“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, April 23, 2007

The Monday Review: Garbhan Downey, Take A Bow

Slim pickings in the weekend review sections for crime wibblings, folks: the Indo's Ian O'Doherty (what's the story, Indo-types - no link?) gave John Connolly's latest The Unquiet loads of elbow space but finished up with a Mr Garrison-ish 'Mmmmkay' verdict ("... another riveting read - although longtime fans may be rather disconcerted by the ending"), while Stephen Price enthuses about Richard Stark's Ask the Parrot in the Sunday Business Post ("Chandler it ain’t, but there is the same wry, fast-paced entertainment that’s to be had from just about anything Westlake turns out") before getting all pissy about the John Banville endorsement on the Irish edition. The big thumbs-up came from the Indo's Siobhan Cronin for Garbhan Downey's Running Mates ("Its rapid-fire pace, intriguing twists, high body count and brilliant dialogue make it a really exciting read, and a worthy addition to the ever-growing list of classy Irish crime novels"). Which is nice ... Jump here for an audio interview with Garbhan that includes him reading some excerpts from Running Mates and his upcomer, Across the Line.

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