Monday, October 22, 2007

The Embiggened O # 1,012: “Rollin’, Rollin’, Rollin’ / Keep Those Logs A-Rollin’ …”

This week’s big-up for our humble offering THE BIG O comes with a public health warning, people: Adrian McKinty (right), who pens the honey-sweet words below, is a mate of Crime Always Pays’ Grand Vizier Declan Burke, and McKinty’s novels – DEAD I WELL MAY BE and THE BLOOMSDAY DEAD in particular – have been getting serious hup-yas around these-here parts in recent times. The big question: are we guilty of blatant ‘log-rolling’ (as Detectives Beyond Borders’ Peter Rozovsky so delicately puts it), or is there an outside chance the reviews are actually worth the electronic paper they’re printed on? YOU decide! Meanwhile, here’s McKinty’s verdict:
“Declan Burke’s crime writing is fast, furious and funny, but this is more than just genre fiction: Burke is a high satirist in the tradition of Waugh and Kingsley Amis and his stories pulse with all the contradictions of contemporary Ireland. Burke has a deep respect for and understanding of the classic traditions of the hardboiled school but he never forgets that his first duty is to give us a damn good read. A must for fans of Ken Bruen, Michael Connolly and Eoin McNamee.” – Adrian McKinty, author of THE BLOOMSDAY DEAD
Adrian? Ta very much, sir. And while you’re there, there’s an itch just between my shoulder blades I can’t quite reach. Any chance you’d give my back another scratch? Cheers.

1 comment:

  1. Have I ever brought up log-rolling, delicately or otherwise? All I can say is that if I ever write and publish a novel, I'm going to roll the bark right off those logs.

    As far my opinions on The Big O and all other subjects, they are as honest as the day is long.
    ===================
    Detectives Beyond Borders
    "Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
    http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete

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.