It’s almost the weekend! If you’re looking for a book to add to your weekend reading list, try this post-modern take on the crime thriller genre from Liberties Press. Check out what reviewers are saying about Absolute Zero Cool by Declan Burke.
Absolute Zero Cool Publishers WeeklyRead the full review here>>> Review: Declan Burke – Absolute Zero Cool Sarah Ward | Crimepieces“Those looking for a highly intellectual version of Stephen King’s The Dark Half will be most satisfied.”
“Every now and then though you come across something that defies all categories. Without doubt this is true for Absolute Zero Cool.”
Read the full review here>>> Absolute Zero Cool – Declan Burke Alex Donald | Alex Donald’s Multiverse“It’s a great book because it is rooted in the tradition of crime fiction. It casts a sardonic eye over some of the clichés of the genre while reflecting on fatherhood, the health system and Irish society . It’s also very funny.”
“I’m not usually a fan of crime fiction but this is not your usual crime fiction book. Darkly funny, superbly written, metafictional and with more than a passing nod to Paul Auster, Flann O’Brien and (dare I say it) Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club, Absolute Zero Cool fuses literary and crime fiction to create something utterly original.”
“The prose is razor sharp and clear and often hilariously funny.”
Read the full review here>>> Review of Absolute Zero Cool by Declan Burke (Liberties Press, 2011) Rob Kitchin | The View from the Blue House“That Burke has written a thoroughly unique and compelling novel is not up for question. It certainly blew my mind and I’ll be recommending it to everyone. Absolute Zero Cool is an absolute triumph for Declan Burke and a book which will hopefully gain the wider audience it deserves outside of Ireland.”
“Burke uses Greek mythology, theology and philosophy to deconstruct and satirise the life of a writer, the crime novel and contemporary society, especially the Irish health system. The result is a very clever book, that’s at once fun and challenging.”
Read the full review here>>> Review: Absolute Zero Cool by Declan Burke Hilary A White | Independent.IE“Absolute Zero Cool takes the crime genre and its many tropes and stereotypes and throws them out the window. It’s a genuinely unique tale. It certainly won’t be for everybody, but for those crime readers who like to be pushed and challenged this is well worth a look. Five stars all the way for me.”
“The silken, rhythmic tongues of his charges are lubricated with touches of classic crime nuance. One hopes that this will grant Burke’s book a passport to overseas readerships because it is too special to be confined to a small island in the North Atlantic.”
Read the full review here>>> About the Book“A point does arrive where you start to wonder who is writing whom. Once that has entered your mind, Absolute Zero Cool’s initially hiccupping flow bites hard and pulls you under in a way that you never saw coming. You’ve just been blind-sided by the real Burke’s Machiavellian orchestration and seed-planting.”
Absolute Zero Cool is a post-modern take on the crime thriller genre. Adrift in the half-life limbo of an unpublished novel, hospital porter Billy needs to up the stakes. Euthanasia simply isn’t shocking anymore; would blowing up his hospital be enough to see Billy published, or be damned? What follows is a gripping tale that subverts the crime genre’s grand tradition of liberal sadism, a novel that both excites and disturbs in equal measure.
Absolute Zero Cool is not only an example of Irish crime writing at its best; it is an innovative, self-reflexive piece that turns every convention of crime fiction on its head. Declan Burke’s latest book is “an imaginative story that explores the human mind’s ability to both create and destroy, with equally devastating effects.”
Purchase your copy here>>>
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