“Doh! A Deer!” Yep, ’Tis The Funky Friday Round-Up

“There was a time long, long ago in a galaxy not too far from here when we called the Friday Round-Up ‘Funky Friday’s Freaky-Deak’, the ‘freaky-deak’ bit being our little homage to El Maestro, Elmore Leonard. Unfortunately, we’ve subsequently discovered – naïve souls that we are – that ‘freaky-deak’ has a particular connotation in the world of interweb pornography (not pictured, right), and that a number of one-handed surfers were landing at Crime Always Pays to find themselves very disappointed indeed. Apologies, chaps – from here on in, the deak goes unfreaked at CAP Towers.
  “Anyhoo, onwards with the round-up. First off comes the belated news that Liam Durcan won the CWA’s Arthur Ellis ‘Best First Novel’ prize for GARCIA’S HEART, and a hat-tip to Durcan’s fellow Canadian-Irish scribe John McFetridge for giving us the nod as early as a week ago, at which point we were scraping the bottom of a barrel of Patented Elf-Wonking Juice™ over in Bristol. Still, it’s the thought that counts, right?
  “Over now to the lovely people at Fish Publishing in Cork, who have announced that this year’s Fish Knife Award for crime fiction short stories is now taking submissions. “5,000 words on any kind of crime, from piracy to petty larceny, from murder to misdemeanour,” say they, with the winner receiving €1,000, and engraved silver fish-knife, and publication in the 2000 Fish Anthology. The closing date is August 31, and all the details can be found here …
  “An old friend of CAP, Sam Millar’s BLOODSTORM was published last month to something of a baloohaha, and it looks like the novel is going to have legs. The good folk over at U.TV are currently perusing it for an online book group review, and so far the buzz has been very positive indeed. Is it Millar time? It’s always Millar time, people …
  “Finally, another old friend of CAP, Mr American Hell himself, has been busy a-doodling and has come up with another crime fiction cartoon classic. We likey. Oh, and while we’re on the subject of cartoons and animation – if anyone knows of anyone working in animation who might be interested getting on board with making a 30-second short movie designed to promote our humble offering THE BIG O on the occasion of its US release, please let them know that we have plenty of ideas but damn-all cash. Yep, that should get ’em battering our door down …
  “And that’s about it for another week, folks. Enjoy the weekend and don’t forget to come back, y’all. Peace, out.”

Funky Friday’s Freaky-Deak

It’s Friday, it’s funky, to wit: Derek Landy is circling the globe as we speak to promote the new Skulduggery Pleasant opus, PLAYING WITH FIRE, and the Book Witch has a rather lovely interview-cum-book signing piece over at her fabulous interweb yokeybus. Derek also turns up in the Irish Independent, in a two-part interview with fellow YA horror-meister DB Shan, who’s promoting PROCESSION OF THE DEAD. Oh, and if you’re interested in picking up a free copy of POTD, Waterstones and Harper Collins are offering the chance to win one of three blow-up prints of the book jacket, signed by the man himself, and of course a copy of the book, over here … Yet more Derek Landy! SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT is among Voya’s best science fiction, horror and fantasy of 2007. Huzzah! Meanwhile – brace yourself – “150 students aged 11-13 from schools across the North East of England read, reviewed and voted for their favourite book from a shortlist of 6 chosen by librarians and last year’s North East Book Award student judges,” reports the School Library Association. The winner? You guessed it … Yet another interview, albeit in video format: Liam Durcan can be found opening up his GARCIA’S HEART over at Book Opinion … Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise was the first to let us know that Benny Blanco’s CHRISTINE FALLS has been nominated for a Theakston’s Old Peculier … Staying with Benny: Early Word reports on a potentially unseemly literary spat between the New York Times’ Marilyn Stasio and Mark Sarvas of The Elegant Variation over the merits or otherwise of Benny Blanco’s THE SILVER SWAN. Erm, we’re with Marilyn on this one, Mark … Derry’s finest Garbhan Downey is out and about plugging his latest opus, YOURS CONFIDENTIALLY, with interviews in Derry Today, The Limerick Leader and The Londonderry Sentinel. Quoth Garbhan: “I got the inspiration for the book after reading THE EAGLE’S THRONE by Carlos Fuentes a few years back. That book is told in an epistolary form as well and deals with a corrupt Mexican presidency in a time when the Americans have cut off all forms of electronic communication so they have to revert to the old fashioned quill and pen. Knowing that we, as a nation, have a great letter writing history, it seemed the perfect way to delve into the story of this ambitious assemblyman.” He neglects to mention that it’s very funny indeed, but happily Gerard Brennan at CSNI is on hand to do the reviewing honours … Finally, and appropriately given the day that’s in it, here’s the weekly vid, courtesy of Book Opinion again, in which Tana French fesses up the skinny on IN THE WOODS. Roll it there, Collette …

