This is the most recent entry in an outstanding
series of crime novels by the award-winning Irish author John Banville, most of
them written under his pen name, Benjamin Black.
Set in post-WWII Dublin, the
series features the fascinating lead character of Dr. Quirk, a police
pathologist with a penchant for getting involved in cases ignored or
misunderstood by the authorities. Aided by a policeman named Hackett, Quirk
puts himself in harm’s way in every book in the series, frequently clashing
with political figures and also with the powerful leadership of the Irish
Catholic Church.
The reader will learn much about post-war Ireland, about the
constant jostling for power of Protestants and Catholics. Quirk himself is a
brilliant, flawed, libidinous creation, and this is a fine series.
'Crime writing of the highest quality.' DAILY MAIL
'Atmospheric and sinister with simmering tension . . . Once you start reading, it's impossible to stop.' DAILY EXPRESS
The Sunday Times bestselling author of Snow and April in Spain returns with Strafford and Quirke's most troubling case yet.
1950s Dublin. The body of a young woman is discovered in a lock-up garage, an apparent suicide. But pathologist Dr Quirke and Detective Inspector Strafford soon suspect foul play.
The victim's sister returns from London to help the two men, but, with…
I recently reread all three of Thomas
Flanagan’s great novels about Ireland’s painful relationship and conflict with
Great Britain, and this third book is probably the best.
The End of the Hunt focuses on two sets of
characters: a half-dozen fictional characters involved in the Irish Rebellion
and the subsequent Irish Civil War and actual historical characters such as
Michael Collins, Eamon De Valera, and Churchill.
Flanagan tells his story in
beautiful prose and from the points of view of a half dozen different
characters, both men and women. It is a wonderful, sad, beautifully told novel
that remains one of my favorite books.
The dramatic history of the creation of the Irish Free State and the brutal Civil War that followed comes to life as four young Irish people become caught up in the emotional turbulence of their time. By the author of The Tenants of Time. 100,000 first printing. $100,000 ad/promo. Tour.
This is historical novel writing
at its very best.
Mantel was a prize-winning author known for a fine style, exhaustive
research, and a perfect grasp of her very complicated group of characters. And Bring Up the Bodies is the sequel to her
equally brilliant Wolf Hall, and once again, the fascinating Thomas Cromwell is
at the center of it all.
Cromwell is a great character, brilliant, scheming,
strangely loyal to his flawed king, and wildly imaginative. The story itself
concerns Henry VIII's fight to rid himself of his queen, Anne Boleyn, whom
he fought to have as his consort just a couple of years earlier. Anne has not
borne him a son, she is no longer fascinating to him, and she appears to be
enhancing her own power on the throne.
There are so many levels of conspiracy
and plotting in these books that it is a wonder England ever got anything done
in Henry's time. It adds to the novel's drama that Thomas Cromwell is not
only the smartest person in the room but the sole representative of the common
people. His life has been one of trouble, travel, military service, and learning.
He is a perfect central character for a book filled with interesting people.
The second book in Hilary Mantel's award-winning Wolf Hall trilogy, with a stunning new cover design to celebrate the publication of the much anticipated The Mirror and the Light
An astounding literary accomplishment, Bring Up the Bodies is the story of this most terrifying moment of history, by one of our greatest living novelists.
'Our most brilliant English writer' Guardian
Bring Up the Bodies unlocks the darkly glittering court of Henry VIII, where Thomas Cromwell is now chief minister. With Henry captivated by plain Jane Seymour and rumours of Anne Boleyn's faithlessness whispered by…
It is the summer of 1946, and the mysterious Gatsby-like millionaire Cary Morrison is found dead in his Chicago mansion, apparently the victim of a burglary gone hopelessly wrong. Soon after, the burglars themselves are found dead, one by one. Ray Foley, just returned from wartime service in Europe, finds himself involved, for one of the dead burglars was Ray's boyhood friend Eddy Walsh, and Ray decides to search for the killer. At the heart of the mystery is a missing statue, a hollow Greek statuette said to contain Morrison's records of all his illegal financial transactions with mobsters and public officials. Ray's investigation attracts the wrong kind of attention, as a number of interested-and dangerous-people assume he has the statue or knows of its whereabouts.
Ray's search brings him in contact with street toughs, bookies, gangsters, a sophisticated and streetwise private investigator named Max Silver, a tough young nurse named Hannah Marcel, a crusty street cop named Carmody, and the eccentric Sal Greene, a major figure in the local mob, and the killer, in the hot Chicago summer.
