tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90044905199606290092024-03-09T08:56:06.067+00:00The Parting GlassDeclanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004490519960629009.post-38138473589552879192011-03-29T16:46:00.003+01:002011-03-29T16:57:37.164+01:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-bYWaZ3QXX_RbVCN8515tCmqZna2FNRlv_OmkplXjC3xj2s27VwT5IL5uY-nIgUjbbWFdzRiTmE6KLgNBQ5I72Pieyg9B5XYcA8fHWJtl6JQsJT3tQ-EeArXho14yi5-HBIafE8ySOxWo/s1600/Culture_Ireland_colour+image.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 222px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-bYWaZ3QXX_RbVCN8515tCmqZna2FNRlv_OmkplXjC3xj2s27VwT5IL5uY-nIgUjbbWFdzRiTmE6KLgNBQ5I72Pieyg9B5XYcA8fHWJtl6JQsJT3tQ-EeArXho14yi5-HBIafE8ySOxWo/s400/Culture_Ireland_colour+image.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5589530752445058818" /></a><br />Just back from New Orleans, where I read and discussed Irish crime fiction with John Connolly and Gerard O'Donovan, moderated by the charming Diana Pinckley. John and I also presented our top ten crime novels, which Diana previewed in the <a href="http://www.nola.com/books/index.ssf/2011/03/novelists_john_connolly_and_de.html">Times Picayune</a>. Our trip was sponsored by Culture Ireland, and it was good to meet so many people who were interested in what Irish writers are doing.<div><br /></div>Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004490519960629009.post-58545154278459141902011-01-10T10:59:00.004+00:002011-01-10T12:51:34.486+00:00Ten Crime Novels You Must Read Before You Die<!--StartFragment--> <p class="Fiction"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; ">John Connolly and I first presented versions of this list at the Dalkey Book Festival back in June, then at Bouchercon in San Francisco, and we promised at some stage to post it on our websites. A top ten inevitably leaves too many titles out, so we threw in an extra ten for good luck. John has decided to add the tens together and make it a top twenty; I'm not so inclined, as the second ten is rather more provisional than the first, and in any case, we differ in some of our choices. Feel free to disagree: we do ...</span></p><p class="Fiction"><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"></span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">1) THE GLASS KEY (1931) - Dashiell Hammett</span></span></b></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Also: The Maltese Falcon (1930)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Red Harvest (1929)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Master - the JS Bach, the Louis Armstrong of crime fiction. </span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">2) THE LONG GOODBYE (1953) - Raymond Chandler</span></span></b></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Big Sleep (1939)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Farewell, My Lovely (1940)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The greatest prose stylist in the genre. Romantic, lyrical and witty.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">3) THE CHILL (1964) - Ross Macdonald<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Also:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Galton Case (1959)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Underground Man (1971)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Sleeping Beauty (1973)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Doomsters (1958)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The single greatest novelist of the genre. No one has surpassed him. The Lew Archer novels make most crime fiction look like cartoons.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">4) DEEP WATER - Patricia Highsmith (1957)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Also:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Talented Mr Ripley (1955)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Strangers on a Train (1950)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Haunting, unsettling, extravagantly misanthropic.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">5) THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE (1972) - George V. Higgins<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Also:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit (1980) - Elmore Leonard</span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Looking for Rachel Wallace (1980)- Robert B. Parker<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Dialogue worthy of David Mamet, Higgins's first half dozen novels are electrifying, and unlike anything else in the genre.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">6) DIXIE CITY JAM (1994) - James Lee Burke<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Also:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Heaven's Prisoners (1988)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Black Cherry Blues (1989)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Purple Cane Road (2000)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> Simply the greatest living crime novelist.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">7) RED DRAGON (1981) - Thomas Harris<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Also:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Silence of the Lambs (1988)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Hannibal (1999)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Although they form a trilogy, I don't believe Hannibal belongs on this list: I think it's a terrible book. John and I have cheerfully argued this one through many a last orders, and will again, no doubt. </span></span></span></b></p> <p class="FreeForm"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">8) A STRANGER IN MY GRAVE (1960) - Margaret Millar<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Also:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Beast in View (1955)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">How Like An Angel (1962)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Listening Walls (1959)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Like a comic, psychologically acute Highsmith with a lighter touch. Structurally brilliant. Ross Macdonald's wife, and the single most underrated crime writer.