ken Bruen and I have actually spent hours discussing this. I think Irish writers have a gift for lending soul and depth to darkness. It’s one thing to write dark, to write violence. It’s quite another thing to write it in a way that cuts through the intellect and defences we’ve built up to protect ourselves. I think the Irish writers have the hot knife that cuts through that stuff. It’s why I’m so honoured when Bruen asks if I don’t possess an Irish soul.”
The Big Question: How come crime writers are always so blummin’ nice to one another all the time?

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