Alan Glynn - Winterland
Two shocking deaths are the catalyst for Glynn's riveting thriller. A small-time drug dealer with a big ego, Noel Rafferty, is gunned down in a local beer garden hours later, his uncle, also Noel Rafferty, is killed in a car accident. The Rafferty family is reeling from the double tragedy, but none is more distressed than Gina Rafferty, aunt of one, sister to the other. Gina cannot accept the supposed coincidence of the deaths, especially after the last words her brother spoke to her the night before. Riddled with questions, she investigates on her own, a David in search of Goliath, a young woman with no power or resources, but plenty of courage. Although she has no proof, Gina's instincts lead her to the halls of power and men she has revered, all of whom have feet of clay.
They say politics makes strange bedfellows and a recent deal brokered in London is no exception. A new skyscraper complex, Richmond Plaza, has attracted funding from an American equity firm, thanks to the careful shepherding of property developer Paddy Norton and endorsed by soon-to-be Prime Minister Larry Bolger. Norton and Bolger have a long working history, as well as ties to Gina's brother, the now-deceased Noel Rafferty. Unfortunately, Gina's questions pose a threat to the Richmond project, to Paddy's grand plans and possibly to Bolger's future as Taoisech (prime minister). When Gina contacts Mark Griffin, a young man deeply affected by a family tragedy in his childhood, the dark secrets of the past are unleashed to the detriment of the power brokers, politicians and investors in Richmond Plaza.
Glynn's plot never lets up, from the two deaths at the beginning of the story to a shocking example of gangland violence in a confrontation in a warehouse, from the accident that took the lives of Griffin's family to a stand-off in the glass-walled Richmond Plaza, where Gina holds a gun as the SWAT team gathers. Dreams of power and fortune are run aground in a drug-fueled haze of one greedy man, while another faces the consequences of his family's activities on his behalf. Dublin is on the cusp of greatness with its new complex until Gina takes aim and brings the pretenders to their knees. Prescient in his choice of topic, Glynn has written a stunning modern thriller that addresses the moral ambiguities of the times and the acquisitive ambitions of the wealthy. Luan Gaines/2010.
Timely, topical, and thrilling."-- John Connolly
"A terrific read...completely involving."-- George Pelecanos
"WINTERLAND sets a dramatically high benchmark for emerald noir. With all the operatic inevitability of Greek tragedy, it anatomises what greed has done to Ireland. A resonant, memorable and uncomfortable read."-- Val McDermid
"This is the colossus of Irish crime fiction, what Mystic River did for Dennis Lehane, WINTERLAND should do for Alan Glynn, it is a noir masterpiece, the bar against which all future works will be judged."
-- Ken Bruen
Winterland is a blistering unputdownable novel about power, lies and the corrupting influence of money. It is the first in a series on the dark and clandestine underside of globalization and announces a compelling new voice in contemporary crime writing.
The worlds of business, politics and crime collide when two men with the same name, from the same family, die on the same night—one death is a gangland murder, the other, apparently, a road accident. Was it a coincidence? That’s the official version of events. But when a family member, Gina Rafferty, starts asking questions, this notion quickly unravels.
Devastated by her loss, Gina’s grief is tempered, and increasingly fuelled, by anger—because the more she’s told that it was all a coincidence, that gangland violence is commonplace, that people die on our roads every day of the week, the less she’s prepared to accept it. Told repeatedly that she should stop asking questions, Gina becomes more determined than ever to find out the truth, to establish a connection between the two deaths—but in doing so she embarks on a path that will push certain powerful people to their limits...
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