Black Irish

December 10, 2012
Talty’s first foray into crime fiction, a memorable story of betrayal and vengeance, centers on a working-class Irish enclave in contemporary Buffalo, N.Y. The macabre killing of gas-meter reader Jimmy Ryan brings Det. Absalom “Abbie” Kearney to South Buffalo (aka “the County,” as in the 27th county of Ireland), where “ancestry was everything.” As the adopted daughter of legendary cop John Kearney, Abbie is both an insider and an outsider. More gruesome, carefully staged deaths occur, pointing to members of the secretive, powerful Clan na Gael as targets. Hampered by community distrust, Abbie must dig deeply into long-buried secrets that could endanger her father’s life and reputation as well as her own life. Talty (Agent Garbo: The Brilliant, Eccentric Secret Agent Who Tricked Hitler and Saved D-Day) does a fine job portraying the cohesiveness of the Irish, their loyalty to one another, and their obsession with their history. Agent: Scott Waxman, Waxman Leavell Literary.

January 1, 2013
Talty harnesses his nonfiction skills to craft a novel that's centered on a feisty female cop in a history-rich Irish enclave in upstate New York. Absalom Kearney, adopted daughter of legendary Buffalo police detective John Kearney, has returned home to care for her rapidly declining father. Abbie, as she's known, worked as a police officer in Miami. She's been back for a year and has already established herself as the best homicide investigator in the BPD. When Abbie and her partner, "Z," catch a missing persons' case that turns out to be the tip of a serial killers' iceberg, she gets a chance to prove how good she is. The victim, Jimmy Ryan, a perpetual nonachiever who was tortured and left dead in an abandoned church, was discovered with a toy plastic monkey near his body. When someone tries to enter the home Abbie shares with her dad and leaves a similar toy on the doorknob, the female cop realizes that she's up against more than simply a clever killer. She tracks members of a secret Irish organization while chasing the murderer across her county and into neighboring Niagara Falls, all the time putting herself in harm's way. Talty shows his chops when recounting the area's Irish roots, but the first half of the story is sluggish. The relentless grimness of the setting, hopelessness of the local economy and general ineptness of other police officers combine to create a lackluster atmosphere populated by characters that lack both depth and vitality. That in itself could be forgiven if Talty's plot revealed brilliant detective work, but it doesn't. Instead, Abbie comes across as unreasonable, dismissive of her co-workers, and abusive to both other cops and suspects alike. Readers can be forgiven if they find Talty's story stretches credulity a bit, especially in the bloody second half. This Buffalo-based novel turns out to be more notable for its area history, moody setting and occasional smart turn of phrase than for the thuggish heroine.

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September 1, 2012

Best-selling nonfiction author Talty sets his first novel in his hometown, South Buffalo, called Ireland's 27th county by its residents. Absalom Kearney, who has returned home to care for her father, follows in his Da's footsteps and joins the police force, immediately encountering a twisted serial killer and a secret Gaelic organization called the Clan na Gael.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 15, 2012
Detective Absalom Kearny of the Buffalo (NY) PD is caring for her aged, adoptive father, John, a legendary, former detective himself. Smart and driven, Abbie is seen by fellow cops as a rising star. But she may be too driven, and the savage torture-murder of Jimmy Ryan, a resident of the city's clannish Irish enclave, the County, drives her toward obsession. More grisly murders occur, and even though Abbie grew up in the County, no one will talk with her, even though many know what is happening; the County avenges its own. Talty, author of several lauded nonfiction books (Agent Garbo, 2012), has produced a suspenseful debut novel with a circuitous plot. Abbie is a wonderfully complex and conflicted character, but it is the Countywhich may exist in Buffalo and certainly exists in other northeastern citiesthat shines brightest. It's a place where a boy whose people came from Mayo isn't allowed to date a Kilkenny girl, and its residents share an ancestral memory of being oppressed in a country they'd never been to. Economically ravaged Buffalo is portrayed in broader brushstrokes, but the sense of place is palpably evocative. Black Irish is simply a riveting read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)