Fire and Brimstone

Dan Starkey #9

by Colin Bateman

Peace time Belfast seems like the perfect spot for media billionaire's daughter Alison Wolff to study anonymously, but when she disappears following a massacre at a student party nobody knows if she has been kidnapped for ransom or caught in the crossfire.


Hired to find Alison, Dan Starkey discovers that Belfast's underworld has shifted rapidly since he was in his journalistic prime. Religion and politics have taken a back seat to drugs and greed, defended with a ruthlessness undreamt of even in the worst days of The Troubles. This is the street violence of Mexico with an Irish twist.

In response to the drug wars a new fire and brimstone church movement springs up, but when the controversial new abortion clinic is firebombed, they get the blame and Dan is hired to prove their guilt.


In a Belfast rapidly descending back into a city of violence, Dan suddenly finds himself struggling to cope with two very different investigations..... or could they possibly be connected?

Genres: Fiction, Crime, Audiobook, Mystery, Humor

386 pages, Paperback

First published October 10, 2013

About the author

Colin Bateman was a journalist in Northern Ireland before becoming a full-time writer. His first novel, Divorcing Jack, won the Betty Trask Prize, and all his novels have been critically acclaimed. He wrote the screenplays for the feature films of Divorcing Jack, Crossmaheart and Wild About Harry. He lives in Northern Ireland with his family.

Reviews

[Jason McCracken · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sure a lot of people will like this but for me it just didn't work. My main problem was that I found it impossible to get over the fact that the book opens with our hero almost falling for a facebook "princess" scam and then spends the rest of the opening chapters appearing dumber and dumber but as the story moves along we're supposed to believe that he's actually Irelands greatest investigative journalist turned Irelands greatest P.I. who'd hired by the richest man in the world to find his missing daughter.

I just couldn't buy the plot and the "comedy" was dreadful.

I liked Inspector Clouseau as a kid but as an adult he was just fucking annoying. And so was this guy.

DNF. 50ish%.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read, and really enjoyed, many of this author's previous novels over the years, I love his writing and storytelling style. I think most if not all of them I read before I started book blogging/reviewing so I can only say that I enjoyed them so much and recommended them here there and everywhere by word of mouth. The first ones I read were Cycle of Violence and Divorcing Jack. You might have seen or heard of the film version of the latter novel too, featuring David Thewlis. As well as the novels featuring Dan Starkey, of which this (Fire and Brimstone) is one, I've read and enjoyed some of the novels in the 'Mystery Man', bookshop-based series as well as others by this author.

Anyway, getting on to Fire and Brimstone properly, this is another entertaining and bumpy ride along with Dan Starkey. Dark, at times bleak and sad, at times very funny and witty indeed, sometimes violent, occasionally possibly near the knuckle to some (topics include drug wars, religion, and abortion), but the story is always very very readable and the author always keeps you wanting to turn the pages.

This time around, Dan, now a private investigator, takes on the job of tracking a missing person, the daughter of a billionaire. Alison Wolff was last seen at a party, where terrible tragedy occurred. Has she been kidnapped, is she still alive? It's up to Dan to find out, and inevitably as per usual he gets up to his neck in it all, finding fresh and deeper trouble at each turn, this time getting mixed up in religious cults and drug gangs. Amazingly, for those who have been with them throughout the series of novels, Trish is still around despite everything.

I love the dark humour, the writing style, the intrigue and twists in the story, the close calls and near misses, the sharp, witty dialogue, and I'm always curious to find out what Dan Starkey will get involved with next. Do give one of his books a try if you've never read one before, ideally I'd recommend starting with an earlier novel, if for example you wanted to follow Dan's path from the start, though it's not a prerequisite for reading this one, but I think it does add to the enjoyment if you know the background. I think this is an author whose books you can get addicted to, and I'm always pleased to see a new one appear.

[Gram · Rating 4 out of 5]

The following is the review I posted om Amazon UK:

Fire & Brimstone is another Dan Starkey thriller from (Colin) Bateman and I think it's well up to his usual high standard.
This time round, Starkey is searching for the missing, presumed dead, daughter of a billionaire media mogul. Meanwhile, there's trouble with Starkey's ex wife Trish and his extended family. During Dan's search for the girl whose real identity is only know to a few, the plot veers off to cover the firebombing of a Belfast abortion clinic and the activities of a cult religion, known as "The New Seekers". On top of that are vicious turf wars involving Belfast drug gangs and the dealing in a new drug called "Crush". As usual, Dan's muddled investigative techniques - with the aid of a female reporter from his former newspaper - lead him into trouble. He is caught in the middle of the gang wars and the machinations of the New Seekers. With several twists towards the end (although I have to boast that I saw one of them coming) the chances of Dan and Trish surviving seem slim. Violence is everywhere and some familiar faces appear to help or hinder Dan on his way to finding the missing girl, dead or alive. Thrills and smiles aplenty.

