Tuesday, March 05, 2013

The real St. Patrick's Day

It comes in May, and it celebrates the month the Irish drive boring crime fiction out of America.

May marks U.S. publication of the most recent novels by Adrian McKinty and Alan Glynn, each of whom has been mentioned with admiration and respect here at Detectives Beyond Borders. McKinty's I Hear the Sirens in the Street (Seventh Street Books) is the second in a trilogy that began with The Cold Cold Ground. Glynn's Graveland (Picador) follows on the scary dissection of paranoia and manipulation in his Bloodland.

Here's part of what I wrote about that book:
"Glynn is unprepared to accept the giddy assurances of boosters and innovators that online news heralds the path to a bright new world. His worries about the state of my profession are just a small part of a chilling, brilliant first chapter in which no one is sure of anything, so everyone is alert to everything, antennae twitching at the slightest whisper of disturbance."
And here's my take on I Hear the Sirens:
"Like its predecessor, Sirens is a serious portrait of one man's progress through troubled times (early-1980s Belfast and Carrickfergus, the author's home town). Like The Cold Cold Ground, it feels organic. Every joke, every grim encounter, or musing on the crappy Irish weather, or setback or advance in the police investigation contains the seeds of the whole. And it's a hell of a whole; these books are as smart and fun and harrowing as crime fiction gets."
So forget the green plastic leprechaun hats, will you, and read some good books instead.
© Peter Rozovsky 2013

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10 Comments:

Blogger seana graham said...

Can't we have both?

March 06, 2013  
Blogger adrian mckinty said...

Peter

Many thanks for the mention. And its nice to be mentioned in the same breath and same post as the great Mr Glynn.

March 06, 2013  
Blogger Dana King said...

I read THE COLD COLD GROUND last month, and have no intention of letting my copy of SIRENS linger long in a warehouse.

March 06, 2013  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

Seana: If a green plastic leprechaun hat enhances your reading experience, be my guest. And post a picture, if you can.

March 06, 2013  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

My pleasure, Adrian. It can't be easy to write a thriller about paranoia and keep it believable without going over the edge into hysteria, but Glynn does it. I'd say that's one of the more impressive accomplishments in crime and thriller citing these days. He's one of the very best.

March 06, 2013  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

Dana, are you planning a book-warehouse heist?

March 06, 2013  
Blogger Dana King said...

Peter, I will if I have to. I'm tired of waiting for American publishers and distributors to get with the program on McKinty, Burke, et al.

March 06, 2013  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

OK, the title of the story is Bookheist, one word. You and I are the masterminds. Who else should we let in our string? What would Parker do?

March 06, 2013  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

McKinty or Bust! Love that guy he's a fantastic writer, one of the best i ever read...Matteo

March 11, 2013  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

Northern Ireland or bust! I agree with you.

March 11, 2013  

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