Thursday, February 19, 2009

Distant Voices, Stilled Lives

The quality of football played in the League of Ireland is not very high as a rule, and if you’re not a committed supporter of one of the teams on the field, in this case Shelbourne and Monaghan United, it can tend towards the boring, to put it mildly, but when the bloke behind me said that what we needed was a bit of fucking action, I don’t think a guy in a balaclava piling out of the fans’ car park with a submachine gun and spraying bullets around Tolka Park was what he had in mind …
  Shades of the 1920 Bloody Sunday massacre at Croke Park from the first lines of Declan Hughes’ latest, ALL THE DEAD VOICES, if you don’t count the prologue, which I don’t, because I hate them, but that’s just me. Anyhoos, ALL THE DEAD VOICES won’t be released for another couple of months, but I’ve snagged an advance copy, which is very sweet indeed for me, because the boy Hughes is rapidly becoming one of the most important Irish novelists of his generation. Here’s hoping Ed Loy gets him the Edgar award he’s been nominated for, so that Irish crime fiction can bask in his reflected glory. He’ll be unbearable if he wins, of course, but sure he’s pretty much unbearable now anyway. Go Ed!
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9 comments:

  1. John McFetridgeFebruary 19, 2009 at 8:05 AM

    Fantastic opening, great read. Really looking forward to it.

    Now, if only there was a way to get Hughes out of his shell, get him to maybe say something and perhaps have a drink.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Declan BurkeFebruary 19, 2009 at 8:17 AM

    As Mr. Hughes would no doubt remind you, John, the secular prayer of Ireland is, "Whatever you say, say nothing."

    Cheers, Dec

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gerard BrennanFebruary 19, 2009 at 1:18 PM

    So, I've still time to read The Dying Breed before ATDV comes out, then. Lovely.

    What do you think about epilogues, then?

    gb

    ReplyDelete
  4. Declan BurkeFebruary 20, 2009 at 12:35 AM

    Gerard - Epilogues, for some reason, I don't mind so much. Although there is a feeling of, "Oh, just before you go ..." about them.

    Cheers, Dec

    ReplyDelete
  5. Uriah RobinsonFebruary 20, 2009 at 2:21 AM

    I can never remember what happened in a prologue anyway. I have read a few books in which I think the author forgot what he had written there as well. What is wrong with calling it chapter one?
    But that sounds a great opening.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dana KingFebruary 20, 2009 at 6:12 AM

    I was lucky enough to be asked to review the first Ed Loy novel, THE WRONG KIND OF BLOOD; I thought Declan Hughes was on his way to becoming an important writer then, and nothing he's done in the interim has changed my mind. This book is eagerly anticipated.

    ReplyDelete
  7. col2910February 20, 2009 at 8:01 AM

    If my memory serves me well, I used to walk past Tolka Park on my way to my grannies in Fairview.......bit of trivia, perhaps Mr Hughes can incorporate me as a bystander is the book goes to extra time,
    Colman

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousFebruary 21, 2009 at 4:42 AM

    Hi Dec

    I see the blog got a mention in the Irish Times today. Congrats. There is also an article on Irish crime fic including Declann Hughes.

    Fiona

    ReplyDelete
  9. Declan BurkeFebruary 22, 2009 at 1:47 AM

    Hi Fiona - Ta for the tip-off, much obliged.

    Cheers, Dec

    ReplyDelete

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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.