Monday, August 15, 2011

BLITZED AGAIN!!!!!

No - I'm not talking about my curious fascination for home brew, alchemy or all things related to the mixing of chemical compounds to get desired effects... No. I'm talking about Ken Bruen's book, recently released in film format.

Right - first things first. I LOVED the book. My kinda stuff exactly. Hurleys, psychos, alcos, narkos - well, you get the picture.

The film then I hear you ask... was the film any good?

YES.

Now apart from having 'hardman Statham' in the lead as Brant, the venerable Aidan Gillen plays the off-kilter serial killer 'Blitz' with a penchant for offing coppers. Excellently.

It must be said that I am insanely jealous that Sir Ken got to have both Jason and Aidan in the celluloid adaptation of his book (especially Gillen - I have him marked for Frank Costello if Ganglands ever gets threatened with a movie version) - but I will say this much. I preferred Ken's ending to the story. As usual the film version of a book gets a few artistic changes applied and in all they were very well executed. But the book ending was better. Much better. And less predictable. It is still a great film though.

Having gotten that off my hairy Irish chest I will say something else. Our beloved Mr. Bruen makes a cameo in the film dressed as a priest performing the 'whatever they call that religious stuff when they put you in the ground thing' and he was excellent. Visually fleeting, but his voice carries well.

I hope we get to see more of Ken Bruen's work in film format.

The world feels curiously soft-boiled for the most part. When you need someone to turn up the heat and finish the job - you can do no better than Ken Bruen. He's a master.

Nice one Ken!

Monday, August 1, 2011

Bestsellers list again... The Republican

The Republican: An Irish Civil War Story has gone to number 5 in the bestsellers list under Irish History on Amazon.com.

I've had some great reviews for this book and I'm very happy to see it climbing the charts.

A lot of American buyers love this educational yet entertaining and easy read around a rather difficult subject matter. The story was originally prompted by a letter that my father gave me from an IRA man who was executed for his part in the Irish Civil War in 1923.

Some proof :)