Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly by Adrian McKinty

I finished reading this one over a week ago, but I've been too lazy to write about it. Apologies for that. But luckily, this book has left a lasting impression on me. Adrian McKinty is officially the best in the business. Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly is the sixth instalment of the Sean Duffy series. When I read Rain Dogs, number five in the series, I proclaimed it the best of the lot. And, somehow, McKinty has found a way to make this one sing even louder.

The crime aspect of the novel is a nice puzzler, but for me, the investigation plays second fiddle in this novel. What I really enjoyed more than anything was the continual development of Duffy's character. Although he exists in the 80s (this particular mystery set in 1988), Duffy has been ageing at roughly the same rate as me since his debut in The Cold, Cold Ground. He's just turned 38 in this novel and seems much more world-weary than my bright-eyed and bushy-tailed self. I did find myself sympathising with his grumbles quite often, however.

Please God, let there be more Sean Duffy novels. It's officially my favourite police procedural series, and I hate the prospect of not spending more time with the wry bastard. If nothing else, we need to know what future titles Adrian can convince his publisher to make room for on his covers. Can he sell one even longer than Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly?

Rain Dogs -- A McKinty Sneak-Peek

Adrian McKinty has posted the covers and the first six chapters of the next Sean Duffy mystery.

Rain Dogs (a title intentionally borrowed from Tom Waits, I'd wager).

This is better than good news. It's great. Get thee to McKinty's blog.

I'll post one of the covers below. You've to go to McKinty's blog to see the other.

Go to McKinty's blog!

Gun Street Girl by Adrian McKinty

The fourth book in the ongoing Sean Duffy series was released this month. Gun Street Girl is set in 1985, and again, Adrian McKinty uses actual events from Northern Irish history as a backdrop for the tale. While the story starts out as a murder investigation -- and one that could have been tidied away quite quickly if a team of shittier cops were handed the case -- it isn't long until DI Duffy and DS McCrabban find themselves embroiled in something much bigger.

As you would expect from McKinty at this stage, Gun Street Girl is a wonderful read. The books seem to get funnier as the series progresses, but they're balanced out with plenty of gut-punching moments of darkness. McKinty is a master of emotional manipulation. If you don't feel something when you read this one, you might be dead inside. Book an appointment with you GP tout feckin' suite.

I wish I could pinpoint exactly why I find McKinty's books so readable, but I haven't quite figured it out yet. What I do know is that in the few days that I gorged on this one, my copy was never more than a few metres away from me. Sean Duffy is my favourite series character right now, and it'd take a hell of a lot to knock him off the top spot. Gun Street Girl is a stunner, plain and simple.

As a side note, it's interesting that McKinty has gone beyond a third part for this series. He called time on the Michael Forsythe or "Dead" series of books because he felt that the character had had his fair share of adventures and a further foray would stretch his readers' suspension of disbelief a little too far. I presume that the fact that Duffy is a cop makes it more believable that he'd get into more scrapes, especially a cop employed at the height of the troubles. Whatever the reason, I'm delighted to have read another Duffy book and hope to read more of them in the future.

Also, I love the fact that Duffy is ageing at the same rate as me. We're both 35 this time around! That's really cool.

Down Among The Dead by Steve Finbow

Down Among The Dead by Steve Finbow is a novella I didn't see coming. Published by #13 Press (and released on the 13th of December), it's the second in a proposed series of 13 novellas to be issued over 13 months. So, that's fun.

Finbow's writing style is slightly idiosyncratic. He doesn't present his dialogue in the conventional manner for a start. It's woven into his paragraphs like internal monologue; through the filter of a paranoid wreck. This creates a disjointed feel to the narrative which works well for the dual timeline that the subject, Michael O'Connor, relays to us in first person. O'Connor, a Belfast man in the twilight of his regret-filled life, may be an unreliable narrator, but his fears are very real. The scenes set in 2008 see him as a broken man with loose lips, a stark comparison to the O'Connor of 1998 who still half-believes his own Belfast bravado.

On the face of it, and because 1998 was quite a year for Northern Ireland and the peace process, I expected this slim tome to be heavy on the politics. And to be honest, I was relieved to find that this was more of a human story. An examination of regret and self-destruction. The novella really is too short a form to get too deep into that tangled mess that is the Troubles.