The Monday Review

It’s Monday, they’re reviews, to wit: “Siobhan Dowd, author of the wonderful THE LONDON EYE MYSTERY, has written another terrific young adult novel, this time set in Northern Ireland in 1981. It’s the best novel about The Troubles I’ve read, for adults or younger readers, with a real sense of what it must have been like in that place at that time … The author’s control of all this chaos is astonishing: she’s a very good writer and I hope lots of people, teenagers and adults will read this. A great book,” says Malcolm at Story Time Books of BOG CHILD. Over at The Times, Amanda Craig agrees: “ [BOG CHILD] fuses the tragedy of her prize-winning debut, A SWIFT PURE CRY, and the comedy of THE LONDON EYE MYSTERY into a beautifully achieved whole … It’s a tragic situation, beautifully described in Dowd's lucid, intense prose, yet also shot through with warmth, comedy and humanity that make it tremendous fun to read.” Jeri Cohen of SCLS Reads, meanwhile, is impressed with THE LONDON EYE MYSTERY: “This well-written mystery is by the author of last year’s A SWIFT PURE CRY … The resolution of the mystery may be too easily wrapped up for adult readers, but for the younger teens, it’s perfect.” Liam Durcan’s GARCIA’S HEART gets the big-up from the Literary Review of Canada: “Durcan’s language is sculpted with seemingly effortless precision. His sentences are rich with detail and metaphor, luxurious with reference and allusion, but also lean and raw, getting straight to the point of what he wants to describe.” Over at Mostly Fiction, Mary Whipple likes Gene Kerrigan’s THE MIDNIGHT CHOIR: “In this intriguing police procedural, Kerrigan keeps the action crisp and fast-paced, with plenty of complications to keep the reader busy … Dark and sad in its vision of humanity, even with the bleak humour that is scattered throughout, this dramatic and tense novel questions the relationship between freedom and responsibility, between order and justice, and between principles and expediency.” James Purdon at The Guardian likes Ronan Bennett’s latest: “Bennett has hit on a rich analogy in this lively thriller, set in tsarist Russia and on the chessboard … ZUGZWANG’s hard-boiled noir is an enjoyable addition to the genre.” Back to Mostly Fiction for Sudheer Apte’s take on ZUGZWANG: “This is a very fast-moving novel … While chess enthusiasts will relish this side dish, others can safely skip these descriptions and still enjoy the main course.” John Kenny at the Irish Times (no link) likes Aifric Campbell’s debut: “THE SEMANTICS OF MURDER succeeds nicely on its own terms because, as a novel of ideas, it delivers: it presents a range of frequently surprising ideas and encourages thought.” No harm in that … They’re tumbling in now for Derek Landy, folks: “His characters are broadly drawn, yet precise – like Chinese calligraphy done with a big fat brush dripping with ink. The dialogue is snappy, with some fun deconstructionist bits when Stephanie complains about the way Skulduggery is talking; and the plot is just twisty enough … [Skulduggery] puts me in mind of James Bond, if Clive Owen had gotten the job. Or Indiana Jones,” says YNL at Pink Me of SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT. Jamieson Wolf, on the other hand, likes the sequel: “[SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT] was funny, fun, frantic and incredibly fantastic … PLAYING WITH FIRE is better than Landy’s first offering. Landy manages to write a dark gothic fantasy that is laugh out loud funny and also incredibly original, fresh and new.” Caterina likes Tana French’s IN THE WOODS: “It’s a literary thriller with just the right amount of prosiness and just the right amount of plot. And it’s a great panegyric to the platonic male-female relationship, a girl-boy buddy / police partnership.” A couple now for Ken Bruen: “[BUST] is a sharply written novel with lots of twists, and it’s darkly funny. SLIDE is a follow-up with the same characters but it’s just a little more messed up. Both novels have a lot of Irish humour. I think I preferred the second because the writers let themselves go and had fun with it,” says Iremonger at A Sort of Homecoming. Over at Ketchikan Public Library, Rainbird is impressed with CROSS: “I’ve just finished Ken Bruen’s fourth Jack Taylor novel and the story has left me feeling a little depressed and bleak, as though I should be lashing out at someone. I also feel like I’ve stumbled across an amazing writer whose prose is so intriguing that it sucked me into reading a genre of book I don’t ordinarily enjoy: gritty realistic crime fiction.” A quick brace for Catherine O’Flynn’s award-winning debut: “WHAT WAS LOST is both very funny and very moving. Catherine O’Flynn captures perfectly the ferocious seriousness of childhood, and the heart-breaking emotional void below this child’s detective role-playing … In the end, it also becomes a love story,” says JMG at SCC English. Miss Jen B goes one better: “It’s probably the best book I’ve read since SUITE FRANCAISE and thus makes it onto my little list of ‘really awesome books’ … Seriously addictive and really well written.” RTE gives Twenty Major’s debut the hup-ya: “Sick, twisted, weird, politically incorrect, foul and brilliant, THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX PARK is a guilty pleasure that makes pot noodles look like porridge … this a great read and a fine accomplishment for his first novel.” Finally, a quartet for Declan Hughes’ latest, THE DYING BREED (aka THE PRICE OF BLOOD): “The story is character-driven, and Hughes once again shows his background in drama: the characters are individually well drawn, but come to life especially in their interactions with one another … Loy’s voice as narrator is solid and believable: he’s lively, without being overtly clever or glib like some crime narrators, to keep the reader on his side. And the rhythm and flow of Hughes’ prose style is rare eloquence in the field of crime fiction,” says Glenn Harper at International Noir. Merrimon Crawford at YourHub.com likes it too: “If you are looking for a unique read and one that stands out from all the books out there, in either suspense or literature, THE PRICE OF BLOOD is brilliant! Although tragic, THE PRICE OF BLOOD is hauntingly innovative.” John Boland at the Irish Independent is equally impressed:
“Here and elsewhere you feel you’re in the presence of a cut-price Philip Marlowe … but it’s a measure of Hughes’ command of plot and pacing and of his feel for character, tone and locale that you soon become absorbed in his narrative and cease to care about its hybrid origins.” And Claire Kilroy at the Irish Times overlooks some plotting issues to declare, “It is in his observation of Irish society that Hughes is at his most incisive … His keen ear for the demotic, his sharp eye for the damning detail, makes THE DYING BREED a vivid, gripping, and occasionally chilling read.” Buggery. There goes our ‘Killjoy Kilroy’ headline …

