“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, May 15, 2014

Lies Of Silence

Mary O’Donnell’s WHERE THEY LIE (New Island) very likely wasn’t written as a crime / mystery novel – Mary O’Donnell’s reputation is as a literary novelist and poet – but it does offer a fictional account of one of the most compelling investigations in recent Irish history. To wit:
Gerda McAllister’s life is turned upside down when she is contacted by a mysterious caller, who claims to have information about the location of the bodies of her murdered loved ones, who are among the ‘Disappeared’. With her Dubliner boyfriend, and what remains of her family, she begins to piece together the truth. As the picture becomes clearer, though, revelations threaten to come out that will change all of their lives.
  Haunted by the killings, Gerda is forced to decide – will she try to leave the past behind her, or should she try to confront the truth and discover where they lie?
  WHERE THEY LIE is a remarkable novel that explores how families cope with tragedy, how men and women relate, how secrets hold and give power, and how history, when not confronted, can corrupt relationships, love and society. It is a novel of twists and turns that defy easy clarification. It is a novel that demands attention.
  For more information, clickety-click here …

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