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A good 95% of Irish fiction I've read is set in either Dublin or Belfast, so it was a nice change of pace to visit the small southern coastal city of Cork. Here we find the intertwined tales of gangster Jimmy Phelan, his alcoholic childhood friend turned family man, Tony, Tony's teenage drug-dealing son Ryan, Ryan's girlfriend, their harridan neighbor, and a teenage prostitute called Georgie, whose useless boyfriend/pimp is accidentally killed by Phelan's mother.
It's a crackling debut that doesn ...more
It's a crackling debut that doesn ...more

Altho many reviewers described this book as "darkly humorous" or "bitingly funny" I didn't find it that at all. It is a dark look at the underbelly of a city in Ireland, a bleak existence for these characters, somewhat depressing as to what people will do to survive. The Irish slang throughout made some parts difficult to grasp. It kept me reading on tho, and the author connected all the characters to each other in a clever way.
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Dec 25, 2016
Seulky
marked it as to-read

Apr 20, 2020
Denise
marked it as kindle-tbr

Apr 17, 2021
Bill
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Jan 01, 2023
Curlysue
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Oct 12, 2024
Mihika
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May 24, 2025
kaylanurul
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