“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, November 13, 2007

“Ya Wanna Do It Here Or Down The Station, Punk?” # 1,079: Jochem Van Der Steen

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?
I guess that would be GONE, BABY, GONE by Dennis Lehane, a novel that rocked my world. Either that or Harry Potter because I wouldn’t mind being filthy rich.
Who do you read for guilty pleasures?
Guys writing comic books!
Most satisfying writing moment?
Probably when I got my first short story published on Thrilling Detective, and when I finished my first novel, THE WHITE KNIGHT SYNDROME.
The best Irish crime novel is …?
For me that honour goes to the first John Connolly novel, EVERY DEAD THING. Like GONE, BABY, GONE, it fuelled my desire to keep writing myself. It managed to show how you can make a book action-packed, respect the genre and still give it a ‘new’ feel.
What Irish crime novel would make a great movie?
See above.
Worst / best thing about being a writer?
Waiting for your stuff to get published.
The pitch for your next novel is …?
Security consultant and son of a mobster Noah Milano returns when a Hollywood superstar goes missing. Stopping at nothing to track her down, from the glamorous Hollywood mansions and studios to the border of Mexico, he gets cut up, shot down and betrayed … but never discouraged.
Who are you reading right now?
I’m just finishing Wayne Dundee’s THE DAY AFTER YESTERDAY.
The three best words to describe your own writing are …?
Rocking, fast, easy-to-read.

Jochem Van Der Steen’s THE WHITE KNIGHT SYNDROME is published by iUniverse. He blogs at Sons of Spade.

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