The Monday Review

It’s Monday, they’re reviews, to wit: “Tough, ironically self-aware, loyal, Ed [Loy] is the perfect Chandleresque hero. But the book’s various twists, including rumours of Catholic abuse at a now-closed home for boys, wrap themselves around a dense core of Irish authenticity, all the voices pitch-perfect, all the developments dark,” says P.G. Koch at the Houston Chronicle of THE DYING BREED (aka THE PRICE OF BLOOD). Here at CAP, some chancing wastrel called Declan Burke agrees: “THE DYING BREED is a complex, labyrinthine, gritty, coarse (and, yes, bloody) novel that exudes a brash confidence and an ambition that lies beyond its grasp – a description, it should be said, that could easily be applied to the nation that spawned the novel.” As does Diana Pinckley at the Times-Picayune: “THE PRICE OF BLOOD is violent yet compelling. If it’s Irish action you want, pick up this book and you’ll be off to the races.” Then there’s Answer Girl’s hup-ya: “What [Loy] finds is a horrifying tangle of lies, abuse and perversion that owes a bit to Webster’s THE DUCHESS OF MALFI. Very well done, as disturbing as anything I’ve read in a while, and appropriate to St. Patrick’s Day only in making me feel I needed a drink after.” As for Entertainment Weekly: “PI Ed Loy fancies himself a Dashiell Hammett throwback (picture Bogart with a brogue) … Since Declan Hughes suggests in THE PRICE OF BLOOD that those who remember Irish history are often doomed to repeat it, it’s no wonder his Dubliners are always after a drink: In Ireland, forgetfulness begets prosperity. B+,” says Jake Tracer. Onwards to Brian McGilloway’s latest: “If you like the books of Ian Rankin, Peter Robinson or other police procedurals, you’ll want to pick up the book BORDERLANDS by Brian McGilloway … I’ve just finished the advance reading copy of the second book in the series (coming in April) called GALLOW’S LANE. It’s just as good, if better not than the first book,” says
Rosalyn at The Dewey Divas and the Dudes. A couple of early reviews for Derek Landy’s follow-up to SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT, PLAYING WITH FIRE: “It’s a wild supernatural romp with vampires, skeletons, monsters, giant spiders, and other seriously creepy creatures. There’s plenty of action (it’s almost movie script-like in its pace) to keep even the most reluctant reader interested, but my favourite part was the snappy dialogue. Skulduggery is sarcastic, clever, and funny, which I suppose is an appropriate tone for a skeleton detective,” says Jenny at Insert Clever Title Here. Staying with Landy, The Siblings Scarington couldn’t really be more positive: “Landy’s strengths from the first book are back, and perfected. The pacing is spot on. There are no wasted scenes, and the book never loses steam … you’ll find yourself barrelling through the book because the action just never stops … Superior in every way to the first, SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT: PLAYING WITH FIRE is a thrill ride of excitement that never lets up and will capture a child’s imagination with its tale of danger and suspense!” Boo-ya! Meanwhile, back at Ronan O’Brien’s ranch-shaped interweb yokeybus: “CONFESSIONS OF A FALLEN ANGEL is a fresh, highly original debut by a writer not afraid to take on the bigger issues of life. Fate and love in their many guises stalk these pages, as well as a man who, like the hero in a Greek tragedy, rails against the destiny mapped out to him, trying only to safeguard what he holds dear. It will grip you from the first paragraph,” says Maggie O’Farrell … A quick couple of big-ups for Catherine O’Flynn’s debut: “If there is criticism to be made of WHAT WAS LOST, it’s that the storylines are too swiftly and neatly wrapped up in the conclusion … But for a debut novel, WHAT WAS LOST is amazingly accomplished,” says Pete Carvill of 3AM Magazine. The outrageously suave Suave Harv agrees: “I thoroughly enjoyed Catherine O’Flynn’s WHAT WAS LOST. One of the best new novels I’ve read for quite a while. Splendid stuff.” They’re still coming in for Benny Blanco: “Black (pseudonym of Booker Prize–winner John Banville) is a fine writer, reminiscent of P.D. James in his care for language and his emphasis on psychologically complex characters … Black weaves his characters through a neat and original plot that descends into the dark depths of Quirke's family history and rises to the highest ranks of the Catholic church,” says Paul at The Journal of a Good Life about CHRISTINE FALLS. Of Books and