This is my first encounter with the author, Steve Finbow, but a quick look at his backlist shows that the unique writing style displayed in Down Among The Dead has been forged by experience. Down Among The Dead is a murky read with flashes of hard-hitting clarity. This is no Micksploitation* shoot-em-up. It aims for better and hits its mark. Touché Mister Finbow.

*Hat-tip to Adrian McKinty, an anti-Micksploitation activist.

In the morning, he was hungover (allegedly)

A favourite of CSNI, one Mr Adrian McKinty, is now the proud bearer of the Ned Kelly Award for his novel, In The Morning I'll Be Gone. I've stated for the record that the third installment of the Sean Duffy series is the best of the bunch, in my opinion. But then, I'd hardly state somebody else's opinion, would I?

Here's a fun picture McKinty shared the morning after the night before on his Twitter account:

And if you want a first person account of the ins and outs of McKinty's much deserved win, the man himself has kindly provided one over on his blog. Check it out, tell him he's the champ and wallow in his reflected glory.

I truly hope that the good times continue to role for this scribe.

Happy Birthday, Dashiell Hammett

A short documentary featuring Adrian McKinty. You're welcome.

Belfast Noir

Stuart Neville

Adrian McKinty

I've mentioned this on Twitter and Facebook a few times, but for those of you who don't do the social media thing, here's a wee heads-up about a short story collection you might want to check out. BELFAST NOIR is an anthology of crime fiction that will be published as part of the respected Akashic series. It's been edited by Adrian McKinty and Stuart Neville and between them I think they've concocted something very special. A look at the list of contributors is all the proof you'll need (even the charity case at the end of the list there).

Glenn Patterson, Eoin McNamee, Garbhan Downey, Lee Child, Alex Barclay, Brian McGilloway, Ian McDonald, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Claire McGowan, Arlene Hunt, Steve Cavanagh, Lucy Caldwell, Sam Millar and Gerard Brennan.

Isn't that a thing of beauty?

I've met, interacted with or read all of those writers, and I have rarely seen such an impressive murder of scribes. Yes, the Mammoth Book of Best British Crime (a series I've blagged my way into for a third time this year) is top notch, and jam-packed with writers in the same league as Lee Child, but BELFAST NOIR is extra special to me. It's Belfast, like.

Can't wait to get my hands on a finished copy, and I'm especially looking forward to the launch party, which I expect to be a little bit drinky, but mostly another one of those criminally few opportunities to catch up with some of the greatest talent in contemporary crime fiction and general cool cats.

Watch this space, or indeed Adrian McKinty's space, because he'll get the scoop and he's a better blogger.

Somebody shoot that damn rooster!

Last night I finished reading Adrian McKinty's In The Morning I'll Be Gone. Top shelf stuff, people. Get your hands on a copy now.

It was the first book I read this year. I'm hoping to read 100 novels in the next 52 weeks. I don't fancy my chances, though. Only starting the second one today. Average it out over the 365 days and I'll only manage to squeeze in 60.83334 books. Who wants to read 0.83334 of a book? You get that far in, you should just get to the end, right? Still, I'll give it a go.

But I digress. Back to McKinty's excellent writing.

In The Morning I'll Be Gone is the third in the Sean Duffy series (currently a trilogy, but most readers will be hungry for more, I'm sure) and we rejoin the lippy RUC officer in 1984. McKinty has tonnes of fun with the history of Northern Ireland at that time, and there are a few Easter eggs in there for his constant readers and fans of his blog. One which will stand out for most is a pleasantly surprising, blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo. Curious? Good. Get your hands on a copy.

As usual, McKinty's writing is lyrical and a good chunk of the inner monologue (Duffy serves as a 1st person narrator) is philosophical; perhaps a coping mechanism for a cop that has been through the mangle one time too many. It's been a while since I read the previous installments, but I do believe that this one is a little funnier than its predecessors. But it's humour dealt with restraint. McKinty presents a tragic past, and he knows when to adjust his tone accordingly.

