“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

Friday, December 7, 2007

Stop The Press - MISSING PRESUMED DEAD’s PRESUMED DEAD is, erm, MISSING

Break out the Chateau Neuf De Elf-Wonking Juice, people – Arlene Hunt’s latest, MISSING PRESUMED DEAD, goes into mass-market paperback on January 8. So what’s it like, says you? “An escalating thriller … a remarkably prescient read,” cooed the Sunday Tribune. “A very enjoyable, neatly worked mystery, packed with deft characterisation,” purred the Irish Indo. Meanwhile, Ms Hunt’s Dutch debut draws ever closer, with the new cover for VERMIST (right) on show over at her interweb blogging thingy. Quoth the delectable Arlene:
“This is the draft cover for the Dutch edition of MISSING PRESUMED DEAD. It’s simply entitled MISSING and it looks fantastic.”
Pithily put, ma’am, but entirely true. Meanwhile, we’re pretty sure there’s a punchline going a-begging given the way the MISSING PRESUMED part of MISSING PRESUMED DEAD has become MISSING, and how there's a lesson in there for us all about the dangers of being presumptuous, but it’s Friday afternoon and HR Pufnstuf is beckoning to us from his dungeon door, hookah in hand, so you’ll just have to work it out yourselves …

2 comments:

Maxine Clarke said...

Stop making me laugh! I'm trying to be depressed.
What an opportunity for a headline, and you sure took it.
The book doesn't sound bad either, if I can find it.

Declan Burke said...

Finding it shouldn't be a problem, Maxine ... it's getting its mass-market release early Jan. But if you do have trouble just let me know, I'll part with my copy ... Cheers, Dec