Description
Book SynopsisHeadbanger - Pat Coyne is a Dublin policeman who is passionately devoted to sorting out the world and its problems. For Coyne, such things as cars, crime, pollution and golf are all ominous signs of a disintegrating society. The world is committing suicide, with MTV droning in the background. Coyne's principal mission is to deal with crime, Ireland's biggest growth industry. Though only a cop on the beat, he decides to take on the notorious gang leader, Drummer Cunningham. When a murder investigation leaves detectives clueless, he enters into a personal feud with the underworld, resulting in disastrous consequences for himself and his family. Coyne is a Dublin Dirty Harry for whom everything begins to go wrong.
Sad Bastard - Garda Pat Coyne - aka 'Mr Suicide' is back. Injured in the line of duty, he is now out of work with too much time on his hands. Living alone, he's become more obsessive and volatile, developing a fetish for women's knickers. When a body washes up on the docks, the prime suspect is none other than the former Garda's son, Jimmy. Like father like son, both Coynes are notorious for their sweeping spells of self-destruction. But while Pat's motives lean toward cleaning up the world's messes, Jimmy possesses a taste for mayhem. Coyne's estranged wife blames him, his mother-in-law berates him, and his therapist labels him psychotic. But when a duo of criminal thugs try to kill his boy, Coyne decides that it's up to him to straighten things out.
Trade ReviewHamilton is a great international writer who just happens to be Irish -- Anne Enright
Hugo Hamilton brings an earthy, dark giddiness to this twofer featuring a pair of his most beloved novels -- Kevin Burton Smith * Mystery Scene *
[In
Headbanger] Hamilton turns the collapse of the hero's world into a nail-biting finish -- Edward McBride * Times Literary Supplement *
Coyne is a majestic creation... If Flann O'Brien's lunatic Professor De Selby had genetically engineered a cross between the novels of Raymond Chandler and those of Patrick McCabe, this is what the progeny might well have looked like -- Antonia Logue * Times *
[In
Sad Bastard] Hamilton's style is an engaging mix of the salty and literary, and he has fun with the cartoonish tropes of pulp fiction, but the predictable mystery comes a distant second to his vivid characters -- Sia Michel * New York Times *
