The Republic Of Books

Given the straitened circumstances publishing is going through these days, setting up a new imprint is either an act of blind folly or hopelessly romantic optimism. That said, Irish publisher Maverick House appears to be a very tightly run ship, with the steadying hand of Jean Harrington on the tiller, and one that has defied the odds over the last number of years. So I can only imagine that, while there’s bound to be an element of romantic optimism behind their new venture, Book Republic, it’s very probably underpinned by some very pragmatic projections.
  Anyhoo, Book Republic has its official launch this week, at 1.30pm on Wednesday at the Mansion House, Dublin, and here at CAP Towers we fervently wish all involved bon voyage and a fair wind following. The first Book Republic offering, Dan Harvey’s PEACE ENFORCERS, was published in September, with an excerpt running thusly:

Darfur, Western Sudan, 2003

It was pitch black; the sun had not yet risen. The clattering of hooves went unheard by the village inhabitants, still fast asleep in their beds. They were happily unaware they were about to be violently awoken to a nightmare, propelled from tranquillity to turmoil in a split second. A turbulence of torture and torment was about to be unleashed by the marauding militiamen, riding hard through the rocks and scrubland over the arid, red sands of the Sahel region of Darfur. Murder, mutilation and rape ensued. The sounds of gunshots and the screams and shrieks of terror-stricken women and children filled the early morning air. It was a cacophony of chaos, a maelstrom of madness, and it wasn’t over yet.

  For the rest of the extract, clickety-click here …

The Devil Wears Prada. And A Red Dress, Apparently.

I mentioned a couple of days back that Niamh O’Connor has a new non-fiction tome out about Sharon Collins, aka ‘Lyin’ Eyes’, and now arrives news of Abigail Rieley’s take on the same story, THE DEVIL IN A RED DRESS, courtesy of Maverick House. Quoth the blurb elves:

Ireland has been gripped by the story of a housewife from County Clare who, when her millionaire partner refused to marry her, googled a hitman and arranged to have him killed. Over the course of almost two months, the story of Lyingeyes and Hire_hitman unfolded in a flurry of emails. The website, hitmanforhire.net might have looked amateurish and carried a disclaimer but it attracted serious interest. One person who was interested was Sharon Collins, the ‘devil in the red dress’. Desperate to get her hands on a share of her partner’s fortune, she took drastic action. She turned to Google to solve her problem. A Mexican marriage certificate was obtained but wasn’t enough. On 8 August 2006, she contacted hitmanforhire.net and started to arrange the hit. This is one of the most bizarre stories to ever appear before an Irish court. Filled with intrigue, betrayal, sex, money and would-be murder, it has all the ingredients for a best-selling thriller. This book will prove to its readers that truth is, indeed, stranger than fiction.

  Or that the truth is, indeed, at least as interesting as a good Patricia Highsmith novel, whichever is more likely to tickle your fancy ...

Talent Borrows, Genius Steals

The guys over at The Rap Sheet run an occasional post on books by different authors which use spookily similar art work, but the latest offering from Maverick House may have even them perplexed. First off, here’s Alan Sherry’s THE A-Z OF IRISH CRIME, which was released last October, about which the Maverick House elves had this to say:

THE A-Z OF IRISH CRIME is an in-depth reference book on modern Irish crime concentrating mainly from 1996 to present day, focusing on key gangland figures and murders. The book also focuses on key criminal agencies, weapons of gangland Ireland, drugs, missing persons and all serious crime. An A-Z of Irish crime has not been done before. This should be a comprehensive, original book giving a wide perspective of crime throughout Ireland.

So far, so straightforward. Except now Maverick House have released THE A-Z OF IRISH CRIME: A GUIDE TO CRIMINAL SLANG IN IRELAND by John Mooney and Jean Harrington, about which the blurb elves have this to say:

This book is a highly entertaining introduction to the world of criminal slang. Those who are hell bent on breaking the law have created their own unauthorized and underground language that is often more colourful and vulgar than plain English. If you are interested in speaking the language of the street, or want to converse with fences, street walkers and the army, this book is for you. Forget what you learned in English class, this book is the definitive guide to the ever changing language of the street.

