“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

Thursday, June 28, 2012

If The Cappa Fits, Wear Him

Chalk up another on the ever lengthening list of Irish crime writers. For lo! Gerard Cappa gets in touch to tip us off about his debut offering, BLOOD FROM A SHADOW, which sounds like a very contemporary thriller indeed. Quoth the blurb elves:
2012. War weary Americans hail the endgame in Iraq and Afghanistan. But al Qaeda must avenge Bin Laden with a new 9/11. And the old enemy, Iran, teases towards nuclear capability. So the war on terror continues, but it must be kept in the shadows now. The Presidential machines cannot allow a mistake, there is an election to be won. Con Maknazpy is weary too, still searching for his own peace. A hero in his native New York’s famous 69th Regiment, he just wants to retreat into the shadows of the streets he knows so well. But Maknazpy is no ordinary man: he has been anointed with destiny. It’s in his blood and in the shadows of his soul. And the ghosts of the past and the future mark out that destiny, in blood. Blood that takes him to Ireland, Rome and Istanbul before he finds his own truth in the shadows of his Yonkers childhood. Maknazpy’s destiny is to be a savior, but can he save himself?

BLOOD FROM A SHADOW is an Irish-American story, and that history and culture is threaded through the tale, but the frame of reference owes as much to more modern influences. Think Jim Thompson, James M Cain and Chester Himes. Chinatown, Three Days of the Condor and Bodyheat. Miller’s Crossing and The Usual Suspects. Where reality is created from confusion and lies, and the hero is always the last to know.
  Sounds like an absolute belter, if it delivers on that set-up. Has anyone out there read it? If so, you know where to find us …
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