RaveIrish Independent (IRE)The Ink Black Heart gives new meaning to that familiar phrase of book reviews, \'a weighty tome\'. Not in the sense of profundity or thematic depth — though it gives the reader plenty to think about — but the literal one of the astonishingly heft of this latest crime novel ... I couldn’t believe the length...of what is, essentially, a plain old murder-mystery, albeit one of definitively superior quality ... Worries were superfluous. It’s a rip-roaring read, a big, sprawling, at-times electrifying thriller, with the expanse and sweeping momentum of a classic 19th century \'social novel\' ... While she does delve into her main protagonists’ minds regularly, Rowling does it briskly, adding to what the reader knows and not simply repeating what they have just learned ... There’s something compellingly creepy about the book as a whole ... It’s all crafted with impeccable precision and more dark humour than I’d expected. In short, Rowling is a great storyteller and The Ink Black Heart is a great story.
Elena Ferrante, tr. Ann Goldstein
PositiveThe Irish Independent (IRE)... they take slightly differing approaches to the art and mysteries of writing, but could be read as one piece: charting the journey from young wannabe to one of the most gifted, important and powerful authors of her age ... At some point, reading Ferrante’s novels, the fictional universe and that inside your head seem to melt into each other. Such is the power, and truth, of her writing. In the Margins shines a little light on where, exactly, it all came from — but not too brightly. The mystery, you feel, should endure; the deeper meaning should remain opaque and oblique.
Graham Norton
RaveThe Independent (IRE)... Home Stretch is a very fine novel ... Home Stretch seems to me a love-letter from Norton to his homeland - the people and place that made him, for good or ill. He doesn\'t gloss over the bad things that were done, societally and individually: those gratuitous acts of spite or pride which made others\' lives much harder than they needed to be. At the same time, though, he sees the complexity in people, the shades of grey - the way we all constantly balance those competing, compelling actors on our shoulders, the angel and the devil. And he appreciates and applauds the better aspects of Irish society, then and now: friendliness, warmth, forgiveness, humour, stoicism, community.
Paraic O'Donnell
PositiveThe Irish Independent (IRE)... imaginative and superbly written ... The blurb describes it as \'the love child of Dickens and Conan Doyle\', and the influence of both is evident. He\'s a better prose writer than either, however; The House on Vesper Sands is elegantly crafted and paced, and - rare for historical fiction - consistently funny ... Cutter is the source of most of the comedy, with a tongue sharper than a cut-throat\'s blade which he\'s ever-willing to use on poor Gideon ... The story is well-plotted, with unexpected but welcome supernatural elements. And while O\'Donnell has clearly researched thoroughly, he wears his learning lightly ... For all that, though, The House on Vesper Sands lacks something. It\'s a clever and well-done pastiche, a smooth facsimile of classic Victoriana, but I\'m not sure it\'s much more. That spark of magic or authenticity isn\'t there. An enjoyable book - but also inert somehow, lifeless, too proficient for its own good.
Eoin Colfer
MixedThe Independent (IRL)It\'s hard to know what to make of Highfire, the debut book for adults from Eoin Colfer. On one level it\'s a sort of pastiche of - or tribute to - the freewheeling, funny, picaresque crime capers of American writers such as Carl Hiaasen or, in his more whimsical moods, Elmore Leonard. On a whole other level, the book has a dragon for a central character ... The basic premise of Highfire is so ridiculous, in some senses, that you\'d nearly wonder how it even came to mind for Colfer ... Highfire stands out...though whether that\'s in a good or bad way depends, I guess, on the individual reader ... Did I enjoy it? Yes and no. The novel is zippy and entertaining but goes on for too long. There are moments of real comic brilliance but at other moments the tone is all over the place.