Bicycles likes THE SILVER SWAN: “I enjoyed the book for its plot, but even more so for the relationships the novel describes; as happens in some of the other crime novels I’ve read, the crime seems almost like an excuse to throw some characters together in difficult circumstances to see how they behave themselves.” Back to Rosalyn at The Dewey Divas and the Dudes for her verdict on Cora Harrison’s debut: “If you like historical mysteries, you’ll love MY LADY JUDGE, the first book in a new series by Cora Harrison set in the 16th century in the remote region of Ireland called The Burren. Fans of Peter Tremayne’s Sister Fidelma series will enjoy …” Apis Mellifica likes Gerard Donovan’s JULIUS WINSOME: “Is this a descent into madness or a reasoned response to calculated conspiracy involving his former lover? In its neatness, the ending disappoints, but the journey there is a wild ride poetically blanketed in the onset of winter’s weather.” Over at Hour, MJ Stone is impressed with Liam Durcan’s debut: “Once I cracked open GARCIA’S HEART, I couldn’t put it down … Durcan’s debut novel was both captivating and eloquent.” Chris at The Book Swede likes DB Shan’s PROCESSION OF THE DEAD: “Written well, funny in places, and a captivating read … This is a good book, and the characterisation was one of the best bits. Sadly, though, there seemed to be a sudden change in many characters attitudes towards the end of the book, but on the whole, I was surprised by just how good this was.” Critical Mick has come out swinging on behalf of IN THE WOODS: “Tana French has put her name to a book worth stealing, and worth fighting over.” Thank you, Mr Mick … A couple of strong reviews for Sam Millar’s latest: “This is a tale of revenge, greed and hate, and Kane is surrounded by people he cannot trust. The writing is bleak and raw, best accompanied by a stiff drink or two. BLOODSTORM does what is says on the cover, and bludgeons you with the grime and fury of an existence you can be relieved is either in fiction, or belongs to somebody else,” says Adrian Magson at Crime Reports in Shots Magazine. Shelley Marsden at The Irish World (no link) agrees: “Brutal language and bleak, darkly comic undercurrents … powerful and unsettling writing, that seeps into your bones like Belfast rain … Recommended reading by the NI Tourist Board this is not, but as a straight-talking crime thriller, it’s at the top ...” They’re still coming in for Eoin Colfer’s ARTEMIS FOWL AND THE LOST COLONY: “I really enjoy [the Artemis Fowl series] because it’s the anti-Potter. It’s a series that’s just as intriguing and well-written as Harry Potter, but without all the baggage that’s been attached to it,” reckons The Pew Reviews. The inevitable Ken Bruen big-up runneth thusly: “The prolific Bruen has three series going: Galway, London and America are the settings. And his Irish gift for words is in full flower, portraying loneliness with a description of Taylor charging his cell phone every day, even though no one ever calls him on it: “Carried it like a sad prayer in my jacket,”” says Diana Pinckley at the Times-Picayune. Over at The Telegraph, Dinah Hall laments Siobhan Dowd’s untimely death: “Siobhan Dowd died shortly after writing her third novel, BOG CHILD, which makes reading it a painful pleasure because you can’t help wondering what other great books might have been … Dowd’s lightness of touch allows humour and poignancy to shine through.” Finally, a couple of hup-yas for Lord John of Connolly: “This glorious novel is built about the Irish author’s love of storytelling and the supernatural … A wonderful book to read aloud to the family or hug to yourself which embraces not just the Celtic tradition but the Brothers Grimm,” says Lorri Amsden at Poisoned Pen Fiction Review of THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS. And over at Entertainment Weekly (via Powell’s Books), they’re impressed with THE UNQUIET: “Gimmicks aside, complex hero Parker is the chief draw in THE UNQUIET – he’s got a revenge-inspired evil streak to him, but metes out justice freely to those who truly deserve it. (Grade: B)”. Erm, Lord John? We know a few elves who merit some justice, if you wouldn’t mind calling around with your velvet cat o’nine tails …

Brain Candy

Just in case you thought we were over-stating the case just a tad last week in our review of neurologist Liam Durcan’s (right) rather fine debut novel GARCIA’S HEART, we herewith present a selection of big-ups and hup-yas from Durcan’s Canadian hinterland, to wit:

