“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

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Lost Classics # 27: Quinn, Seamus Smyth

"Murder is such an emotive term. It implies malice ... But there's no malice in what I do." Teak-tough stuff from Seamus Smyth on his debut, with Gerd Quinn as his first-person borderline psycho Mr Fixit wreaking homicidal havoc in Dublin's crime world. You want a car-bomb wired up outside a kids' school? Yep, Quinn's yer only man ... and that's just for openers. An Irish Jim Thompson, and no mistake. It was too hardboiled for mass consumption when first released back in 1999, maybe, but Quinn's time has surely come around. Any chance of a re-release, folks?

1 comment:

Don Anderson said...

Okay, you talked me into it. My copy of QUINN will arrive today in the mail. I'm a fan of Bruen, Kernick, MacBride, McKinty, Guthrie, Rickards and similar noir stylists from across the pond. I'll let you know my thoughts when I finish my read.