“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

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Tough As Theak

Wot? No Tana French? The Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year longlist was published yesterday, and featured four Irish crime writers: FIFTY GRAND by Adrian McKinty, THE TWELVE by Stuart Neville, WINTERLAND by Alan Glynn, and THE HOLY THIEF by William Ryan. Curiously - or perhaps peculierly - there’s no sign of Tana French’s FAITHFUL PLACE, even though said novel has so far this year been nominated for an Edgar, an Anthony and an LA Times’ gong.
  Anyway, great news it is to see four fine Irish novels so represented, and I’d hate to have to be the one to drive a cigarette paper between them for quality. Best of luck to all concerned; for the full longlist, check out Eoin Purcell’s rather fine interweb lair
  The longlist, by the way, will be whittled down to a shortlist by public voting, with the shortlist to be announced on July 1st. You can vote for your favourite novel here
  Oh, and while we’re on the subject of Adrian McKinty, you can catch an extract from his latest offering, FALLING GLASS, here
  And while we’re on the subject of extracts, there’s a snippet of John Connolly’s HELL’S BELLS to be found here
  Finally, Sean Patrick Reardon was kind enough to host yours truly for a Q&A over at his Mindjacker blog; if you’re interested in yet more half-demented blatherings, you can clickety-click here ...

1 comment:

seana graham said...

I think that your link to where you can vote is taking people to an old long list. The Eoin Purcell link gets you to the right place though.

I loved the interview over at Sean's place, by the way.