“Engrossing. . . . Durcan doesn’t offer any easy answers in this searching, meticulously observed novel of moral complexity. He does offer plenty to think about.” — Toronto Star

“Lucid and subtle. . . . Durcan has crafted an entertaining and convincing portrayal of a man awkwardly perched atop a precipice of identities and histories on the verge of collapse.” — Montreal Review of Books

“Stunningly well-written. . . . Durcan writes the way one imagines a brain surgeon employs his tools — with strength to cut through bone and feather-light delicacy to excise minute strands of tissue. Durcan’s style is a mixture of precision and playfulness, irony and moral seriousness reminiscent of British master Ian McEwan, or even a slightly restrained Martin Amis … A remarkable accomplishment.” — Winnipeg Free Press

“With this remarkable debut novel, Liam Durcan … has firmly ensconced himself within the hallowed ranks of doctors making successful forays into literature, a line running straight from Chekov through William Carlos Williams and W. Somerset Maugham to, most recently, Scotiabank Giller Prize winner Vincent Lam. . . .There are evocations of Ian McEwan’s SATURDAY here . . . Durcan beats McEwan at his own game by resisting the tendency to show off and, in doing so, produces a restrained, artfully paced work built around its central ethical question, which is not so much “what is evil?” as “what, exactly, is the nature of good?” — Quill & Quire (starred review)

“Like a cross between John le Carré and Ian McEwan – GARCIA’S HEART, treads the line between an elegant, elegiac novel of ideas and a sophisticated political thriller. It was exciting, intellectually compelling, and beautifully written. It was also that rarest of books: A literary work with an intensely humanistic core. I am so happy to have discovered Liam Durcan; he will be a major writer for years to come.” — Pauls Toutonghi

“Eloquent and haunting, GARCIA’S HEART fearlessly explores the moral ambiguities of the modern world. Durcan demonstrates his supreme versatility with this psychologically penetrating, technically assured, yet empathic and human portrait of a man struggling to come to terms with a terrible angel.” — Eden Robinson,

“In his debut novel, Liam Durcan skilfully performs complex forensic procedures: autopsies on mysteriously damaged hearts, brain scans on characters whose deepest thoughts remain beyond diagnosis. Throughout, Durcan writes with operating room precision. A grim, gripping, confident, and provocative book.” — Steven Heighton

“Liam Durcan raises complex and important issues in GARCIA’S HEART, exposing the frailty of human nature against the background of medical science. It’s an intelligent book, thought-provoking and satisfying — a meditation on the workings of the mind. I found myself thinking about it for a long time afterwards.” — Clare Morrall

So, there you have it. Liam Durcan. GARCIA’S HEART. Make yourself happy, people …

