“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

Monday, July 23, 2012

The Other Lady Of The Shades

He has written crime novels before, of course, with the City Trilogy, but Darren Shan is best known for his series (plural) of horror books for young adults, which have sold in excess of 25 million copies to date.
  LADY OF THE SHADES (Orion) sees Darren back in the world of adult crime fiction, with the blurb elves wibbling thusly:
Ed, an American author on the hunt for a story for his next book, arrives in London looking for inspiration. A stranger in a strange city, he’s haunted by a deadly secret that refuses to stay buried, and no matter how hard he tries he cannot escape the manifest sins of his past. What Ed wants is answers, what he finds is something he definitely didn’t bargain for: the beautiful and untouchable Andeanna Menderes. Andeanna is a woman who is dangerously bound to one of London’s most notorious crime lords, and if they are caught together it could mean death for them both. Ensnared in an illicit affair that can only be conducted in the shadows, Ed’s world is turned upside down as a series of shattering revelations blurs the line between what’s real and what’s not ...
  The book combines ‘the darkness of John Connolly and the quirkiness of Neil Gaiman’, apparently, and you’ll be able to see if LADY OF THE SHADES lives up to that kind of billing on August 30th. Which means that Darren Shan is the latest potential contender for this year’s crime fiction category at the Irish Book Awards. No kidding, that’s going to be the most fascinating line-up since Brazil 1970 …
Posted by at
Labels: , , ,

1 comment:

Bob J. said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
July 23, 2012 at 11:24 AM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)