The Cain Mutiny

Christy Kenneally’s latest offering, SONS OF CAIN (Hachette Books Ireland), appears to be a sequel to THE BETRAYED (2011), which was set during WWII. Ten years on from the events of that novel, the Cold War is in full freeze, which suggests that SONS OF CAIN is a spy novel with a rather unusual backdrop. Quoth the blurb elves:

The year is 1953. As the Cold War divides the world into East and West, childhood friends and old foes - Karl Hamner and Fr Max Steiger - live their lives. Karl, haunted by the past and a devastating truth he discovered about his old friend, teaches history in his home town of Hallstatt. While Max, intent on power and wealth, builds the Fratres, an extreme branch of the Catholic Church, with control of the Vatican his ultimate goal. When news of the Fratres reaches the CIA, an alliance between the two is formed, raising the stakes. But when Karl is called to Rome to expose the corruption that has infiltrated the Church, he has to face the past - and Max. From Moscow to CIA Headquarters to a Budapest prison, Sons of Cain is an epic tale of lust, power and corruption where deception is a way of life.

To Thrill Or Not To Thrill, That Is The Question

I’m never sure as to whether I should include Christy Kenneally in these pages, because although he’s Irish, certainly, and his novels have the epic sweep expected of a thriller these days, I don’t actually know if Kenneally writes them as thrillers. It would help to clarify matters, of course, if I were to read one of his novels - his previous offering, TEARS OF GOD, tempted me for a very long time - and I think I’m going to start with his latest offering, THE BETRAYED. Quoth the blurb elves:

It’s 1940 and Europe is shadowed by war. But in a small village in Austria, Karl, Elsa and Max, three friends on the brink of adulthood enjoy the fading light of innocence. Until one day, the peaceful village is torn apart by the disappearance of Elsa ... her death sealing the fate of Karl and Max forever. Days after her disappearance, Karl is conscripted to the German army. Fighting for his life in the deathly cold of the Russian winter during Operation Barbarossa by day, by night, his dreams are of Elsa. Max has fled to safety to live with his uncle, the Monsignor, in the Archbishop’s Palace in Zagreb. There, he becomes embroiled in a genocide, where knowledge is the ultimate weapon and power, the ultimate prize. As the years pass, Max and Karl fight a war that can never be won. Karl, now a Captain in the German army, is haunted by the faces of the men left behind on the battlefields of Russia and the disappearance of Elsa. Max, a priest in Rome, is consumed by power and greed, and a shameful secret he is determined to bury. For Max, only one man has the power to destroy him. Because only Karl knows the truth behind Elsa’s disappearance. From the mountains of Austria, to the suburbs of Moscow, the cities of Vienna, Zagreb and Rome, THE BETRAYED is an epic story of love, loss, heroism and the power of destiny.

  So there you have it. Not exactly a conventional Irish thriller, which is all the more reason to embrace it and - hopefully - expand the parameters of what is and isn’t considered an Irish crime novel. If there’s one thing I love in a writer, be it in terms of story, language or vision, it’s ambition. And from the sounds of things, Christy Kenneally has ambition to burn. The novel is officially published on July 7th, by the way; I’ll keep you posted …

The Best Things In Life Are Free … Books

Christy Kenneally’s latest offering, TEARS OF GOD, sounds like a cracker, and we have three copies to give away courtesy of the kindly folk at Hodder Headline Ireland. First, the blurb elves:

Father Michael Flaherty returns to his island home to hide from the world, knowing that those he loves are in danger simply because he is alive. But try as he might, he can’t escape his past - and soon an assassin’s dying message makes him realise that he must face his enemy one final time to rid himself of the evil that threatens everything and everyone he holds dear. He finds himself in Jerusalem - the most volatile city on earth. As the Ghost, the malevolent director of the CIA, schemes to blindside the new American president and play Christians, Jews and Muslims off against one another and lead them to the brink of war, Michael Flaherty is involved in the much more simple game of who should live and who should die. And a Crusader Knight has just one question - ‘Where are the Tears of God?’

  No, God’s tears are not ‘the rain’ – that’s a whole precipitation-evaporation-precipitation dealio. To be in with a chance of winning a copy of TEARS OF GOD, just answer the following question.

Does God cry:
(a) tears of sorrow;
(b) tears of joy;
(c) the tears of a clown;
(d) from hay fever, mainly?

  Answers via the comment box, please, leaving a snail-mail or contact address (using (at) rather than @ to confuse the spam-munchkins), before noon on Saturday, March 14. Et bon chance, mes amis …