McKinty reads
In one more piece of evidence that Belfast is the center of the universe,Adrian McKinty
to celebrate the launch of his latest novel, Fifty Grand,
on Wednesday, July 8, at 6 p.m.
Cuban cop Mercado has a score to settle on behalf of a deadbeat dad, a ‘traitor’ who skipped free from Castro’s control to set up a new life working illegally in Colorado. He settled in a ski resort popular with the Hollywood Scientology set, where a façade of legality is maintained by the immigrant cleaners and laborers working for below minimum wage while the local sheriff is bribed to turn a blind eye. Mercado Sr.’s dreams of fortune and freedom are shattered when he is killed in a hit-and-run accident. Sworn to avenge his death, Mercado has some obstacles to overcome, not least getting out of Cuba, where visas are as elusive as constant electricity.
Adrian McKinty was born and grew up in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland. He studied politics at Oxford University, and after a failed legal career he moved to the US in the early 1990s. He found work as a security guard, postman, construction worker, barman, rugby coach and bookstore clerk before becoming a school teacher. He now resides in Melbourne, Australia.
NO ALIBIS BOOKSTORE
83 BOTANIC AVENUE
BELFAST BT7 1JL
david@noalibis.com
ph. 02890-319601
========================================
Here's part of what I had to say about Fifty Grand:to celebrate the launch of his latest novel, Fifty Grand,
on Wednesday, July 8, at 6 p.m.
Cuban cop Mercado has a score to settle on behalf of a deadbeat dad, a ‘traitor’ who skipped free from Castro’s control to set up a new life working illegally in Colorado. He settled in a ski resort popular with the Hollywood Scientology set, where a façade of legality is maintained by the immigrant cleaners and laborers working for below minimum wage while the local sheriff is bribed to turn a blind eye. Mercado Sr.’s dreams of fortune and freedom are shattered when he is killed in a hit-and-run accident. Sworn to avenge his death, Mercado has some obstacles to overcome, not least getting out of Cuba, where visas are as elusive as constant electricity.
Adrian McKinty was born and grew up in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland. He studied politics at Oxford University, and after a failed legal career he moved to the US in the early 1990s. He found work as a security guard, postman, construction worker, barman, rugby coach and bookstore clerk before becoming a school teacher. He now resides in Melbourne, Australia.
NO ALIBIS BOOKSTORE
83 BOTANIC AVENUE
BELFAST BT7 1JL
david@noalibis.com
ph. 02890-319601
========================================
"The book opens with what has to be the most gut-clenchingly tension-upping prologue in all of crime fiction, and it goes on to tell a story about Cuba, espionage and the human costs thereof.McKinty flew all the way from Australia for this reading. Go hear him, buy a book, and stake him to a pint of correctly poured Guinness. It's the least you can do.
"It's also about class distinctions, exploitation of immigrants and celebrity worship in America, which means it's always timely, and its protagonist takes a dizzying journey from privilege of a kind over to something quite opposite.
"In typical McKinty fashion, deadpan funny lines find their way into the action at the most desperate moments."
© Peter Rozovsky 2009
Labels: Adrian McKinty, Cuba, immigration, Ireland, movie stars, No Alibis, Northern Ireland, United States
posted by Peter Rozovsky at 4:37 AM
6 Comments:
Ah, for a fare sale on Travelocity! McKinty and true Guinness (not the watered-down stuff in the states) sounds like an awesome vacation.
I'm not that big a beer drinker, but the creamy texture of Guinness as I drank it in Ireland is something to experience.
Neither am I. I'm a wine and coffee guy myself, but if I'm going to drink beer I want it to taste like something. Which is another way of saying I'm not a Budweiser fan.
Yeah, when I drink beer, I wanna be tasting something. Goddamn, this Michael Jackson stuff is getting to me.
It's actually the texture more than the taste of Guinness that I like. And Adrian McKinty really did give me a tutorial on the proper method of pouring a Guinness. He wanted to make sure I'd been served a properly poured beer when i visited his sister's pub in Carrickfergus.
You know what else is great about Ireland in the summer? The long days. Because of jetlag I'm awake at 4.40 in the morning, but as I look out the window it's a wonderful blue sky, the sea is calm and the only sound at all is the quiet chirping of song birds.
Peter, if I may, I will plug my sister's pub The Joymount Arms in Carrickfergus. Its not the oldest pub in town dating back a mere 180 years or so (one of her rivals dates his pub back to the 1520's) but I will say that they do not hastily pour a pint of the black stuff which is a good thing.
Not only may you plug the Joymount Arms, but I’ll help by linking to my two posts that have discussed it, here
and here. The first of these includes a photograph of the pub, and the ensuing comment string includes your instructions for pouring the perfect Guinness. I will add as well that I recommend the salmon on a bed of crisp dulse for lunch.
And those long days? I noticed a bit of that in England, Scotland and NI this spring. Lovely. It induces feelings of calm and well-being that would not otherwise be warranted. Get some sleep, though. You have a big day tomorrow.
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