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Experts in a Dying Field
The Heathens thought of themselves as 'the 1000th best band of all time'. Then their tour van crashed, and one of their members died.
Twenty years later, weird things are happening in Dublin, bringing the surviving members of the band together in ways none of them could have anticipated and lifting the lid on mysteries from their shared past.
Experts in a Dying Field is a gloriously sharp, witty and surprising novel about friendship, secrets, the strange workings of grief and guilt, and the joyful alchemy of music, from a writer with a unique ability to access humour and deep emotion.
Praise for Patrick Freyne...
'Patrick Freyne is a comic genius' MARIAN KEYES
'A writer of rare humour, depth, and humanity' MARK O'CONNELL
'No one makes me laugh like Patrick Freyne' PAUL HOWARD
'A brilliant writer' BLINDBOY BOATCLUB
'Patrick Freyne has a distinct and enviable gift for story-telling' SINÉAD GLEESON
'One of the funniest writers in Ireland' IRISH EXAMINER
Twenty years later, weird things are happening in Dublin, bringing the surviving members of the band together in ways none of them could have anticipated and lifting the lid on mysteries from their shared past.
Experts in a Dying Field is a gloriously sharp, witty and surprising novel about friendship, secrets, the strange workings of grief and guilt, and the joyful alchemy of music, from a writer with a unique ability to access humour and deep emotion.
Praise for Patrick Freyne...
'Patrick Freyne is a comic genius' MARIAN KEYES
'A writer of rare humour, depth, and humanity' MARK O'CONNELL
'No one makes me laugh like Patrick Freyne' PAUL HOWARD
'A brilliant writer' BLINDBOY BOATCLUB
'Patrick Freyne has a distinct and enviable gift for story-telling' SINÉAD GLEESON
'One of the funniest writers in Ireland' IRISH EXAMINER
Hardcover
Expected publication June 11, 2026
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40 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 26, 2025
Experts in a Dying Field (2026) is a sporadically enjoyable and over ambitious book about a fictional Irish band called The Heathens. The band considered themselves "the 1000th best band of all time." After a tragic tour van crash kills one of the members, the surviving members are brought back together twenty years later by weird happenings in Dublin, uncovering mysteries from their shared past. I thought I was going to love this book as I generally love books about bands and music but alas it was just okay.
Patrick Freyne includes a plethora of different characters to try and keep track of, and this is often aligned to all manner of different points of view and styles of writing. I can't fault its ambition but I was often adrift and unsure what was going on. I went with it and found it all very readable but suspect I missed aspects of the story. Or maybe not? None of it felt very consequential.
3/5
The Heathens thought of themselves as 'the 1000th best band of all time'. Then their tour van crashed, and one of their members died.
Twenty years later, weird things are happening in Dublin, bringing the surviving members of the band together in ways none of them could have anticipated and lifting the lid on mysteries from their shared past.
Experts in a Dying Field is a gloriously sharp, witty and surprising novel about friendship, secrets, the strange workings of grief and guilt, and the joyful alchemy of music, from a writer with a unique ability to access humour and deep emotion.
Praise for Patrick Freyne...
'Patrick Freyne is a comic genius' MARIAN KEYES
'A writer of rare humour, depth, and humanity' MARK O'CONNELL
'No one makes me laugh like Patrick Freyne' PAUL HOWARD
'A brilliant writer' BLINDBOY BOATCLUB
'Patrick Freyne has a distinct and enviable gift for story-telling' SINÉAD GLEESON
'One of the funniest writers in Ireland' IRISH EXAMINER
Patrick Freyne includes a plethora of different characters to try and keep track of, and this is often aligned to all manner of different points of view and styles of writing. I can't fault its ambition but I was often adrift and unsure what was going on. I went with it and found it all very readable but suspect I missed aspects of the story. Or maybe not? None of it felt very consequential.
3/5
The Heathens thought of themselves as 'the 1000th best band of all time'. Then their tour van crashed, and one of their members died.
Twenty years later, weird things are happening in Dublin, bringing the surviving members of the band together in ways none of them could have anticipated and lifting the lid on mysteries from their shared past.
Experts in a Dying Field is a gloriously sharp, witty and surprising novel about friendship, secrets, the strange workings of grief and guilt, and the joyful alchemy of music, from a writer with a unique ability to access humour and deep emotion.
Praise for Patrick Freyne...
'Patrick Freyne is a comic genius' MARIAN KEYES
'A writer of rare humour, depth, and humanity' MARK O'CONNELL
'No one makes me laugh like Patrick Freyne' PAUL HOWARD
'A brilliant writer' BLINDBOY BOATCLUB
'Patrick Freyne has a distinct and enviable gift for story-telling' SINÉAD GLEESON
'One of the funniest writers in Ireland' IRISH EXAMINER
January 15, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!
‘Experts in a Dying Field’ is a found media collection of bits and pieces, as well as narrative, that builds into the story of an underground in Ireland that never quite made it to the big time. It was a really well presented book and I enjoyed the context all the pieces put into the story- it felt very much like drawing all the fragments together to form a full picture.
I think the disconnect for me a bit was in how many characters there were and what we learn about them. I don’t feel I got to know them as people, which was really disappointing, as I feel it would have added a lot to the story for me. I just wanted to get to know them outside of the band context, and I didn’t feel as much of that heart was there.
I do think that the central mystery was enough to keep me engaged though, which I appreciated- and there were satellite conundrums that were good as well. I just wanted a little bit more punch in how we saw these people as a whole.
Also the cover for this one? Gorgeous. Such a beautiful design.
‘Experts in a Dying Field’ is a found media collection of bits and pieces, as well as narrative, that builds into the story of an underground in Ireland that never quite made it to the big time. It was a really well presented book and I enjoyed the context all the pieces put into the story- it felt very much like drawing all the fragments together to form a full picture.
I think the disconnect for me a bit was in how many characters there were and what we learn about them. I don’t feel I got to know them as people, which was really disappointing, as I feel it would have added a lot to the story for me. I just wanted to get to know them outside of the band context, and I didn’t feel as much of that heart was there.
I do think that the central mystery was enough to keep me engaged though, which I appreciated- and there were satellite conundrums that were good as well. I just wanted a little bit more punch in how we saw these people as a whole.
Also the cover for this one? Gorgeous. Such a beautiful design.
December 26, 2025
For the majority of this book, I very much enjoyed it.
I felt the warmth and friendship between these characters.
Their pain, and the struggle to put lives back together.
It made me feel all nostalgic for old friends (I hadn't been in a band with)
It had a cast of wonderful characters, from the main band, to Becca and Edie. Each perfect for what was needed of them.
But some scenes just felt a bit off to me, I always think I'm not quite understanding the context. I'm a simple person 😃
It didn't spoil my enjoyment of the book, just left me momentarily puzzled.
I felt the warmth and friendship between these characters.
Their pain, and the struggle to put lives back together.
It made me feel all nostalgic for old friends (I hadn't been in a band with)
It had a cast of wonderful characters, from the main band, to Becca and Edie. Each perfect for what was needed of them.
But some scenes just felt a bit off to me, I always think I'm not quite understanding the context. I'm a simple person 😃
It didn't spoil my enjoyment of the book, just left me momentarily puzzled.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews