Ghost Town

by Michael Clifford

One they had everything to gain...A Dublin gangland king pin on the chase. A corrupt property mogul on the run. A hungry crime journalist determined to put his destroyed career back on track. And the return of the 'Dancer' - Joshua Molloy, smalltime Dublin ex-con, recently out of prison, off the booze, determined to stay on the straight and narrow. When Molloy hires Noelle Higgins, a solicitor and boomtime wife with a crumbling personal life, to help find his young son both are soon drawn into a web of treachery and violence, where Ireland's criminal underworld and fallen elite fight it out to lay claim to what's left from the Euro 3 million in cash, in a bag, buried somewhere in the depths of rural Ireland. Now they have nothing to lose...From Dublin to Spain and finally a debris-strewn ghost estate in Kerry, Ghost Town is the fast-paced and tightly written debut thriller by leading Irish journalist and commentator Michael Clifford.

384 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2012

Reviews

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ghost Town is a very well written and entertaining debut novel. Michael Clifford is an Irish journalist and columnist and brings all his skills as a seasoned writer to the book. The real strengths of the novel are its plotting, the characterization, the sense of place, and the contextualization. The story is told through a series of short, tight scenes, shorn of any flab. This works to drive the plot along and to create a high tempo and good tension. And although the plotline is relatively complex, told from multiple perspectives, Clifford makes sure that the reader never loses the thread of the narrative. All of the characters are well penned with sufficient back story to give them depth and make them interesting despite there being a number of central cast members. A real plus for me was that Ghost Town is very much a book about modern Ireland, clearly set in Dublin and Kerry, and detailing elements of the property crash and how it has affected the lives of many. One touch I particularly liked was the symmetry between the professional footballer turned media mogul slowly disintegrating (Slate’s boss), with the failed footballer putting his life back together (Molloy). Clifford does an excellent job of bringing the story to a climax; though a couple of aspects of the resolution were a little clunky though just about credible. Overall, this is a very solid and enjoyable book and a very good complement to Alan Glynn’s Winterland and Gene Kerrigan’s The Rage.

[Padraic · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable, fast paced and compulsive read. Set in post Celtic Tiger Ireland it characterises people and situations in a manner which comes accross as authentic and even familiar to the reader. Organised crime, crime journalists, property speculation and even the legal profession are depicted in a realistic but knowing way. Cycnicism is mixed with a dose of laugh out loud comedy which puncuates the overall noirish tone.

There certainly aren't too many characters in the book though it is perhaps, told from too many points of view, and the resulting ensemble effect means that we don't get to any one character as much as I would have liked.

Fans of Gene Kerrign, or Alan Glynn will enjoy this one.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable, great charectorisations. I hope MC writes more fiction soon

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Special ordered from Ireland :)
So far it is so worth it ;)