In The Morning I'll Be Gone is an old school locked-room mystery served up by a writer who's well versed in the form. McKinty, in the role of writer/magician, uses his masterful prose as smoke and mirrors throughout, and manages to tease the readers with his puzzle before letting us in on the trick. It really is one of the more satisfying answers too, even though he works hard to manage expectations through Duffy's foreshadowing.

Keep 'er lit, McKinty. You've left your audience wanting more.

If you're wondering what the title refers to, by the way, then you have yet to discover the song that inspired the title. I only got to it yesterday, but I'm glad I did. Worth a listen if you have the opportunity.

A Bit About The Other NI Crime Writers...

This is meant to be a blog that promotes writers from Northern Ireland. It hasn't been fulfilling that brief lately. That's mostly down to spending more time writing and promoting my own work, but I'm still a fan of Northern Irish crime fiction, and since my timetable is going to change dramatically in the next few weeks allowing me more time for the blog from October onwards, I should address this imbalance. And maybe look at editing that last sentence.

No time!

Okay, so, at long last I've started reading Anthony Quinn's DISAPPEARED. So far so good. I'll mention it again when I'm finished.

Earlier this year, I read and loved Claire McGowan's THE LOST. It's the first of a series featuring Paula Maguire. Get on it now.

I also read Stuart Neville's RATLINES. It's much different than the "Belfast Trilogy" (which I'm hoping will become a quadrilogy some day), but also a great read. It's Neville in James Ellroy mode.

And then there's Brian McGilloway. I read THE NAMELESS DEAD most recently, but I have to mention LITTLE GIRL LOST since it recently dominated the Kindle charts ahead of the release of HURT, a new Lucy Black novel, and one I'm very excited about.

And I never talk about NI crime fiction without mentioning Adrian McKinty. The last of his I read was I HEAR THE SIRENS IN THE STREET. Another Sean Duffy novel, and a step-up in cool for the character. Must be down to the "evidence" he smokes. Also looking forward to the third installation of the Duffy series.

So there. I still read and appreciate the contemporary crime clique. And I'm hungry for more. Bring it on.

Badass

Somebody buy Adrian McKinty a wallet that says BAD MOTHERFECKER on it.

Here he is in the Wall Street Journal.

(Click the image for a closer look)

Thanks to the Spinetingler Magazine Facebook page for providing the jpg.

And if you're having trouble reading the jpg, I swiped this link from the wonderful Crime Always Pays.

New Review Policy

Last year I began writing shorter reviews to (I had hoped) allow me to produce more of them for the blog. It turned out I averaged about one review a month which represented only a small fraction of my actual reading. And I'm not even sure that the reviews did any real good for the books. So this year, I'm changing my approach again.

One thing that I've found since I released THE POINT and WEE ROCKETS is that the reviews that seem to have the most traction are those on Amazon. Now, this could well be because I'm relying heavily on Kindle sales, but I'm pretty sure that many other writers attach a lot of value to them too. I took a little time to think about whether or not it was 'professional' to review other writers on Amazon and came to the conclusion that most people don't give a feck about that sort of thing. And so, from now on, when the fancy takes me, I'll be reviewing my latest reads on Amazon. But just so the blog still has a bookish element to it, I'll be gathering them up every once in a whole and posting them on CSNI.

My main concern in this endeavour is how seriously people will treat my reviews. I'm not a fan of the 5-star system but that's what I have to work with. Thing is, when I'm reading a book that isn't floating my boat I do this really wacky thing... I stop reading it. So the majority of my reviews are going to be in the 4 and 5 star range. I suppose you could argue that the challenge is getting me to finish reading your book. Then again, most people don't give a feck about this foible either.

So, constant visitors, the latest Amazon reviews:

The Cold, Cold Ground by Adrian McKinty

Adrian McKinty is one of my favourites. He's a forerunner in the latest generation of Northern Irish crime writers. And this is the book he was born to write. A police procedural featuring a catholic RUC officer set against the backdrop of the 1981 hunger strikes. Talk about ambitious... But McKinty is a master of the craft and he has applied all of his talent to The Cold, Cold Ground.

The writing is electrifying, the characters top notch and his ability to spin a great yarn is enviable. If you want to learn a little about that crazy chapter in Northern Irish history and read an excellent story as well, you need look no further.

Buy this book.

Stolen Souls by Stuart Neville

Stuart Neville brings us back to his dark version of Belfast in the latest Jack Lennon investigation. Set over Christmas, this novel delves into the murky depths of human trafficking in Northern Ireland and the gangs that control it. It's set at a relentless pace throughout with all the now distinctive hallmarks of a Neville crime novel. If you're a fan of the Belfast series there are plenty of little references to the previous books to delight and intrigue the constant reader. But they never distract from the main force of the story. I look forward to his next instalment.

Stolen Souls is 24 meets Die Hard in Belfast. Come on, tell me you don't want to read that and I'll tell you you're a liar.

All The Young Warriors by Anthony Neil Smith

This was officially my first Kindle read and I have to say, this book alone is pretty much worth the price of the Kindle reader. Just a pity the author couldn't get a percentage off that price-tag.

The story is set in Minnesota and Somalia, places of opposite extremes in temperature and culture. The narrative is split between a recently widowed, angry cop and a terrified American-born Somalian who has gone to his father's home country to join the 'ragtag army'. This is a big, ambitious story and it is handled with expertise by Smith. A tremendous novel with a distinct and confident voice. I actually slowed my reading down around the 80% mark to make it last a little longer. I'll be reading more from this guy.

All The Young Warriors is an emotional gut-punch. I'll be thinking about it for a long time to come.

Oh Lordy, Ken Bruen's Bringlodi

Psst, did you know that Ken Bruen has a new blog?

His first post was dedicated to Adrian McKinty's next novel, Cold, Cold Ground.

His second?

The Point!

Go see.

Adrian McKinty on Point

Got a most welcome email from Adrian McKinty this morning sharing his thoughts on my novella, The Point.

The man said:

"The Point is top stuff. Engaging from the start, the characters are loveable, the story is strong and the pace never lets up." - Adrian McKinty

Nothing could tickle me pinker than the seal of approval from one of my favourite writers. This week I got it from two of my favourite writers! Everything's coming up Milhouse at the moment.

Writers' Writers (a short report)

Adrian McKinty and Declan Burke made for an awesome double act at last night's No Alibis event. Both writers opted not to read from the books they were there to launch (McKinty's Falling Glass and Burke's Absolute Zero Cool). Instead they entertained the audience with a frank and oft times scathing dialogue about the state of the modern publishing model. A lot of what was said I wouldn't dare write about here for fear that I might be sued for libel. What I can tell you is that it was a fascinating insight into the minds of a pair of excellent writers who are masters of their trade.

Incidentally, Stuart Neville, David Park and Andrew Pepper were among the crowd. I wish I had the presence of mind to snap a few pics but I haven't been at the top of my game this week. I'm sure they'll pop up on the No Alibis website and/or Facebook page at some point. I'll post a link when they do.

If you didn't get to the event you should make it up to yourself by buying Falling Glass and Absolute Zero Cool as soon as humanly possible. Both books are a master class in crime fiction that doesn't conform to the old and tired model.

No Alibis Event - Burke and McKinty

Declan Burke and Adrian McKinty
Thursday 18th August at 6:00PM
Tickets: FREE

No Alibis are very pleased to invite you to celebrate the launch of Declan Burke's latest novel, ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL, and FALLING GLASS, the latest novel from Adrian McKinty, in the shop on Thursday 18th August at 6:00 PM.

Declan Burke was born in Sligo in 1969. He is the author of EIGHTBALL BOOGIE (2003) and THE BIG O (2007). He is also the editor of DOWN THESE GREEN STREETS: IRISH CRIME WRITING IN THE 21st CENTURY. His new novel, ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL, is published by Liberties Press in 2011. He lives in Wicklow with his wife Aileen and baby daughter Lily, and hosts a website dedicated to Irish crime fiction called Crime Always Pays.


