Review: `The cracked record, that broken bell, forms an inward spiral, a road to hell.'
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 27, 2014
There is something about Irish authors that sets them apart from the rest. Consider the heritage of Joyce, Wilde, Beckett, Shaw, Synge, Yeats, Swift, and then add in the contemporary writers Morgan Llewellyn, John Banville, Maeve Binchy, John Connolly, Colum McCann, Colm Tóibín, John McGahern, Neil Jordan, William Trevor and the reasoning seems apparent. Few can draw the reader in with the first paragraph, sustain tension as the characters develop, and keep you captive with a mixture of mystery, lyricism, poetry and entertainment the way the Irish can. And now we have another Irish author in the person of Derick Parsons, born in Dublin in 1966 and returned to his homeland after traveling and living in London, the USA, Poland, Germany and Holland. This is his third novel and it seems he is headed in that Irish literary tradition with new boots.Martine, an unmarried single mum of three boys each by a different man lives on the working side of Dublin but escapes her little hellions to go by and pickup her girlfriend Sally who lives on the middle class side in the fine home of her intended  only to bang on the door knocker enough times to cause her to peak into the mail slot and see down the hallway the body of her girlfriend's man dead in a chair. Now if that isn't enough of a prologue to open a smart detective story then you haven't read Derick Parsons' kinky take on murder and the likes. But just as in his enormously entertaining book REDEMPTION SONG we soon encounter 57 year old  Detective Inspector Jack O'Neill, whose personal life is just as messy as ever, coupled with a young detective Frank Carr taking on the aforementioned double murder case that is fraught with enough problems that no one wants to take it on but good old reliable (at times) and desperate Jack O'Neill. Very soon Jack discovers the reason for others avoiding the case: a suspect is quickly found for the killings, but some fumbling allows the suspect to go missing as well as another couple similar to the murdered one.  As usual Jack sees his rather shaky career slipping away until he plugs into a madman's journal that offers clues to prevent the missing young couple's demise. But as we expect Jack stumbles here and there, stepping in and out of deceitful situations and misinformation and lies and in time the `case' is no longer simply one of detective work, but a duel between Jack and the madman.Parsons gets it right with that intoxicating Irish pint of humor, stealth, camaraderie, and irresistible momentum and by book's end the reader is left hungry for a continuation. If he keeps this up his name will continue to ascend with the best of them - especially Irish authors. Grady Harp, March 14