From Publishers Weekly
This alcohol- and cocaine-fueled noir page-turner follows a posse of Bronx-born Irish "narrowbacks" whose gangster games backfire. The ringleader, Tom Farrell, is an ex-con who dreams of a career as an artist. The trouble begins when Farrell convinces his friends to help him rob $750,000 in cash and jewels from an upscale midtown hotel. When the thugs kill an IRA accomplice who attempts to hijack the booty, the terrorist's superior enlists a Vietnam-trained sniper to claim the booty for the Cause. The bloodiness that ensues?also involving a feckless FBI agent and members of an Albanian mob?contributes to the novel's urban chic, as when Farrell looks in the rearview mirror and notices that "the cut on his chin had stopped bleeding and had scabbed up like a small goatee." A few pistol-whippings later, Farrell is wandering Manhattan in a boozy haze, believing he's the last one left alive, the IRA still on his trail. Ledwidge's too-cool characters are, like his prose, lean and mean, and their inability to distinguish the difference between loyalty to a cause and senseless violence on its behalf creates an aura of futility and hopelessness that pulses through this well-executed debut. BOMC and QPB selections.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--Ce texte provient d'une édition qui n'est plus publiée ou qui est non diponible.
From Library Journal
The plot here could best be described as The Usual Suspects meets The Devil's Own meets Reservoir Dogs. Protagonist Tommy Farrell, a Bronx-born Irish American (a "narrowback"), certainly has the luck of his ancestors?all bad! Farrell seems on the verge of breaking his losing streak when he masterminds and executes a profitable heist. But he offs a member of his own gang, who unbeknownst to Farrell is a full-fledged IRA black mask with terrorist plans for the loot. Thrown into the mix are an over-ambitious FBI agent, Albanian wiseguys, and some bullet-brained Belfast boyos, all of whom are out for Farrell's hide. This taut thriller also sports many motifs found in classic literature, as Farrell descends into the underworld while seeking redemption and forgiveness for his sullied past. Though a little heavy-handed in spots, this book has an easy, fluid style; a quick-moving plot; and dialog that goes down as smoothly as Jamesons. Overall, a gangbusters first novel reminiscent of Jim Thompson and David Goodis. Recommended.?Michael Rogers, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--Ce texte provient d'une édition qui n'est plus publiée ou qui est non diponible.
