Sunday, April 17, 2011

The Kindleness Of Strangers

I’ve been faffing about on the fringes of the ebook revolution for a while now, and slowly realising that there are benefits to digital books that aren’t immediately apparent. One such benefit is that books that are out of print - such as a personal favourite of mine, Adrian McKinty’s DEAD I WELL MAY BE - not only come available again, but will remain published for the foreseeable future, and in theory at least, forever. The fact that the mainstream publishing industry allowed as fine a novel as DEAD I WELL MAY BE fall out of print in the first place is not only a disgrace, but something of an indictment of its shortcomings.
  Anyway, I thought I’d offer a quick round-up of some Irish crime titles now available on ebook. The list is by no means exhaustive, and is intended as no more than a sample: if you’re an Irish crime writer and you’d like your own (or most recent) title added to the list, just drop me a line with the link enclosed.
  The list:
DEAD I WELL MAY BE, Adrian McKinty
CITY OF LOST GIRLS, Declan Hughes
THE WHISPERERS, John Connolly
TIME OF DEATH, Alex Barclay
CROSS, Ken Bruen
FALLING GLASS, Adrian McKinty
LIMITLESS (aka THE DARK FIELDS), Alan Glynn
THE MIDNIGHT CHOIR, Gene Kerrigan
PEELER, Kevin McCarthy
LITTLE GIRL LOST, Brian McGilloway
THE COURIER, Ava McCarthy
PERIL, Ruby Barnes
ANOTHER LIFE, John J. Gaynard
ORCHID BLUE, Eoin McNamee
  By the way, I’ve also started a discussion group on Amazon, specialising in Irish Crime and Mystery Novels - if you’re a writer who fancies adding your own title(s) to the list, clickety-click here
  Finally, my own Kindle adventures continue, as the publication of EIGHTBALL BOOGIE as an ebook has given rise to a number of readers’ reviews on Amazon, but also reviews elsewhere. Over at Not New For Long, Seana Graham was kind enough to say the following:
“Emulating a master like Chandler is a risky thing and you not only have to have guts, you’ve got to have a gift. And Burke’s got it. Everyone’s going to have their favourite line or ten by the time they get through with this one.”
  Meanwhile, Glenna at Various Random Thoughts had this to say:
“Declan Burke nails it, with a sense of humour to boot. EIGHTBALL BOOGIE is dark, edgy, fast paced and funny with a protagonist that isn’t perfect, but will do anything he has to do to do what needs to be done.”
  I thank you kindly, ladies. Your reward will be in heaven, if not before.

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Declan Burke has published a number of novels, the most recent of which is ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL. As a journalist and critic, he writes and broadcasts on books and film for a variety of media outlets, including the Irish Times, RTE, the Irish Examiner and the Sunday Independent. He has an unfortunate habit of speaking about himself in the third person. All views expressed here are his own and are very likely to be contrary.