The Wizard Of Oz

Hearty congratulations to Adrian McKinty, who has been shortlisted for Best Fiction in Australia’s Ned Kelly Awards for I HEAR THE SIRENS IN THE STREET (aka the second title in the ‘Troubles Trilogy’, following on from THE COLD COLD GROUND), and so becomes – although I’m open to correction here – the first Irish crime novelist to be nominated for a Ned Kelly. For all the details, and the full shortlist, clickety-click here …
  Meanwhile, the third in Adrian’s ‘Troubles Trilogy’, IN THE MORNING I’LL BE GONE, will be published early next year. Quoth the blurb elves:

It’s 1983 and Sean Duffy’s life has hit what looks like rock bottom. Humiliated by the Royal Ulster Constabulary and stripped of his rank, with no social life, no one to love, he is wasting his time away. He has no plan and no desire to get one. While Sean has sunk so low, his school friend - and rival - Dermot McCann has risen up the ranks of the IRA before being fitted up by the RUC and sent to serve at Her Majesty’s pleasure at the notorious Maze prison. So, when Sean gets a late-night call to duty because Dermot and his comrades have made a daring escape, all their history comes back to him. And as Sean stands at a road-block in the pouring rain, on a country lane in the dark, he has plenty of time to think about Dermot McCann. And he knows, with the chilly certainty of a fairy story, that their paths will cross again.

  For regular updates on the ‘Troubles Trilogy’, and much more besides, clickety-click on Adrian’s blog …