[Ed Goodman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dan Starkey is hardly your typical book hero - a magnet for every element of danger you can imagine, thoughtless, and annoyingly (for every other character, but not the reader) sarcastic. There's a reason Colin Bateman is my favourite fictional writer and it's because his novels are always fast paced, often dark and menacing, with a sublime thread of black humour throughout. This - the 10th in the Dan Starkey series - is one of his best.

[Paul McBride · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never read a book by this author, but after reading Fire and Brimstone I will certainly seek the rest in this series out.
Not much Irish slang so it was an easy read, and the story moved along at a good clip. The main character reminded me of the smart ass behavior of hJoe R Lansdale's characters Hap & Leonard, just without the access to multiple firearms.

[Mick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fanfeckingtastic.

[Sarah Woodburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hysterical

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

Usually I get to three stars when I actually finish a book I did not like, but this one just irritated me too much to follow that protocol. I kept with it to find out how the plot resolved itself, and I guessed most of it, though not the final twist.

The book started off well enough. Dan Starkey is like so many private investigators: short of work, and with the usual divorce. That did not bother me. But he is such a jerk that it got harder to root for him.

The plot is wretchedly overdone. There are all kinds of bad guys, and no character with whom I could bond as a reader. There are just too many big events, including the bombing of family planning clinic and a stay with a religious cult. It was overkill.

Speaking of overkill, this is one of the most graphically violent stories I have read. I am ok with people getting shot, but draw the line at a description of brains spattering. I am not on board with torture, or killing people by dropping them in acid. It was a struggle to keep reading that stuff, and it just kept on coming. I suppose people who like thrillers somehow enjoy this. But for me, if I want to read this kind of story, I recommend as far superior the work of Christopher Brookmyre or Caimh McDonnell. They are also more effectively funny.

And, this was weird. This book does not exist in any library in the state where I live, so I had to get it from out of state. My library told me a good news/bad news story: yes, they could get the book, but I would have to read it in the library. So I bought it on amazon, which was ok, but unprecedented.

[Sydney Stylites · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't know what to expect. But I didn't like it.
The protagonist is despicable! But having read his Mystery Man series, that was hardly a surprise.
It's a detective story where the protagonist was an upshot journalist who's now retired and working as a detective. This dude has issues in his personal life, and his wife has left him but it's a pretty amicable divorce all around. So they are still family, I guess?
Aside from his dysfunctional family life, he is a pretty horrible dude all around. And I can't say much about his 'detective' skills.
He throws a bunch of money around in gangster-infested Ireland (idk how he expected that to end up) and attracts the attention of a super mega evil drug lord, who kidnaps his family.
All sorts of nastiness proceeds. People collaterally die (but of course, it's no one important so that's perfectly all right).
There's stuff about a Church cult as well. A messiah is there too.

Anyway, after all the craziness, the dude 'solves' the mystery (ha!) but he doesn't.
It was an awful ending.
It was stupid.

Utter trite!

[Hank Pharis · Rating 3 out of 5]

(NOTE: I'm stingy with stars. For me 2 stars means a good book or a B. 3 stars means a very good book or a B+. 4 stars means an outstanding book or an A {only about 5% of the books I read merit 4 stars}. 5 stars means an all time favorite or an A+ {Only one of 400 or 500 books rates this!).

I don't remember why I borrowed this book but it turned out to be quite entertaining. So I checked to see if there are more books in this series and found out that it is the 9th of a series. So I guess I'll have to back track to get caught up to where I am.

[Jhmtan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was kind of fun to read, but got really draggy around halfway through. Skipped the last eighth of the book cos it was due at the library and just read the ending...

[Tim Wickens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining but a bit ridiculus

[Adelaide · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bateman is always such a fun read. Between ridiculous and thrilling, this book definitely kept me entertained!