The Monday Review

It’s Monday, they’re reviews, to wit: “GARCIA’S HEART is an astounding psychological thriller about moral responsibility and the human capacity for both denial and forgiveness,” declares the Barnes & Noble Spring 2008 Selection of Liam Durcan’s debut. At the same link, Christopher Bussman of the Library Journal is equally impressed: “Though [Durcan] has yet to develop fully his authorial powers and talent, he already writes with an ease reminiscent of Graham Greene … As the plot unfolds, the novel takes on a breathtaking immediacy that will awe readers and tune them into probing ethical dilemmas.” Mr & Mrs Kirkus concur: “The author’s expertise may lie firmly in the field of science, but his shrewd, intricate debut reveals a multi-talented artist.” Lovely stuff … Over at Heatseekers, Lucille Redmond likes Ronan O’Brien’s CONFESSIONS OF A FALLEN ANGEL: “The humour is the book’s best thing – Charlie’s wry descriptions and vicious banter will make readers burst out laughing … There are great characters here, mostly the really nasty ones. And there’s plenty of slapstick, and hilarious characters.” Staying with Heatseekers, for the verdict on David Parks’ THE TRUTH COMMISSIONER: “The book reads as if researched from within the security services. But the quality of the writing is fine, with a glowing interiority that at times lifts the stories off the pages.” ‘Interiority’? We love it … The Artist Formerly Known As Colin Bateman’s ORPHEUS RISING gets a serious hup-ya from L.J. Hurst at Shots Magazine: “Forget Colin Bateman the comic novelist: there is little “darkly comic” fiction here. This is dark tragedy, played out in the sun of the Florida coast, with the occasional rocket launch like an extra illumination … If you know how good Christopher Priest can be, Bateman’s ORPHEUS RISING will not disappoint you.” Yum-yum … “The book is very enjoyable – good balance of wit and action and so on, although I found it very hard to believe that Stephanie was 12,” quibbles Tiny Jo of Derek Landy’s SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT … And now for a veritable raft of Ken Bruen big-ups, beginning with Mr & Mrs Kirkus (no link) on AMERICAN SKIN: “Bruen’s fans will know that monsters lie in wait. There are the usual rewards in terms of style, pace and, yes, flashes of mordant wit, but be warned: This is Bruen beyond noir into full-out stygian.” Hannah Tucker at Entertainment Weekly likes PRIEST: “Taylor’s winning, even lovable blend of bleak philosophy and noirish humour … is more gripping than the novel’s central mystery. B+.” Over at Reviewing the Evidence, Christine Zibas is very impressed with CROSS: “CROSS is a fascinating look at one man’s struggle with his own inner demons and those of the criminals around him, who have thrust their own brand of evil upon the world. This is not necessarily an easy story to read, but it will surely be one of the best you can remember.” Pardon us as we seamlessly segue: “Ken Bruen’s blood runs through Jack Barry’s veins in this gritty Northern Ireland story … A very fast ride, and often the scenery gets blurred as it whizzes past the window. Just hang on and read, and all will become clear,” says Gay Toltl Kinman at Crime Spree Magazine of MISS KATIE REGRETS. At the same link you’ll find Dave Biemann hupping it up for Cora Harrison’s debut: “Cora Harrison writes with an easy grace. The relationships between her characters reminds one, very much, of Ellis Peters and her Brother Cadfael … Fans of the traditional mystery, Irish history, off stage violence, subtle romance and a well paced and plotted read should thoroughly enjoy MY LADY JUDGE.” Hurrah! Meanwhile, Lady Lott provides us with the inevitable Tana French big-up: “IN THE WOODS is not only a mystery but a look at how the past shapes everything in our lives … Well written, intricately plotted and with characters that were completely believable, I found I could not put down this book. For those who expect their mysteries to be tied up in a neat little package, beware, this book ends the way life often does; not every question will have an answer.” Kate at Kate’s Home Blog was impressed with Catherine O’Flynn’s debut: “WHAT WAS LOST by Catherine O’Flynn is a stunning book. It’s not completely perfect – from a first-time writer, you wouldn’t expect it to be – but the story, the ambience, the slightly spooky alienation of it is just mind-blowing.” Better late than later, we say, poaching this from Finlay MacDonald’s review of Eoin McNamee’s 12:23 at the Sunday Star Times: “The best thing about McNamee’s effort, 10 years after the event, is the benefit of hindsight. An adroit stylist, he builds a plausible case for the fateful Mercedes ride of August 31, 1997 … He also goes where no one else dares, and imagines the death scene in surprisingly literary and moving fashion.” Over at The Guardian, Meg Rosoff is very complimentary about Siobhan Dowd’s BOG CHILD: “A radiant work, written by a novelist of subtle and complex literary gifts at the height of her powers … Her sentences sing; each note resonates with an urgent humanity of the sort that cannot be faked. BOG CHILD sparkles with optimism and a deep passion for living. Love falls from it in particles, like snow.” Finally, a veritable torrent of hup-yas and big-ups arrived in for Benny Blanco this week, starting with Elsa Dixler’s round-up in the New York Times: “Writing in The Times, Janet Maslin praised the “cool precision and contemplative allure” of Black’s debut [CHRISTINE FALLS] — not surprising, since Black is the Irish author John Banville. This is “crossover fiction of a very high order,” Maslin said.” Over at Publishers Weekly, via Barnes & Noble, the verdict on THE SILVER SWAN is very positive: “In this stunning follow-up to 2007’s CHRISTINE FALLS, Black spins a complex tale of murder and deception in 1950s Ireland … Laconic, stubborn Quirke makes an appealing hero as the pieces of this unsettling crime come together in a shocking conclusion.” At the same link you’ll find Lorna Griffith of Library Journal equally impressed: “Black / Banville is a master of atmosphere; the fear and dread associated with hidden desires and deeds fairly leap off the page. Highly recommended for all public libraries.” Then there’s this from the peerless Sarah Weinman at The Baltimore Sun: “Black, the pseudonym for Booker Prize winner John Banville, proved he could walk the crime fiction walk with the Edgar-nominated Christine Falls, and now his luminous prose gets an even better infrastructure with the sequel, a faster-paced, further melancholic slice of the noir life of Dublin pathologist Quirke.” And there is this from Tim Rutten at the LA Times: “The plot is grippingly propulsive, the evocation of Dublin is detail-perfect, every major and minor character is beautifully realized -- and there isn’t a clunky sentence in the book.” And lastly, but by no means leastly, this from Nancy O: “The writing, of course, is superb, and it’s uncanny how Black (aka John Banville) can get into the skin of each character he’s created … I HIGHLY recommend this book … Readers of Irish crime fiction will love it and serious mystery readers will enjoy it as well.” Erm, Nancy? Does that mean readers of Irish crime fiction aren’t serious mystery readers too? And there we were trying so blummin’ hard to be serious …