Erm, we call on J. Kingston Pierce to mediate. We’re off for a lie-down in a darkened room …

The Best Things In Life Are Free … Books

Those crazy maverick kids over at Maverick House have come up with another maverick idea – they’re offering the chance to nab their entire 2007 catalogue for gratis, free, zip and zilch. Quoth the blurb elves:

Maverick House Publishers has commissioned a special online survey to establish the reading habits of visitors to this website. The results of this survey will be used to improve the website and the range and quality of non-fiction books in our catalogue. The survey should take no longer than 5 minutes to complete.
One lucky participant will win copies of our entire 2007 list (13 books).*
Any information submitted will be treated confidentially and will not be shared with any other party company or agency.
Click here to take the 2007 Reader Survey.

The Best Things In Life Are Free … Books

Launched last Thursday – coincidentally on the day after Joe O’Reilly lodged 11 grounds of appeal against his murder conviction – THE SUSPECT is journalist Jenny Friel’s account of the murder of O’Reilly’s wife, Rachel, and her husband's subsequent courting of the media. Irish true crime specialists Maverick House have three copies of the book to give away, but given the tragic nature of the story involved, we’ll skip the usual half-assed attempt at a laughably unfunny question. If you’d like a copy, simply send your name and postal address to dbrodb(at)gmail.com, placing ‘The Suspect’ in the subject line, before noon on Friday November 9. Bon chance, mes amis …

“Irish Crime Is Brought To You Today By The Letter Z, And The Number 2007.”

Released last week, there’s a funky cover to Alan Sherry’s THE A-Z OF IRISH CRIME, featuring bullet-holes, handcuffs and – lawks! – actual guns. Well, one gun. We’re particularly interested as to who and what from the realms of Irish crime comes under the ‘Z’ section, so we’re waiting with bated breath for our review copy to arrive from Maverick House Mansions (hi, Gert). And while we go slowly blue in the face, here’s the Maverick blurb elves giving it their quill-smouldering best, to wit:

“THE A-Z OF IRISH CRIME is an in-depth reference book on modern Irish crime concentrating mainly from 1996 to present day, focusing on key gangland figures and murders. The book also focuses on key criminal agencies, weapons of gangland Ireland, drugs, missing persons and all serious crime. An A-Z of Irish crime has not been done before. This should be a comprehensive, original book giving a wide perspective of crime throughout Ireland.”

Marvellous stuff. You think our beloved leader, Patrick Bartholomew, gets a mention?

The Unusual Suspect

Those canny bods over at Maverick House have been quick off the mark in the wake of the recent guilty verdict for Joe O’Reilly, who was convicted of murdering his wife, Rachel, at their home in north Dublin in 2004. The Irish true crime specialist publishing house will release The Suspect next month to capitalise on Ireland’s fascination with Joe O’Reilly, who positioned himself at the centre of the murder investigation to the extent that he went on national TV with Rachel’s mother to plead for help in discovering the killer, despite the fact that he was the self-confessed prime suspect from day one. Written by journo Jenny Friel, who covered the case for the Irish Mail on Sunday and interviewed O’Reilly shortly after Rachel’s murder, The Suspect hits the shelves on August 13. For more, scoot over to Maverick House PR guru Gert Ackerman’s blog …

Waiting For The Miracle To Come

Junkies and judges, eh? Pests, the lot of ’em … unless, of course, the ex-junkie in question is Shay Byrne, now a teacher in Germany and author of The Miracle of Fatima Mansions, ‘a brutally honest memoir by a former Dublin heroin addict … challenging preconceptions about the origins and development of Ireland’s drug culture,’ if the blurb elves over at Maverick House are to be believed. Once an addict and dealer, Byrne narrowly escaped death in an attack at Dublin’s Fatima Mansions, a place now synonymous with deprivation, decay and drug-blighted lives and the location for the epiphany that would change Byrne’s life. Launched last week by Mr Justice Paul Carney of the Irish High Court, The Miracle of Fatima Mansions offers a unique and compelling insight into the evolution of the Irish heroin scene. Or so we’re told, because Lennie 'Laughing Boy' Cohen isn’t the only one still waiting for his Miracle to come. Oi, Gert – what’s the story?