The Rage (World Noir)
*Starred Review* Welcome to Dublin, where the economy has tanked, and violence has surged. Vincent Naylor walks out of prison and right back into the same business that landed him there, armed robbery. Working with his dimmer brother, Noel, and some friends, they kidnap an armored truck driver to learn how the system works, setting up for their biggest score yet. Detective Sergeant Bob Tidey is working the murder of an investment banker and contemplating perjuring himself in an upcoming trial when he gets a tip from an old nun that a strange car has been parked on her street for some time. That car turns out to be the getaway car, and that phone call changes lives when two of the men involved in the robbery are killed in the street. Vincent takes off on a revenge spree, and Tidey can’t help but reexamine his own life. The sparse writing style seems well-matched to the content in this tense, thoughtful thriller, which won the UK’s Gold Dagger award for best crime novel of the year. Fans of Ken Bruen, Declan Hughes, and Declan Burke won’t want to miss this one. --Stacy Alesi