“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

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Roses Are Red, Orchids Are Blue …

The chandeliers at CAP Towers fairly jingled with delight this morning, after Eoin McNamee’s forthcoming ORCHID BLUE popped through the letterbox. Not only was I being treated to an advance-advance copy (the novel isn’t published until November), but I didn’t even know there was a McNamee novel forthcoming. Quoth the blurb elves:
January 1961, and the beaten, stabbed and strangled body of a nineteen year old Pearl Gambol is discovered, after a dance the previous night at the Newry Orange Hall. Returning from London to investigate the case, Detective Eddie McCrink soon suspects that their may be people wielding influence over affairs, and that the accused, the enigmatic Robert McGladdery, may struggle to get a fair hearing. Presiding over the case is Lord Justice Curran, a man who nine years previously had found his own family in the news, following the murder of his nineteen year old daughter, Patricia. In a spectacular return to the territory of his acclaimed, Booker long-listed THE BLUE TANGO, Eoin McNamee’s new novel explores and dissects this notorious murder case which led to the final hanging on Northern Irish soil.
  McNamee has carved out a tasty little niche for himself writing fictions based on true crimes (THE BLUE TANGO, RESURRECTION MAN, 12:23), and ORCHID BLUE is at base camp as we speak, testing its crampons and donning an oxygen mask in preparation for its fast-track assault on Mount TBR. Wish it bon chance, people: this is one that simply won’t wait …

4 comments:

Gerard Brennan said...

I'm 200 pages in.

It's like... you know... just wow.

gb

Sean Patrick Reardon said...

You know, I'll be all over this. Thanks for the heads up!

Unknown said...

This one looks great - thanks for such a great review! You might also enjoy a new crime thriller that just came out at the beginning of June by author, Harry Taylor called, "Rogues, Riches and Retribution." I'm half way into it now and I am really enjoying this one. It's not like your run of the mill crime story and the plot is very compelling. You should check it out!

Declan Burke said...

Hi Audrey!

Thanks so much for stopping by to share! Funnily enough, I've heard that ROGUES, RICHES AND RETRIBUTION is a steaming turd! A book that you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy, unless you wanted him to lapse into a coma!! I didn't really believe it's as bad as all that, of course, so I was going to check it out myself - that title is a real winner, for one - but now that you've tried your half-assed 'stealth' marketing jape, I think I'll give it a miss! My loss, I'm sure! Next time, try getting in touch with the blogger and asking if they'd be interested in helping out! You'll find most of them are!

Yours, Declan