Absolute Zero Cool is a post-modern take on the crime thriller genre. Adrift in the half-life limbo of an unpublished novel, hospital porter Billy needs to up the stakes. Euthanasia simply isn’t shocking anymore; would blowing up his hospital be enough to see Billy published, or be damned? What follows is a gripping tale that subverts the crime genre’s grand tradition of liberal sadism, a novel that both excites and disturbs in equal measure. Absolute Zero Cool is not only an example of Irish crime writing at its best; it is an innovative, self-reflexive piece that turns every convention of crime fiction on its head. Declan Burke’s latest book is an imaginative story that explores the human mind’s ability to both create and destroy, with equally devastating effects.

Adrian McKinty was born and grew up in Carrickfergus. After studying philosophy at Oxford University he emigrated to New York City where he lived in Harlem for seven years working in bars, bookstores, building sites and finally the basement stacks of the Columbia University Medical School Library in Washington Heights. In 2000 he moved to Denver, Colorado where he taught high school English and started writing fiction in earnest. His first full length novel, Dead I Well May Be, was shortlisted for the 2004 Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award and was picked by Booklist as one of the 10 best crime novels of the year. In mid 2008 he moved to Australia. He is currently working on a new crime novel for Serpents Tail called The Cold Cold Ground. His website can be found here.


An old associate of regular McKinty hero Michael Forsythe, Killian makes a living enforcing other people's laws, collecting debts, dealing out threats. Now Forsythe sets Killian up with the best paid job of his life. A prominent, politically connected, Irish businessman, Richard Coulter, needs someone to find his ex-wife and children - for half a million. Reluctant to take it, but persuaded by the money, Killian travels across the world for his briefing from Coulter himself. Once on the trail, Killian discovers the real reason Coulter's ex is running, and helps her take refuge amongst his people - a community of Irish Travellers, who close ranks to look after them. McKinty is at his continent-hopping, pacy, evocative best in this new thriller, moving between his native Ireland and distant cities within a skin-of-his-teeth timeframe.

We, expect this event to be very popular, so avoid disappointment and book your spot early. You can email David, or call the shop on 9031 9607.

Crime Fiction in the Wilderness

Fresh from a revitalizing pint of the black stuff at the Crown bar in Belfast the Wyoming-based author, CJ Box, looks very comfortable as he sits by the window of the first floor lounge in the Europa hotel. He sets his Stetson to one side, crown down to protect the brim, and offers a firm handshake and easy smile. In a few hours, he’ll launch his latest novel, BACK OF BEYOND, at No Alibis bookstore on Botanic Avenue, but for now, he’s happy to discuss his latest release and the Joe Pickett series which is currently being published by Corvus at a rate of one a month.

BACK OF BEYOND, set in Yellowstone National Park, features an alcoholic detective by the name of Cody Hoyt and he’s the polar opposite of his series character, Joe Pickett. Box believes it’s easier to write the more traditional flawed hero in crime fiction than a family oriented man. For one thing, they have so much freedom in that they don’t have to go home at night to check in with the wife and kids. Cody Hoyt is ‘stripped down’ and unpredictable and so the reader will never really know how far he might go in a given situation. And Box has enjoyed immensely the opportunity to explore a dark side through this broken man.

Box himself could be a character from one of his wilderness thrillers. He’s a keen fisherman and has been on the kind of outfitting adventure featured in BACK OF BEYOND. And his experiences very much inform his writing style. One of his strengths lies in the way he can bring nature to life through prose. Does he go on hikes with a notebook in hand?

“No, just like it’s easier to write about the summer in winter it’s easier to write about the wilderness when you’re not in it.”

An interesting element to Cody Hoyt’s back story is that he’s a keen crime fiction reader and one of the writers he’s a fan of is Ken Bruen. This is a little Stetson-tip to Box’s friendship with the Galway writer. They met at Bouchercon, an American crime fiction convention, a few years back when Bruen introduced himself as a fan of the Joe Pickett series. Since then, they’ve sent each other their novels and share a mutual respect. In fact, CJ Box described Bruen’s novel, AMERICAN SKIN, as his ‘…biggest, boldest, most sweeping and heartfelt novel yet.’

When asked if any other Irish writers have captured his imagination he cites Adrian McKinty and in particular his Colorado-set novel HIDDEN RIVER.

‘I was kind of blown away by his dark Irish sensibility in sunny Colorado. It’s very well done.’

