Rain Dogs: A Detective Sean Duffy Novel by Adrian McKinty

Rain Dogs: A Detective Sean Duffy Novel. Adrian McKinty. Seventh Street Books/Prometheus Books. March 2016. 315 pp.  ISBN#: 9781633881303.

Sean Duffy has nothing going right these days.  He’s just been dumped by his girlfriend, Beth, who is ten years younger than he is.  He’s just been assigned to the protective unit for a Muhammed Ali visit to Ireland. 

The story takes place in Carrickfergus which is close to Belfast.  It’s the time of the Irish Troubles when the IRA is dropping bombs left and right as a protest method to gain Irish independence.  It’s a bit of a far stretch to imagine how these bombs could be an asset in their goal but for now it is what it is.  So for now Detectives like Duffy check under their cars for bombs every time they set out to travel somewhere.  Ali during his tour actually turns around and confronts protestors, winning them over with his charm and panache.

But the day isn’t done before there are two problems, one minor and one major.  A Finnish delegation has come to the area to check it out as a potential site for a large new business and of course the town officials want and English government want everything to proceed ultra-smoothly.  However, one of the Finnish delegation member’s wallet is declared missing and a young woman is found dead from a possible suicide in Carrickfergus Castle. The first is a joke; the second turns out to be a complex mystery.  Why did this young journalist kill herself?  Why did the night guard not know she was still in the Castle after closing hours? 

The plot becomes quite complex when it turns out that the Finnish delegation was not as innocent as it appeared to the public.  Add to that another policeman is killed from a bomb under the car and of course everyone assumes it’s just another IRA plot, nothing new.  It turns out that’s not so either.

Duffy for a long time keeps receiving false leads but if it’s one thing Duffy has a reputation for, it’s persistence, relentless.

Rain Dogs… has many other twists and turns that keep the reader flipping the pages and rapidly reading.  This is my first Sean Duffy mystery, and I am looking forward to read the other novels in which he is the sleuth solving crimes in tumultuous Ireland!  Very nicely done, Adrian McKinty and recommended reading for all who love a good mystery!

Five Days on Ballyboy Beach by David J. O'Brien

Five Days on Ballyboy Beach.  David J. O’Brien. Tirgearr Publishing. September 2014. 205 pp. pbk; 1246 KB. E-Book. ASIN #: B00NIVD8K2.

What’s the essence of a satisfying life? Some people journey through life without ever thinking about that pivotal question.  The young men and women vacationing on Ballyboy Beach in the summer of 1996 don’t fit in that niche and that is what makes this story so unique and satisfying!

Derek and his college friends, male and female, are vacationing.  Sure, their conversation frequently returns to intense focus on how much they can drink, what they can drink, who will go to town to get that drink, and of course the proverbial teasing and leaking of true and false bravado about sexual performance.  Yes, they compare and want to know who was a better partner; but interestingly, some associate sex more with a committed (even if temporary) relationship. How old-fashioned and sexy is that?

However, in another part of the novel, they begin to discuss the topic of “destiny.”  They think about the 9 to 5 jobs each has, except Derek, and where those jobs are going.  They talk about what the future holds but gradually wind up realizing what they have for sure is only now and anything else could happen.  Little does the reader realize how pivotal these unusual conversations are.  Oh, and one must recognize that perhaps today’s youth have deeper thoughts than other older people credit them with having.  It adds something special and immediately takes it out of the stereotypical zone of romance and partying commonly generally attributed to college students and young adults.

Derek moves past dreaming of just sex with anyone to beginning to deeply care about one particular young woman. It’s quite a move for him to initiate something beyond a one-night stand but he evolves nicely into this new aspect of his life, opportunity to be real and that draws others to him as a leader.

When the most important scene in the book slams the reader in the gut, he or she is certainly not expecting the ultimate destiny that in a few moments unfolds as well as its aftermath.

Five Days on Ballyboy Beach is very good contemporary fiction and nicely crafted.  This reviewer would recommend it for adults and young adults as well.  It’s sexy without being gross and it’s sincere and blunt without being trite.  Read it and discover a great story for yourself!