“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

Monday, October 8, 2012

Top Katz

The Irish edition of the Sunday Times Culture section has become a terrific source of new Irish crime and mystery novels of late, and yesterday they carried another review of a debut Irish crime writer, John O’Keeffe’s SEARCHING FOR AMI (Red Rock Press). The gist runs thusly:
“O’Keeffe, a Dublin GP, adeptly handles the nuances of the political situation in Israel / Palestine … The bulk of the book - a pacy page-turner - focuses on Harry’s quest to find Ami dead or alive … O’Keeffe is to be commended for a polished debut, which maintains its tension and has some fine passages.” - Ciaran Byrne, Sunday Times
  So there you have it. SEARCHING FOR AMI is published by Red Rock Press, whose blurb elves have been wibbling thusly:
In the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, an American woman and her daughter Ami are caught up in a brutally efficient guerrilla attack on a Jewish settlement. The killings leave a trail of bloodshed, bodies and a mystery: where are the remains of the little girl who has disappeared without trace? What has happened to her? Her father – intelligence officer Harry Katz – refuses to believe that his beloved daughter is dead. He begins an extraordinary journey to uncover the truth and her whereabouts. Harry’s odyssey takes him from the near medieval savagery of Southern Lebanon, through the sleepy suburbs of Zurich and Ulm, culminating in a gripping drama on the streets of Dublin. His pursuit of the woman who stole his daughter draws him into the pitiless world of international intelligence services and the stark realities of modern day terrorism. Shifting allegiances, casual betrayal, deception and murder are the day-to-day realities that Harry must confront in his desperate search to find Ami. A gripping suspense thriller, Harry’s journey and ultimate redemption makes for a compelling narrative that races along at a cracking pace with the assured touch of an accomplished storyteller.
  For more on John O’Keeffe and SEARCHING FOR AMI, and a pdf of the first three chapters, clickety-click here

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