And like so many others he believes McKinty’s work should be much wider read. And in fact, there and then in the Europa lounge, he jots down a reminder on a napkin that he should download McKinty’s FIFTY GRAND when he gets back to his Kindle.

He may be a man of nature but he has not shied away from the new e-publishing phenomenon. The first of a series of short stories available in electronic format can now be downloaded. The information and links can be found on his website, as well as a full bibliography of his printed novels. It’s an impressive backlist and a reader could do much worse than get stuck in at the start of the Pickett series with the thrilling debut, OPEN SEASON.




A burned out cabin in the woods. A dead body. A dinner table set for two

Detective Cody Hoyt is called to the scene. A brilliant cop, Cody is also an alcoholic struggling with two months of sobriety. So it doesn’t help that the body in the cabin is his AA sponsor Hank Winters. It looks like suicide, but Cody is convinced it’s foul play.
So who was at Hank’s cabin? Data pulled from Hank’s fire-damaged hard drive leads Cody to a website running wilderness adventures deep into the most remote parts of Yellowstone National Park. Their big trip of year has just left – a two-week horseback journey into the wild. The very same trip that Cody’s estranged teenage son, Justin, has signed up for.

Cody has no choice but to trek deep into the wild himself. In America’s greatest wilderness, Cody is on his own, he’s out of time, he’s in too deep. He’s in the Back of Beyond!

CJ Box is the author of nine novels including the award-winning Joe Pickett series. He’s the winner of the Anthony Award, Prix Calibre 38 (France), the Macavity Award, the Gumshoe Award, the Barry Award, and an Edgar Award and L.A. Times Book Prize finalist. Box was named 2007 Writer of the Year by the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. His short stories have been featured in America’s Best Mystery Stories 2006 and limited-edition printings. The novels have been national bestsellers and have been translated into 13 languages.

Bloomsday

Let's face it. If you haven't read James Joyce's ULYSSES by now, you're probably not going to. But what you could do instead on this fine day is check out Adrian McKinty's THE BLOOMSDAY DEAD. It's the book I describe as the "bastard child of Tony Soprano morality and James Joyce literacy". Gotta be good, right?

Right.

I'm dead cultured, me...

My review of Adrian McKinty's Falling Glass is now up at Culture NI.

You can also read a feature on the very spiffy site in which Adrian chats about his previous novel, Fifty Grand, making the Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year long list.

Four Irish writers on that list this year, which is a fantastic representation on the great work coming out of this island. Huge congrats to Adrian McKinty, Stuart Neville, Alan Glynn and William Ryan. Peruse the list here.

Best Week Ever!

Well, maybe not the best week ever. This kind of stuff doesn't surpass the births of three wonderful kids, or marrying the girl of your dreams in Cyprus (I'm a very lucky guy in the family department). But in terms of writing achievements, this is the kind of week that's up there alongside signing with my agent, Allan Guthrie, working with so many of my favourite writers as a co-editor, publishing a novella to Pulp Press and those ever-important nods from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland in the form of SIAP awards.

This week I wrote 'The End' on a manuscript that's taken over a year to get close to right (from planning to writing), received my contributor copies of The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime 8 and found out that Requiems for the Departed has been nominated for a Spinetingler Award. So frickin' sweet.


If you want to vote for Requiems for the Departed, click here.

If you want to pre-order The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime, click here.

If you want to read a recent article about me and my writing, click here.

And as if things couldn't get any better, I've read the first few chapters of Adrian McKinty's Falling Glass today. Why the hell did I wait so long to crack open that one? Well, I'll tell you why. As with all of McKinty's books, I knew I wouldn't have been able to put it down once I started it. It was already hard enough to open that damn manuscript I was working on every night after the kids went to bed (every night? Really, Gerard? ed.). I didn't need to make it even easier to slack on it. (Shut up, ed. gb.)

An Introduction to DIARMAID AND GRAINNE by ADRIAN MCKINTY

When I was eight years old I read the novel The High Deeds of Finn MacCool by Rosemary Sutcliffe. The most compelling part of the story for me was the tale of Diarmaid and Grainne. I’ve never forgotten it and I liked the idea of putting a contemporary spin on this classic.

You can buy your copy of Requiems for the Departed exclusively at No Alibis today!

What are you waiting for?