Like all twenty-year-olds, Ryan Cusack is trying to get his head around who he is. This is not a good time for his boss to exploit his dual heritage by opening a new black market route from Italy to Ireland. It is certainly not a good time for his adored girlfriend to decide he's irreparably corrupted. And he really wishes he hadn't accidentally caught the eye of an ornery grandmother who fancies herself his saviour.
There may be a way clear of the chaos in the business proposals of music promoter Colm and in the attention of the charming, impulsive Natalie. But now that his boss's ambitions have rattled the city, Ryan is about to find out what he's made of, and it might be that chaos is in his blood.
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[This, like so many of Ryan Cusack's fuck-up's, begins with ecstasy]***
(@johnmurrays, 6 April 2017, 400 pages, paperback, copy from @AmazonUK #AmazonVine)
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I didn't really enjoy The Glorious Heresies so I'm not sure why I decided to give this a shot. I liked the cover and the title. I'm easily led. This has the same issues I found with the first book. The characters are unlikable and I couldn't get behind Ryan or any of his cronies, an unpleasant lot I wanted to run down with a truck. I also got weary of all the drugs, criminals and goons crammed in. At times, I felt this book was interchangeable with The Glorious Heresies and I would have expected something different from a second book not the same old. The book is dark and gritty. I don't have an issue with that. There's just something a little lacking here. There are good things in this book. First, it's set in Ireland. I have a soft spot for books set in Ireland but have no idea why. Cork really comes to life. There is also no attempt to glorify the Irish underworld. The book is dotted with letters Ryan wrote to his mother after she died which I found really moving.
