Bloodland

December 19, 2011
In this elegantly plotted thriller from Irish author Glynn (Winterland), Dublin reporter Jimmy Gilroy, who’s hurting for steady work, seizes the opportunity to write the life story of hard-partying Susie Monaghan, a washed-up actress killed three years earlier with five others in an unexplained helicopter crash off the coast of Donegal. Almost immediately, Gilroy encounters resistance, making him want to dig deeper, particularly into Monaghan’s final days. Yet when he’s offered the plum job of co-writing ex-prime minister Larry Bolger’s autobiography, with explicit instructions to drop all other assignments, Gilroy reluctantly agrees. When Bolger, recently off the wagon, lets slip that Monaghan’s death was merely collateral damage, Gilroy knows he can’t abandon his earlier project. Further digging leads to a vast conspiracy with international implications. Glynn handles multiple story lines that would trip up a lesser writer, and his characters populate a world where nothing is black and white. Agent: Antony Harwood, Antony Harwood Ltd.

February 15, 2012
A plot-twisting, page-turning humdinger in which collateral damage gets a murderous spin. Alive, actress/model Susie Monaghan snagged her allotted 15 minutes of fame and then some. Dead, she became an absolute sensation. She was gorgeous, yes. Talented, maybe. A head case, no question: a beautiful, outrageous flake who did drugs unabashedly and went through boyfriends carnivorously. A fatal helicopter crash off the coast of Ireland rocketed her to the top of the A-list, where she hovered indefinitely like some headline-hungry ghost. People couldn't stop talking about her, which is OK with a certain young Dublin journalist. Jimmy Gilroy, recently downsized, has received an unexpected and most welcome book deal. He's charged with immortalizing Susie Monaghan, an assignment he's prepared to take very seriously given his straitened circumstances, plus the attractive added inducement of Susie's lovely sister, whose input he deems integral to the project. But then the worrisome phone calls from longtime friend and benefactor Phil Sweeney commence, suggesting ever more forcefully that he back off. Other voices join in. It's from an obviously unnerved and deeply depressed former prime minister of Ireland, however, that he hears the phrase "collateral damage" applied to Susie. Five others died when the helicopter went down. Jimmy knew that, of course, but now he gets his first sulfuric whiff of something rotten being covered up.His prose spare but spirited, Glynn (Winterland, 2011, etc.) spins an all-too-likely tale of secrets, lies and power corrupted. Chilling.

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November 15, 2011

Unemployed journalist Jimmy Gilroy signs a contract to write the bio of a celebrity who died in a helicopter crash. Ex-head of state Larry Bolger struggles to write his memoirs. Dave Conway, a bankrupt developer, hopes for a loan to rescue a planned community. Clark Rundle, chairman of a major corporation and brother of U.S. Senator (and presidential candidate) John Rundle, arranges a mining deal with a colonel in the Congo. Billionaire Jimmy Vaughan lurks in the background. Don Ribcoff, CEO of Gideon Global, a protection service, has several bodies to hide. Oh, and what about Gianni Bonacci, a UN official who also died in the copter crash? Stay tuned; all will be revealed in a too pat, presuicide confession. VERDICT Given the spare description of scene in this international thriller, readers unfamiliar with the term taoiseach (Irish for prime minister), The Strand, or City magazine may not realize until 140 pages in that Dublin is one of the settings. As for the plot, readers often know far more than the journalist, a risky technique that in some cases dampens and in others heightens the suspense. Still, Glynn (Winterland) successfully depicts a wide range of characters, and the themes of corporate greed and political conspiracy will resonate with some.--Ron Terpening, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 15, 2011
Celebrity biographies are hardly high art, but Irish journalist Jimmy Gilroy needs to pay the bills. When he takes on the tale of the late starlet Susie Monaghan, little does he know it'll be the biggest story of his career. Monaghan's vapid and debauched life was cut short by a helicopter crash in the Congo that was initially ruled an accident. Then details emerge suggesting it was anything but. Turns out, Monaghan was collateral damage on a flight that was doomed from the start; the real target was a fellow passenger who knew a little too much. Layer by layer, Gilroy exposes an elaborate cover-up involving, among others, a wily entrepreneur, a paranoid former prime minister, and the brother of a U.S. senator with his sights on the Oval Office. At the heart of the darkness is exploitation of a precious mineral buried deep in the African jungle. As Gilroy gets closer to the truth, two of his sources drop deadone murdered, the other a suicide. Can he complete his investigation before anyone else is done in? Can he stay alive? Glynn (Limitless, 2011) delivers an intricate plot and relentless suspense in this taut, top-notch thriller about the evils that men do.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)