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Review
“The story unfolds at a cracking pace. James Nesbitt’s delivery is spot on, creating a whole range of crazy, cranky characters.”
Ham & High 6/11/98
“frightening, funny, clever, and at aleast as entertaining as the original book.”
Belfast Telegraph 26/12/98
“James Nesbitt gives a terrific reading… the action is matched by biting humour.”
Express 19/12/98
Product Description
Devastatingly witty, ceaselessly inventive and lightning-paced thriller. "A joy from start to finish … reads like The Thirty-nine Steps rewritten for the nineties by Roddy Doyle." Time Out
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
an excellent book. a brilliant story, i couldnt put it down. i recommend buying the film too if you can. its brilliant.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
13 reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Entertaining, unexpected fun
8 Mar 2002
Format:Paperback
This book proved to be a quick read as the story was engaging, funny and written in face-paced language. Dan Starkey is a regular guy with typical vices. When a drunken night results in some poor choices and even poorer outcomes, he has to muddle through a murder mystery. He's no Hercule Poirot and makes a few mistakes, but his brains and heart make up for what he lacks.
Dan is a likeable character with a realistic and humorous approach to life. Landing himself in the middle of a Northern Ireland political scandal is not in his plan, but the reader can see how this everyman deals with the situation. The Ireland issue is quite pivotal. As an American totally in the dark about this conflict, it was interesting to read about it, even in fiction.
There are several murders in this book, but none are very gorey.Bateman's writing is funny and honest. He has wit, but avoids sounding as if he is throwing it in your face. This book would be great for a long plane ride or as an addition to your summer reading list.
Dan is a likeable character with a realistic and humorous approach to life. Landing himself in the middle of a Northern Ireland political scandal is not in his plan, but the reader can see how this everyman deals with the situation. The Ireland issue is quite pivotal. As an American totally in the dark about this conflict, it was interesting to read about it, even in fiction.
There are several murders in this book, but none are very gorey.Bateman's writing is funny and honest. He has wit, but avoids sounding as if he is throwing it in your face. This book would be great for a long plane ride or as an addition to your summer reading list.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Noir Meets Lenny Bruce in a Bomb Filled Amusement Park
2 Oct 2003
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Most of us have had a night or two where, mired in alcohol, bad decisions have been made. I don't for a second think that a complete lack of alcohol would make our protagonist, Dan Starkey, a contender for canonization. But, it would keep me from wanting to box this characters ears as I burst out laughing at his latest installment of a good idea.
This perennially soused journalist has a talent for saying the witty thing at the wrong time. The whirlwind of death, danger, politics and sex that picks him up and plunks him down, well the worse for wear, begins with a kiss wrapped around a shared breath mint. A mint shared with a woman he barely knows as his wife whispers in his ears, "You have twenty-four hours to move out."
This paves the way for bad decision number two and the beginning of a domino effect in Starkeys life. Within the prescribed twenty-four hours, the other woman will be dead and Starkey will be the number one suspect. The one clue that could lead Starkey to the real killer slips through his fingers like a greased eel.
This very funny, very intelligent book could have been a mere candy bar between literary meals. It is, instead, a full meal itself. An insider's view into the raging political scene of Northern Ireland in the mid 90s and the warped marriage of a co-dependent couple are tightly conveyed. The sarcasm and fallibility of a hero doing all the wrong things for all the drunk reasons plays beautifully against the fast paced nature of this thriller.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
BRILLIANT
13 Sep 2002
Format:Paperback
bateman wonderfully depicted the violent aspects of northern irish culture in divorcing jack. beautifully dark humour is strewn throughout the pages. although content is of a sensitive and horrid nature (the "troubles"), one can not help but laugh out loud frequently. a great first novel for him, and his books to follow are equally as interesting and enjoyable.
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