“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

Sunday, May 13, 2007

The Monday Review: The Ken Bruen / John Connolly Slapdown!

Yet another cracking review for Ken Bruen, although the Washington Post is a little off the pace - they're reviewing Priest (right) when the rest of the world has its nose buried in Bruen's latest, Cross. Quoth the Post: "Bruen exploits the dark potential of the mystery form to its fullest, using his tale to pose disturbing existential questions only to come up with answers as hollow as Hammett's Maltese Falcon." Sweet. Closer to home, John Connolly's The Unquiet (left) gets the Irish Times treatment, to wit: "(It) demonstrates that the author is now just as interested in developing iconic themes and an intense atmosphere of unease as in creating more serial killers for Parker to blow away." It being the Old Lady, of course, you can't read the full review - she's subscription only, the mean tart. So here's Connolly's interview with The Independent and last week's Sunday Business Post review to make up for it ...

2 comments:

Serena said...

I haven't read Bruen, though now I can see that I must, but I eagerly anticipate each new Connolly novel.

Declan Burke said...

Hi Serena - A lot of people here in Ireland consider Ken Bruen the yardstick, myself included, although he's much bigger in the States ... he won the Edgar last year for Best Novel. He's one-of-a-kind, I don't think you'll be disappointed. Declan