Jack O'Connell
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First British Edition No Exit Press (1999) |
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Paperback - No Exit Press (1999) |
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Word Made Flesh
Why would two Eastern European meatboys want to whack an innocent cab driver? The question occurs to Gilrein as Raban and Blumfeld press the gun barrel into his mouth. Does it have something to do with the ritual death-by-flensing of Leo Tani? Or does the answer involve Gilrein's ex-lover, now working as a librarian for a bibliomaniac
gangster?
Or maybe the whole thing has something to do with the Inspector, inventor of the notorious Methodology? And how does Bobby Oster figure into the mix, with his crew of murder-for-hire rogue cops, who call themselves 'The Magicians'?
To find the answers, Gilrein will drive the night streets of his hometown and face down more than one demon from his past. From the Vacuum, where child-artists are held captive in veal pens and forced to forge graphic novels, to the Houdini Lounge, where the second annual immigrant death-match is being marketed, Gilrein will wander the underworld, collecting stories and looking for absolution. In the end, he'll brush up against "Alicia's Tale" and learn new truths about the terrifying negotiations always taking place between the storyteller and the audience in the city of Quinsigamond.
'A chase story, an allegory, and a brilliant riff on language. Jack O'Connell is the future of the dark, literary suspense novel' James Ellroy
'One of the most original novels I've read in years, made up of equal parts hard boiled detective story, futuristic satire, myth and metafiction. His New England town of Quinsigamond is something taken straight out of Blade Runner. Imagine Kafka writing The Maltese Falcon, or Borges or Pynchon one of Raymond Chandler's novels and you only begin to get a sense of what this funny, complex and thoroughly entertaining novel is about' Michael White
'A cyberpunk Dashiell Hammett' Arena
'Hyper-real noir. A grotesque romance about genocide, language, bibliamania, doubt, obsession, worms, epidermis and sanctuary!' Crime Time
| British Pbk Original - No Exit Press (1998) |
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Box Nine
Box Nine is a stunningly original nightmare novel about the impact of a new synthetic drug - Lingo - on the depressed New England factory town of Quinsigamond. where it was secretly developed. Besides offering a potent high, Lingo also delivers a shot to the brain cells governing linguistic comprehension and verbal skill. Until murderous rages and babbling insanity take over, this mind-expanding feature makes the drug dangerously seductive to the unusually literate cops, scientists and dope dealers competing to find its distribution source.
Written in the cranked up style of Lingo, Box Nine shows a noir vision of a city that has become a virtual war zone between rival drug cartels. At the heart of the narrative is Detective Leonore Thomas, an undercover police officer addicted to speed. rough sex. heavy metal and the feel of her .357 Magnum.
A dark. disturbing book that speaks with a fine fury about the yearning for forbidden knowledge and the language to articulate the mysteries it unlocks.
'Stunningly original… Jack O'Connell's vision is spellbinding: by turns hilarious and terrifying' James Ellroy
'A surrealistic noir epic that is part David Lynch and part Brett Easton Ellis' Booklist
'The most electrifying debut crime novel you are likely to read all year' GQ
'A cyberpunk Dashiell Hammett' Arena
Bibliography
N.B. dates and publishers in dark red indicate British First Editions. Dates and publishers in black indicate recent reprints.
Word Made Flesh
(No Exit Press,
1999)
No Exit Press Pbk Jun 99
Box Nine
(No Exit Press Pbk,
1998)
(Leonore Thomas)
The Skin Palace
Wireless
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Word Made Flesh