On Thursday night the finalists for the various categories of the Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Award 2010 were announced, including the six finalists for the Ireland AM Crime Fiction Award.This is the second year that there has been a crime fiction category in the Irish Book Awards, and it's great to see the genre being recognised in this way. Hat tip to Declan Burke of Crime Always Pays re the announcement.
The finalists for the Ireland AM Crime Fiction Award 2010 are:
- City of Lost Girls, Declan Hughes
- Time of Death, Alex Barclay
- Faithful Place, Tana French
- The Missing, Jane Casey
- Dark Times in the City, Gene Kerrigan
- The Twelve, Stuart Neville
Have you read any of the eligible Irish crime novels? Who do you think should win?
Craig - Thanks for this news :-). There area few of these writers I like, so I'm torn about who'd I'd like to see win. Fortunately it's a good crop of authors.
ReplyDeleteI've only read one, Stuart Neville's, and most other people liked it a lot more than I did so I wouldn't be surprised if it won. I'd like to read some of the others but only one has actually been published here (the Tana French one) making further mockery of territorial copyright restrictions (I bet the others never will be, none of Declan Hughes or Gene Kerrigan's other books have been).
ReplyDeleteOf the three I have read, I vote for Gene Kerrigan, he's a wonderful writer. I am surprised to see Jane Casey's The Missing on the list, as the book is set in southern England and has no Irish element in it from my memory. I didn't know the author is Irish. Seems to me that if there is to be an Irish crime fiction prize, the books on the shortlist should have some Irish element? (I did very much enjoy The Missing, by the way, I am just not sure why it is on this list.)
ReplyDeleteLike Bernadette, I don't feel The Twelve is that good but I know it was very well-received when it came out.
I have heard terrific things about THE TWELVE (aka THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST in the USA). I've only read an excerpt that was available online, but that intrigued me, and I intend to get my hands on the book soon. It was actually recommended to me by an author I interviewed over a year ago, when I'd never heard anything abou it.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any of the finalist books this year either - not that doing so would help; the inaugural winner last year was Alex Barclay's BLOOD RUNS COLD, which I personally thought was one of the most mediocre books I read and reviewed in all of 2009 - thin supporting characters, horrendously clunky dialogue etc. But clearly the judges (the public?) thought Barclay's book was better than those of the other terrific Irish authors on the 2009 finalists list, so what do I know?
One of Barclay's books was a DNF for me, Craig, and I have not picked up any more. (It was the first I'd tried by this author.)
ReplyDeleteAs Declan says in his post about this, I can't understand why Winterland by Alan Glynn isn't on the list. It is far, far better than The Twelve that's for sure!