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">9) LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE DEAF MAN: A NOVEL OF THE 87th PRECINCT (1972) - Ed McBain<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Also:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Cop Hater (1956)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Blood Relatives (1975)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Fuzz (1968)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> Here begins the police procedural.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">10) THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD (1926) - Agatha Christie<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Also: <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Nine Tailors (1934) by Dorothy L. Sayers<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Tiger In The Smoke (1952) by Margery Allingham <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Christie is darker and subtler than she gets credit for, particularly in her dialogue; long derided by the hardboiled school, she is ripe for re-evaluation (not that the reading public give a hoot one way or the other: they love her and always have).</span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">And then there were ten more...</span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">MIAMI BLUES (1984) - Charles Willeford</span></span></span></b></p><p class="FreeForm"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Willeford was such a tough, funny, surprising writer. Read all the Hoke Mosleys and THE BURNT ORANGE HERESY, an hilarious portrait of artistic envy and psychosis (but I repeat myself).</span></span></span></b></p><p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">THE LAST GOOD KISS (1978) - James Crumley</span></span></p><p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Crime fiction's ultimate shaggy (alcoholic) dog story.</span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">GONE, BABY, GONE (1998) - Dennis Lehane</span></span></p><p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The PI novel meets Bertolt Brecht.</span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS (1990) - Walter Mosely</span></span></p><p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Easy Rawlins, the PI resurrected. One of the outstanding series characters of the nineties.</span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">THE BLACK ECHO (1992) - Michael Connelly</span></span></p><p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Harry Bosch's explosive debut. See also ANGELS FLIGHT, my personal favourite.</span></span></p><p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">THE BIG BLOWDOWN (1999) - George Pelecanos</span></span></p><p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The historical wing of Pelecanos's great Washington Quartet. </span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">WHAT THE DEAD KNOW (2007) - Laura Lippman</span></span></p><p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">One of the most devastating twists in all crime fiction. A mighty book.</span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">THE BROKEN SHORE (2005) - Peter Temple</span></span></p><p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">South African born, Australia's finest. </span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">DEVIL TAKE THE BLUE-TAIL FLY (1948) - John Franklin Bardin<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Genuinely frightening psychological suspense.</span></span></p> <p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">THE HANGING GARDEN (1998) - Ian Rankin</span></span></p><p class="FreeForm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Rebus and Edinburgh, a match made in the Oxford Bar. This is the best of a great series.</span></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004490519960629009.post-47918375643173530202010-11-08T15:23:00.002+00:002010-11-08T15:36:17.319+00:00Irish Book Awards<i>City of Lost Girls</i> has been nominated in the Crime Fiction category at the <a href="http://www.irishbookawards.ie/">Irish Book Awards</a>, alongside books by Tana French, Stuart Neville, Jane Casey, Gene Kerrigan and Alex Barclay. The award will be decided entirely by public vote. You can vote <a href="http://www.irishbookawards.ie/PublicVote.aspx">here</a> (scroll down). My campaign promise: vote for me and I'll buy you a drink. I'll be in the bar (and you know <i>that's </i>true).Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004490519960629009.post-83129465010607748472010-08-19T15:29:00.003+01:002010-08-19T15:35:55.571+01:00Edinburgh Book FestivalI'll be reading at the <a href="http://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/declan-hughes-stuart-neville">Edinburgh Book Festival</a> on Saturday afternoon with fellow Irish crime novelist Stuart Neville. Catch us at 3.30 - 4.30 at the ScottishPower Studio Theatre, where we'll be reading from our new novels, <i>City of Lost Girls</i> and <i>Collusion</i>, and talking about crime fiction, Ireland and whatever else takes our fancy.Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004490519960629009.post-13631599933805749412010-07-25T13:02:00.001+01:002010-07-25T13:03:54.324+01:00Book ReviewMy review of Room by Emma Donoghue, from yesterday's <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2010/0724/1224275351920.html">Irish Times</a>.Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004490519960629009.post-54499061928842588102010-07-25T13:00:00.001+01:002010-07-25T13:04:33.759+01:00CIty of Lost GirlsA lovely review of City of Lost Girls in the <a href="http://www.philly.com/inquirer/entertainment/books/20100725__City_of_Lost_Girls___A_hard-boiled_detective_story_with_a_romantic_touch.html">Philadelphia Inquirer.</a>Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004490519960629009.post-20148945336579209522010-06-16T11:38:00.001+01:002010-06-16T11:40:04.015+01:00Here's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6FGIaWaQxA">something</a> for Bloomsday.Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004490519960629009.post-32126567496263803662010-05-24T15:40:00.004+01:002010-05-24T16:36:28.579+01:00Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of The Year Longlist<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dying-Breed-Declan-Hughes/dp/0719567505/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274712255&sr=1-1"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Dying Breed</span></i></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> (US Title </span><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Price-Blood-Irish-Novel-Suspense/dp/0061763586/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274712354&sr=1-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Price of Blood</span></a></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">) is on it. There are twenty books in all, to be whittled down to a shortlist of eight, by means of a public vote.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">You can vote here: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><a href="http://www.harrogate-festival.org.uk/crime/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">http://www.harrogate-festival.org.uk/crime/</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />The Vote Now! box on the top left of the page will take you to the longlist.<br />Obviously, I'd prefer if you voted for me.</span><br /><br /></span></span></div>Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004490519960629009.post-10142156152990764902010-05-13T12:47:00.003+01:002010-05-13T13:44:02.668+01:00Publication Day # 2<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/City-Lost-Girls-Declan-Hughes/dp/1848540361/ref=ed_oe_h">City of Lost Girls</a> is published in the UK and Ireland today. Bono is a minor character in the book: he appears in a nightclub early on, is slagged off by a self-loathing journalist, and is later given his (admiring) due by Ed Loy and his film director friend Jack Donovan. I was listening to <i>No Line On The Horizon</i> a lot while I was writing the book. This is one of the best songs on the album: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi52HjJbwVQ">Magnificent</a>.Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004490519960629009.post-71969770214069786062010-05-11T10:43:00.002+01:002010-05-11T10:53:55.690+01:00The Irish Times review ...It's not quite like the <i>New York Times</i> review of a Broadway show, where a thumbs-down means you close on Sunday (hello, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2010/may/05/enron-broadway-close-early">Enron</a>), but the <i>Irish Times</i> review is the one everyone you know, and many potential readers, will see, not to mention the one in the paper you read yourself, so it's always a relief when it's <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2010/0508/1224269927737.html">good</a>. And let's not forget the <a href="http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books/review-city-of-lost-girls-by-declan-hughes-2172341.html"><i>Irish Independent</i></a>, which actually has the higher readership.Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004490519960629009.post-1770205678369691942010-05-11T10:39:00.004+01:002010-05-11T21:22:00.187+01:00City of Lost GIrls - Dublin eventI'll be reading with Alan Glynn at County Hall, Dun Laoghaire, on Wednesday, May 12, at 7.30. This is the only Dublin event I'll be doing for the new book, and while strictly speaking it isn't a launch party, we're going to behave as if it is. And you know what that means.Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004490519960629009.post-18466998003542370112010-05-05T09:48:00.002+01:002010-05-05T10:00:49.138+01:00No AlibisAppearing at No Alibis tonight in Belfast with Brian McGilloway. We'll be reading from our new novels, <i>The Rising</i> and <i>City of Lost Girls</i>. Come along if you can - we always have fun there. Meanwhile, here's a review, penned by the indefatigable Declan Burke, of both books, along with Arlene Hunt's <i>Blood Money</i>, from the Irish <a href="http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books/review-the-rising-by-brian-mcgilloway-2161732.html">Sunday Independent</a>.Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004490519960629009.post-42217688749458439532010-04-29T15:15:00.002+01:002010-04-29T15:25:27.532+01:00Hexham Book FestivalI'll be appearing at the Hexham Book Festival with fellow Irish crime writers Alan Glynn and Stuart Neville. We'll be moderated, if that's the plausible word, by the radiant Laura Wilson. Our event is on at 5.3o; please come along if you're in the area. In the meantime, here's another American review for City of Lost Girls, this time from the <a href="http://www.cleveland.com/books/index.ssf/2010/04/three_of_five_new_mysteries_ar.html">Cleveland Plain Dealer</a>.Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004490519960629009.post-5810752556622044442010-04-27T21:38:00.004+01:002010-04-27T21:58:54.154+01:00"No one writes crime fiction quite like Declan Hughes..."So said Hallie Ephron in the <i><a href="http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2010/04/25/were_not_in_kansas_anymore/">Boston Globe</a></i> on Sunday. And Marilyn Stasio says some very nice things in the <i><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/books/review/Crime-t.html?ref=books">New York Times</a></i>. They didn't like everything about <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/City-Lost-Girls-Ed-Loy/dp/0061689904/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272401662&sr=8-1">City of Lost Girls</a></i>, but they liked enough to be going on with. Meanwhile, Laura Wilson has nothing but good to say in the <i><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/apr/24/crime-novels-roundup-donna-leon">Guardian</a></i>.Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004490519960629009.post-52176460575462052262010-04-21T15:35:00.004+01:002010-05-31T23:14:55.256+01:00Going out westI'll be reading with John Connolly on Thursday April 22 as part of the Cuirt Literary Festival in Galway. We're last minute replacements for Ian Rankin, who has been stranded in Scotland by the airborne toxic event. We're on at the Town Hall Theatre at 8.30. <div>Oh, and here's a nice Associated Press review for <i><a href="http://www.2theadvocate.com/entertainment/books/90976469.html">City Of Lost Girls.</a></i><div><br /></div></div>Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004490519960629009.post-28949294468937345502010-04-14T12:41:00.003+01:002010-04-14T12:49:08.829+01:00The LA Times...... said some nice things about me and City of Lost Girls. Go <a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-rutten-20100414,0,4846299.story">here</a> to read them.Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004490519960629009.post-1954720495954067702010-04-14T11:13:00.004+01:002010-04-14T11:23:41.482+01:00Roddy DoyleI'll be in conversation with Roddy Doyle at the Pavilion Theatre in Dun Laoghaire tomorrow night (Thursday, April 15) to mark the publication of his wonderful new novel, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Republic-Novel-Roddy-Doyle/dp/0670021776/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271240427&sr=1-1">The Dead Republic</a>, </i>Volume Three of <i>The Last Roundup</i>. Although it doesn't deal directly with the economic catastrophe currently assailing Ireland, the title of Roddy's book could not be more topical. And there's lots about John Ford and the (putative) genesis of <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045061/">The Quiet Man</a>, </i>so what's not to like?Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004490519960629009.post-87429921978525625912010-04-06T19:48:00.004+01:002010-04-06T20:11:48.986+01:00Publication Day<i>City of Lost Girls</i>, the fifth Ed Loy novel, is published today in the USA, and I can be found on Clair Lamb's excellent <a href="http://answergirlnet.blogspot.com/2010/04/five-random-questions-with-declan.html">Answer Girl</a> blog answering five random questions on pressing issues like the Easter Bunny and the overuse of words meaning let's get falling down.<div>And for a mental health break, you should go to the Crazy Crimespree Cats' <a href="http://centralcrimezone.blogspot.com/">Central Crime Zone</a>, where you'll find Commissioner Gordon, Sergeant Harvey Bullock and the Riddler discussing the new book. In Legoland. </div>Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004490519960629009.post-30300184816007139422010-04-06T14:33:00.002+01:002010-04-06T14:55:36.767+01:00City of Lost Girls - The Soundtrack #6<!--StartFragment--> <p class="Fiction"><span style="font-style:normal">And then he begins to sing.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Fiction"><span style="font-style:normal">At first, Anne thinks it will be the single most embarrassing moment of her entire life. Jack is swaying, and he starts in the wrong key and has to correct himself and start again, and Mark groans and sighs and mutters. But the voice, my God, the voice, he's barely two lines in and the room is completely hushed. It's </span>Tosca<span style="font-style:normal">, </span><i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6yCDdbdZps">Recondita Armonia</a></i><span style="font-style:normal">, her father used to love it. Anne tries to control herself, but there is really no possibility of that; the raw shock of such unearthly beauty pushes tears into her eyes in a molten rush. Jack doesn’t quite make the last high C. He leaves his mouth open in silence, and points into it with a finger, a cartoon ‘O’ of outrage, as if the note has been stolen, but Anne swears she can hear it anyway. And then the entire restaurant erupts, and it is as if the night has been elevated, and then, this being Dublin, Anne hears someone shout, “Pity he didn’t sing that on the Late Late Show”, which brings the house down, and Jack raises his hand and nods, ruefully conceding the point. The boy producers look entirely stunned, and Anne wonders if they think this kind of thing happens in Dublin all the time, and reckons they probably do, and realises that is what people love about Jack Donovan, that even though the movies are shot through with sentimentality and corn, he can make you believe in something bigger, bigger than just The Way Things Are. Jack Donovan can make you believe in love everlasting, and life after death, in fate, and in grace, and in miracles. Jack Donovan can make you believe in a Dublin where men announce out of nowhere that they are reconciling with their long-estranged wives and children, then sing Puccini arias and bring packed restaurants to an unearthly hush. Jack Donovan can make you believe, and, Anne thinks, as she walks arm in arm with Ed on their way to the pub for the after-dinner drink without which no trip to an Irish restaurant is complete, everyone wants to believe. Everyone. </span></p> <!