“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, July 28, 2012

Making His Bones

KT McCaffrey is one of the unsung heroes of Irish crime writing, quietly ploughing his own furrow with the Emma Boylan series, in which Emma - an investigative journalist - shines a light into some of Ireland’s darker corners. THE TARA BONES is the eighth in the series, by my reckoning, and the blurb elves have been wittering thusly:
When a number of young women go missing, investigative journalist Emma Boylan explores the circumstances surrounding their disappearance. When one of her articles, focusing on the release of a sex offender, is published, it incites a vigilante-style protest in his neighbourhood. Accused of irresponsible journalism and condemned by the forces of law and order Emma, is undeterred and unearths some terrifying secrets, discoveries that expose her to a fate similar to those she seeks to investigate. THE TARA BONES takes you on a voyage of unexpected twists and turns as it confronts the abuse meted out to the missing women, in an atmosphere of unnerving suspense.
  Incidentally, KT is also an painter, who has created a series of portraits of Irish writers. If you’re curious as to how Ken Bruen looks in oils, clickety-click here

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