Nobody Move, This Is A Review: GARCÍA’S HEART by Liam Durcan

As with Peter Carey’s THEFT, it’s difficult to know if GARCÍA’S HEART should be designated a crime fiction novel. The protagonist, the Canadian neurologist Patrick Lazerenko, travels to The Hague to attend a war crime tribunal in which his former mentor and friend, Hernan García, stands charged with aiding and abetting in the torture of prisoners in Honduras. Hernan took the delinquent Patrick under his wing when the pair met in Montreal, where Hernan, a former cardiac specialist, was running a grocery shop. Channelling the young man’s energy into a more productive course, Hernan is almost exclusively responsible for Patrick’s successful life as a scientist and a businessman. Assailed on all sides by vested interests – both defence and prosecution want him to testify; a journalist who has written a best-selling exposé of Hernan believes Patrick is hiding the truth of what he knew about Hernan’s life in Honduras; Celia, Hernan’s daughter and Patrick’s former lover, has accepted the help of a dubious advocacy group campaigning on Hernan’s behalf, and wants Patrick to row in with their efforts – Patrick investigates not only the facts of the case in order to satisfy himself of Hernan’s innocence, but also the mysteries of how the human mind functions.
  Despite the plethora of crime fiction tropes, however, GARCÍA’S HEART owes more of a debt to Graham Greene than Raymond Chandler. Beautifully written though it is, its elegiac tone lacks the rapid pace that would qualify it as a conventional thriller. Neither, despite Patrick’s role as the seeker after truth, is it a variation on the private investigator novel, as Patrick is a largely passive character, a receptacle of information rather that its conduit.
  Nonetheless, GARCÍA’S HEART is a real page-turner. Durcan has a deliciously light style that wears its learning lightly, offering pithy insights into the human condition that are laced with bone-dry flashes of humour (“It turns out Roberto and Elyse were pretty intimate,” Nina said with the seriousness that weapons-grade gossip demanded.). He also asks some profound questions of the human condition, as in this exchange between Hernan’s lawyer and Patrick:

“I mean, I can see it, you know. The brain determines our mental states, how we feel, and brain function is subject to physical laws; it’s determined.”
“Sure.”
“So, where is his free will? How can he be guilty? How can anybody be guilty?”

  In the end, the answers Patrick uncovers to these and other questions are messy, unsatisfactory and inconclusive. Durcan, himself a neurologist, refuses to deal in simplistic notions of good and evil and cause-and-effect, and nor is he overly concerned with the illusion of closure that characterises the crime / mystery genre. Instead he offers a downbeat but perfectly logical denouement that may well leave crime and mystery readers dissatisfied in the short term, but which offers hope to those who believe that a novel concerned with the traditional tropes of crime and criminality can be greater than the sum of its parts. – Declan Burke

The Monday Review

It’s Monday, they’re reviews, to wit: “[Liam] Durcan’s outstanding debut novel walks a taut line between skilful thriller and philosophical novel of ideas … he already writes with an ease reminiscent of Graham Greene … As the plot unfolds, the novel takes on a breathtaking immediacy that will awe readers and tune them into probing ethical dilemmas,” says Library Journal’s Christopher Bussman of GARCIA’S HEART (via Barnes & Noble). At the same link, Mr & Mrs Kirkus agree: “Canadian neurologist and award-winning writer Durcan plumbs his stock in trade to inform this audacious literary debut, its purpose no less than finding a window to the soul … [Durcan’s] shrewd, intricate debut reveals a multi-talented artist.” Hmmm, nice. They’re still coming in for Benny Blanco’s debut: “CHRISTINE FALLS is carefully crafted, layered, story … Black has written an excellent character-driven story with a compelling story to move it forward,” says Mack Lundy at Revish. Over at Shadow of the Raven, David Lampe-Wilson concurs: “A great read whether you like mysteries or not,” says he pithily. What say you, Nancy O? “Very noir-ish in tone, CHRISTINE FALLS may not be something that mainstream mystery readers will pounce on, and more’s the pity, since they’ll be missing a splendid piece of writing …Recommended.” Thank you kindly, ma’am … A trio of big-ups for Siobhan Dowd this week, starting with BOG CHILD: “The characters are beautifully drawn and totally convincing … Overall, the story flows well and works wonderfully as a novel. Certainly one of the best Young Adult novels I’ve read for a long time,” says Colin Mulhern at Chicklish. Maylin at The Dewey Divas and the Dudes (!) likes A SWIFT PURE CRY: “The relationship between the siblings is wonderfully written and this novel has one of the most exuberant endings I’ve read in a long time. Beautifully written and award winning.” Staying with the Dewey Divas, THE LONDON EYE MYSTERY gets a mention too: “Ted is an original, charming creation and half the fun of this novel is getting inside his head as he uses his knowledge about weather systems to logically make sense of the world. Great fun.” Lovely stuff … Over at Asylum, John Self likes Gerard Donovan’s JULIUS WINSOME: “In Julius’s remote landscape, “distances collapse, time is thrown out,” and the book achieves a similar trickery by being both spare and immersive, short but engrossing right up to the breathless closing chapters.” Thank you, John … Ronan O’Brien’s CONFESSIONS OF A FALLEN ANGEL is still impressing ’em, to wit: “It’s a clever plot. The story holds together well as a narrative, hurtling towards its end as classical tragedy, and the main character is engaging in how he deals with adversity … On balance, the heart leaps up at this new Irish novel,” says John S. Doyle at the Sunday Independent. Beth at Beth’s Reading List likes Eoin Colfer’s ARTEMIS FOWL AND THE LOST COLONY: “I enjoyed this – the description of fairy technology is always intriguing and amazing. Colfer draws the new characters with as much personality as the ones we already know.” Meanwhile, over at Stone Library’s Book Blog, Derek Landy’s SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT gets an Eoin Colfer comparison: “Fans of Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl series, or anyone who likes a dash of violence and danger served up with magical humour will enjoy this book.” Finally, it’s a couple of big-ups for The Artist Formerly Known as Colin Bateman. “I found I PREDICT A RIOT to be a hugely funny and very entertaining read … it is also a murder / mystery, a crime thriller and a hilarious piece of social commentary on Belfast, and the current situation in Northern Ireland life,” says Austin Lynch at the Fermanagh Herald, while Gerard Brennan has been reading his little cotton socks off: “This last few weeks I’ve been reading a lot of crime fiction. So far Declan Hughes’ THE WRONG KIND OF BLOOD is impressing me, I highly recommend Ken Bruen’s PRIEST, and Colin Bateman’s latest novel I PREDICT A RIOT was a pure Belfast blast.” Yes indeed, yon Bateman is pure literary Semtex, we find …