--EndFragment-->Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004490519960629009.post-15612542601658686742010-04-05T18:11:00.003+01:002010-04-05T18:32:18.923+01:00City of Lost Girls - The Soundtrack #5Jack Donovan has always been just a little too big for Ireland, and tends to attract the same combination of adulation and hostility - often from the same people - as Bono of U2. The two have long admired each other, and a version of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6vNQf_tne0">this</a> was used as the closing music for Donovan's 1999 homage to Michelangelo Antonioni, <i>Twenty Grand</i>.Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004490519960629009.post-12291019304790905562010-04-04T18:51:00.002+01:002010-04-04T19:29:55.761+01:00City of Lost Girls - The Soundtrack #4Three-in-one, one-in-three is a motif, not to mention a method of murder, in the book, and what could be more appropriate for Easter Sunday? <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBGkhPx529g&feature=related">Arthur McBride</a> (from the great <i>Andy Irvine and Paul Brady </i>album) was woven through the soundtrack of Jack Donovan's <i>The Last Anniversary (2005)</i>, while <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNi8At6W97Y&feature=related">Coinleach Glas an Fhomair</a> (from <i>Clannad 2</i>, and yes that's Gaelic, or Irish, as we call it) opened 1999's <i>Twenty Grand</i>. The third song is by a short-lived Irish band called Swim. Led by the great Joe Reilly, <i>Swim</i> recorded a stunning debut album, produced by Gary Katz of Steely Dan fame, and two even better EPs; then they simply vanished off the face of the earth. <i><a href="http://hypem.com/track/811419/Swim+-+I+Believe">I Believe</a></i>, a slice of inspirational sunshine pop, closed <i>Ocean Falls</i> in 1994.<div><br /></div>Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004490519960629009.post-40507062441051761502010-04-03T15:36:00.005+01:002010-04-03T16:20:55.198+01:00City of Lost Girls - The Soundtrack #3Ed Loy makes a brief appearance in a Jack Donovan picture (don't reach for your popcorn or you'll miss him). In <i>The Dain Curse</i> (1997) Loy is "Irish man in bar." He even has a line. Loy was working as a private detective in Los Angeles back then, and he and Donovan had become friends. They were in Hal's Bar on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice one night while casting was underway. <div>"Hey Ed, say whiskey."</div><div>"Whiskey."</div><div>"There you go. You could be Irish man in bar, right?"</div><div>"I could. I often have."</div><div>The story was transposed to post-war LA, and the soundtrack was a stew of bebop and "cool" jazz. Then, true to Donovan form, midway through the final credits, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct-Vz4JHxMM">this</a> crashes in. It's perhaps not Rory's best, not up there with <i>Moonchild</i> or <i>Shadowplay</i>, but then, neither of them is called <i>Continental Op (To Dashiell Hammett)</i>.</div>Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004490519960629009.post-26406655148712829232010-04-02T16:08:00.004+01:002010-04-02T16:23:15.717+01:00City of Lost Girls - The Soundtrack #2Jack Donovan's movies invariably end on a diminuendo, the music trailing off into the ether. Then, midway through the titles, a rock song, usually Irish, crashes in, sending everyone out on a high. <i>A Terrible Beauty</i> (1992) ended with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEhSro7PQqs&feature=PlayList&p=5294CF079CC6AF10&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=20">this.</a>Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004490519960629009.post-36034987628979766212010-04-01T22:27:00.005+01:002010-04-02T16:33:19.889+01:00City of Lost Girls - The Soundtrack #1<!--StartFragment--><span style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"></span></span><span><span>... Jack opens his mouth and the first line sails out in that extraordinary voice, pure tenor, not as fine as it once was, wood-smoked and whiskey-basted by one careless owner but still mighty, and the expressions on the faces of those who'd heard rumours of this but never dared dream it might be true, let alone that they would witness it, as <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2buzmEi0OxM">E lucevan le stelle</a> from <i>Tosca</i> fills them, fills us all with sad joy and desperate longing for a love we didn't know we'd lost, for a home we'd forgotten we missed.</span></span><span style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"></span></span><!--EndFragment-->Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9004490519960629009.post-14679613610295490352010-03-31T20:24:00.001+01:002010-03-31T20:25:36.240+01:00This blog has moved<br /> This blog is now located at http://declanhughes.blogspot.com/.<br /> You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds or you may click <a href='http://declanhughes.blogspot.com/'>here</a>.<br /><br /> For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to<br /> http://declanhughes.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.<br /> Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07571018579477882425noreply@blogger.com249