[Paul Markham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is good. The wisecracks and smart ass comments get a bit much but the story and pace are good

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was on a real Colin Bateman kick when I was younger… in the late nineties and early two-thousands. I blazed through _Divorcing Jack_, which was a revelation: I loved the narrative voice and the wild plot. Every time I entered a book store I would check first the 'A' section of the fiction shelves, and then proceed to the 'B' section for a new book by Mr. Bateman.
And Colin's recent resurgence on Kickstarter and Facebook got me back into his work, which I'd left, for whatever reason (maybe he simply stopped churning out books at a pace that kept up with my book store visits). I enjoyed his re-launched collection of short stories, _Dublin Express_, and, on the back of it, bought the audiobook of _Fire and Brimstone_, his latest book not financed by Kickstarter.
And there it was, suddenly, Dan Starkey, like some old buddy, back in the saddle. The voice was the same, after all he'd been through (near divorce, infidelity, by both himself and Trish, the death of their son, numerous beatings) and off he dove into a fresh adventure.
Almost immediately I was glad I'd given Dan a break for a number of years before tackling this book, I don't know that I could read them all back-to-back, because Dan is, intentionally, I believe, a pretty unsympathetic character. By the time I'd gotten halfway through I thought the plot was interesting enough, but an unease with the whole book began to settle over me. By the time he runs into his third (or so) bad guy I clocked it: the book feels like one long, drawn-out bad guy monologue. From Harry Frank, the drug dealer, from a high figure in a new cult on the streets of Belfast, from Trish, from Dan, himself, from the leader of the Botanic Boat Crew. They all take the stage, proclaim to the audience how they're going to do what they're going to do or why they're going to do it, and then exeunt, stage left. Except for Dan, who sticks around to chuck witty little quips in everyone's direction. More than anything else in the book, the tendency of the characters to wibble on a bit grated the most.
The action gets a little predictable, and if you've read any other Dan Starkey books you can probably guess the outcome and resolution to a few of the mysteries. But it's familiar turf to Bateman's readers, with Belfast getting a little drug and gang makeover, in lieu of sectarian violence, which is entertaining enough.

[Alan Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have enjoyed Colin Bateman's books, especially his Dan Starkey series, since I first discovered his first, 'Divorcing Jack'. I have always been fond of Starkey, despite him being something of an idiot, perhaps because we're roughly of an age, I'm from Northern Ireland, and we share a common history. I have always found his sarcastic wisecracks and self-centred nature funny but in this novel I gradually came to consider him, as his estranged wife, Patricia, calls him 'a wanker'. Possibly because I listened to the audiobook of 'Fire and Brimstone' Starkey became increasingly irritating as the book went on (the books are narrated in the first person). It's not that Adam Moore reads the story badly, in fact, he is very good although not the voice that I had in my head from reading previous novels (and Starkey would surely know how to pronounce Maghaberry - a minor point). The plot is serviceable, the characters fairly well-drawn and some of the Ulster humour is very good but it's like getting together with an old friend only to find you don't have a lot in common anymore and that the quirks you liked about him are now just annoying.... There is a new Starkey novel out and I'll give it a chance but feel I may be better following up Bateman's Mystery Man series instead.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favourite Bateman offering by any means but I found it engaging all the same. It was mildly pleasant to be back with Dan Starkey for all that he is a pretty stereotypical flawed investigator with relationship problems. I could guess some of the dialogue and that it would be quite graphically violent, given that it was about drugs and gangs. There was an eerie almost sci fi air to it though with 'crush' the new drug and the religious cult.

I did like the way the story looped back to earlier events in various ways and although Dan ditches journalist Sarah once or twice or maybe three times (but not four) too often, generally you can see a man trying to do the right thing, and things did not turn out all that predictably. I didn't get to visit the museum on my one visit to Northern Ireland and I think I would have found it less boring but the swan boats in Bangor gave me a pang of nostalgia. Distrubing how reading is all about me, me, me...

[Scotchneat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short review. Not as fun as some of Bateman's other books, which I've enjoyed very much.

Poor Dan Starkey is somehow more inept with age, it seems. He's off chasing down a billionaire's missing daughter and dealing with attacks on the local abortion clinic.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a while since I read about Dan Starkey, and I think I missed him, or rather the chaos he causes with his wrong questions and even more wrong attitude.
Cracking story, with a nice reminder back to some earlier stuff.
Still sad about Stevie though.

[Aleece O'Connor · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a bit like reading a junior teen novel. No substance to the storyline and sentence structure like it was written by a 13 year old.

[Mikeh5972 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very easy read even though there were some pretty unpleasant things going on. I enjoyed Dan Starkey's antics again after not reading one of these stories for quite some time. Colin Bateman manages to maintain a high level of humour throughout the story.