Bring Us The Heart of Hernan García

Yet another Canadian-Irish writer hoves into view above a Greenland-shaped horizon, although as usual we’re a tad tardy off the mark with Paul Durcan’s GARCIA’S HEART, which arrived on the shelves back in November. Still, better late than later, as we always say. Quoth Publishers Weekly:

Neurologist Durcan dissects the ethics involved when politics, medicine and violence collide in this finely wrought novel about a neurologist turned biotech entrepreneur who travels to The Hague to witness his mentor’s war crimes trial. Patrick Lazerenko is a punk teen in Montreal when he first meets Hernan García, the Spanish immigrant owner of a neighbourhood grocery store. Caught trying to vandalize Hernan’s store, Patrick is roped into working off the damages and soon finds himself attached to the García family. When Patrick sees Hernan’s backroom medical consultations with local immigrants, he is inspired to become a doctor himself. Years later, a journalist exposes Hernan—dubbed the Angel of Lepaterique—as having been mixed up in the CIA-backed torture of subversive citizens in Honduras in the 1980s. Parallels to Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo are acute (and even overtly identified) as Hernan is accused of witnessing and aiding in detainee torture. Subplots involving a devious political think-tank, the long-expired romance between Patrick and Hernan’s daughter and the goings-on at Patrick’s company, provide a rich backdrop to the trial, but the centrepiece is the mélange of complex feelings that arise within Patrick, who finds himself simultaneously condemning and rooting for Hernan. – Publishers Weekly

For much, much more of the same, jump on over to Liam Durcan’s interweb yokeybus. Just don’t mention Mursheen and / or pickin’ praties.

“Ya Wanna Do It Here Or Down The Station, Punk?” # 2,073: Liam Durcan

Yep, it’s rubber-hose time, folks: a rapid-fire Q&A for those shifty-looking usual suspects ...

What crime novel would you most like to have written?
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT.
Who do you read for guilty pleasures?
I don’t know if I read a particular genre or author in a guilty way—I suppose the most guilty pleasure in my reading is the aimless promiscuity of my choices—I train-commute to work and read anything (as long as it’s portable—is that a genre?). This last week I’ve read magazines (Wired, American Scientist, The Walrus), articles downloaded from the internet, a and collection of poetry ( SITCOM by David McGimpsey).
Most satisfying writing moment?
A story I wrote won a writing contest (this in itself wasn’t the most satisfying thing). It was a contest with blind-judging and I wrote the story in the voice of a pregnant woman. They presented the award at a local literary festival and with the congratulatory handshake, the judge leaned in and said ‘I didn’t think you were a man.’ This was the most satisfying (and contextually-dependent) compliment I have ever received.
The best Irish crime novel is …?
John Banville’s THE BOOK OF EVIDENCE.
What Irish crime novel would make a great movie?
Recently I came across Gene Kerrigan’s THE MIDNIGHT CHOIR—it caught my eye for the Leonard Cohen reference in the title—and enjoyed it very much. I thought it would make a great film.
Worst / best thing about being a writer?
Worst thing: You’ve only got your skill with words to convince the reader to turn the page. Best thing: See above.
The pitch for your next novel is …?
A man recovering from a head injury (the nature of which renders him unable to understand the extent of his perceptual deficits) finds his world utterly changed and the narrative follows him as he tries to negotiate his way towards an explanation for what is happening to him. As you can see, I just can’t stay away from romantic comedy …
Who are you reading right now?
CITIZEN VINCE by Jess Walter.
The three best words to describe your own writing are …?
Style, plot, relevance.

Liam Durcan’s GARCIA’S HEART is available now.