DECLAN BURKE – Eightball Boogie. Sitric Books, Ireland, softcover, June 2003; Lilliput Press, Ireland, softcover, November 2004. Kindle edition, 2011.

   This is not the Ireland I grew up reading about. Not a lovable cop or leprechaun in sight. Instead there is Harry J. Rigby, a passive self-loathing loser in a violent unhappy world, a place where everyone is corrupt and soulless. Where all you can dream for is to find one part of your miserable life that will give you reason to wake up in the morning. Even the harsh ugly land is doomed from the corrupt system that sacrifices clean air, land and water for a profit. This is a land of noir where fate is the heartless father of hopelessness.

   At one point, Harry wonders if he should give up and die. “I flipped a coin. It didn’t come down.”

   When Imelda Sheridan, wife of an important local politician, is found dead, the cops are eager to cover it up as a suicide, but a small time photographer has pictures of the crime scene that shows it was more likely murder. He asks his friend Harry, who prefers to be called a Research Consultant instead of a PI, to find him some details to go with the pictures so they could sell the story to the papers.

   Enter Katie, a beautiful woman who flirts with Harry as she tries to convince him to help her solve Imelda’s murder. Harry is reluctant to deal with her, the murder mystery, and practically everything else in his life.

   Harry then is hired by shady Frank Conway to find out if his wife is cheating on him. But Harry wonders if that is the real reason Frank hires him. When Harry gets pictures of the wife and the guy, events heat up and spin even more out of control.

   Harry’s personal life is a mess. All he has to live for is his young son Ben, the product of a loveless relationship Harry is still dealing with. The return of Harry’s long missing but not missed evil brother, Gonzo intensifies Harry’s misery.

   As everyone and everything takes turns beating up Harry, it is apparent the murder of Imelda is a minor detail of a larger mystery. Harry has little interest in justice or solving the mystery, but the killers’ threat to harm his son Ben, sets Harry down a bloody path with more twists and turns than a ballet dancer and more violence than a Tom and Jerry cartoon.

   While you can occasionally get lost trying to translate some of the local Irish slang such as “dibble” for police, it is an effective way of establishing location. This is a book that does not tell you about the Irish and Ireland, it forces you to experience being Irish in this Ireland. You feel the hopelessness and how that feeling is as much as being Irish as flag waving is American.

   The book’s biggest weakness is failing the “fifty page test.” Today, many reader’s patience is limited by the size of the reader’s To Be Read pile. There are sections of this book that are a delight to read, usually when Harry is dealing with the crimes. There are sections of this book that can be difficult to get through, usually when Harry is whining about his personal problems. But stay with it, you will be rewarded with an exceptionally intense ending.

NOTE:   The author has a few print copies left that he is offering for cost of shipping from Ireland ($6.20). You can contact him here and put “Eightball Boogie” in the subject header.