“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

Thursday, August 14, 2008

The Best Things In Life Are Free … Books

This week it’s the turn of Hachette Books Ireland to come up with the goodies and they’re offering three copies of Tana French’s THE LIKENESS for free, gratis and nuffink. First, the blurb elves:
Detective Cassie Maddox is still trying to deal with the events of IN THE WOODS. She is out of the Murder Squad and has started a relationship with fellow detective Sam O’Neill but is too badly shaken to commit to Sam or to her career. Then Sam is allocated a new case, that of a young woman stabbed to death just outside Dublin. He calls Cassie to the murder scene and she finds the victim is strangely familiar. In fact, she is Cassie’s double. Not only that, but her ID says she is Lexie Madison, the identity Cassie used years ago as an undercover detective. With no leads, no suspects and no clues, Cassie’s old undercover boss spots the opportunity of a lifetime: to send Cassie undercover in the dead girl’s place. She could pick up information the police would never hear and tempt the killer to finish the job. So Cassie moves into Whitethorn House, poses as a post-grad student, and prepares to enter Lexie’s world.
  Ooooh, spooky. To be in with a chance of winning a copy, just answer the following question.
Is Tana French as cute as:
(a) a button;
(b) a particularly cute button;
(c) a fox;
(d) a fox made out of particularly cute buttons?
  Answers via the comment box, please, leaving a contact email address (using ‘at’ rather than @ to confound the spam-munchkins), before noon on Tuesday, August 19. Et bon chance, mes amis

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm guessing ... b!

But is this a UK only type contest? and not for us in the antipodes??

katherine at katherinehowell.com

Anonymous said...

Hi Dec

Will go for (d) a fox made out of particularly cute buttons? as I think that covers all the answers thus maximising my chances of winning.

Thanks
Fiona

fiona.mccartney(at)oceanfree.net

Declan Burke said...

Hi Katherine - We don't exclude anyone on the basis that their distant ancestors might have been sheep-stealers, so you're in the draw. And hey, you're doing us all a favour by hosting Adrian McKinty for the forseeable future, so the least we can do is offer you the chance of a free book. Cheers, Dec

Unknown said...

Is Tana French as cute as:
(d) a fox made out of particularly cute buttons?

Anonymous said...

Just got back from holiday to read your post: I knew there was a good reason for bothering to return. I'll go for b as well, but I suspect I may not quite have got in under the wire for this one! Never mind, I've got 300 other books to read.
MaxineLClarke AT gmail.com

Declan Burke said...

No problem, Maxine ... anyone who gets in under the wire all wetback-like between now and next Tuesday is in the draw. Cheers, Dec

Unknown said...

and here's that pesky little email
rawsonkeith at gmail dot com

Anonymous said...

(d) a fox made out of particularly cute buttons.

Obviosly the cute buttons are tiny mandalas which,united in a collage, form the figure of a kitsune,or fox spirit,in the manner of the early Heian period of Japanese art.


marcolin(at)lillinet.org

Anonymous said...

Thanks Dec! And re Ado, well, as they say, somebody has to do it ...

Anonymous said...

Is Tana French as cute as:

(d) a fox made out of particularly cute buttons


pguzzo (at) completegeneral.com

Mystery Dawg said...

well, since I'm half IRish and half Italian, I'll go with a) cute as a button. She may be sly like a fox, but what do buttons and foxes have to do with each other?

Anonymous said...

I'm going to cover all of my bases and go with (d).

The email is norby871 at yahoo.com - good luck everyone!

Mystery Dawg said...

oh, right. email addy:
mysdawg@sbcglobal.net

Anonymous said...

I recently bought this book and "Julius Winsome" on your recommendation on Today FM.

Having just finished "The Third Policeman" (also on your recommendation) I wonder if this was a wise decision.

My thoughts on the novel about are on my own blog at ronancrowley.com

I REALLY hope this one is better !

Ronan