“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

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Bristol, Dublin, And On To The Greek Isles …

It’s been a busy few days here at CAP Towers, not least because I wasn’t actually at CAP Towers – I trundled off to Bristol for the weekend, for the annual Crimefest bash, and tremendous fun it was too. Part of the attraction, of course, is that you get to swan about for an entire weekend pretending to be a writer without having to worry about anyone muttering darkly about the emperor’s new clothes, but mainly it’s all about the people, and catching up with some very good sorts you only get to meet once a year. It was also very nice, this year, to be attending the Severn House 40th anniversary celebration, although I did feel a bit of a fraud, given that I’ve only been with Severn House for about six months. Not that you’d have known that, given the warmth of the welcome …
  I also took part in a very enjoyable panel (enjoyable for me, at least) on private eye fiction, alongside Mick Herron, James Carol and Kerry Wilkinson, and curated by the indomitable Donna Moore, who stepped in at the last minute when the original moderator, Ruth Downey, was indisposed. All told, it was a wonderful weekend, and I’m already looking forward to Crimefest 2015 …
  Back to Dublin, then, and the ‘State of Crime’ event at the Central Library, as part of the Dublin Writers Festival last night, where I took my turn hosting Arne Dahl, Sinead Crowley and Brian McGilloway. Lovely people, great writers and a terrific audience made for a very enjoyable evening indeed.
  In the midst of all that, the Publishers Weekly review for my current tome, the comic crime caper CRIME ALWAYS PAYS (Severn House), popped up, which was very nice. The gist runs as follows:
“Burke’s zany sequel to 2007’s The Big O practically requires a scorecard to keep track of the characters [as] a motley crew of misfits leave a trail of chaos and confusion from Ireland to the Greek Isles … Burke keeps adding more characters, making for a profusion of drugs, cops, grifters, guns, and shifting alliances that’s both baffling and entertaining.” – Publishers Weekly
  With which, as you can imagine, I am very pleased indeed.
  Right – back to the grindstone. Normal-ish service will resume tomorrow …

No comments: