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Ryan Cusack #2
The Blood Miracles
The second novel from the author of the Baileys Prize-winning The Glorious Heresies
Like all twenty-year-olds, Ryan Cusack is trying to get his head around who he is.
This is not a good time for his boss to exploit his dual heritage by opening a new black market route from Italy to Ireland. It is certainly not a good time for his adored girlfriend to decide he's irreparably corrupted. And he really wishes he hadn't accidentally caught the eye of an ornery grandmother who fancies herself his saviour.
There may be a way clear of the chaos in the business proposals of music promoter Colm and in the attention of the charming, impulsive Natalie. But now that his boss's ambitions have rattled the city, Ryan is about to find out what he's made of, and it might be that chaos is in his blood.
308 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 6, 2017
41 people are currently reading
1244 people want to read
About the author
Lisa McInerney
23 books326 followersLisa McInerney’s work has featured in Winter Papers, The Stinging Fly, Granta and BBC Radio 4 and in the anthologies Beyond The Centre, The Long Gaze Back and Town and Country. Her debut novel The Glorious Heresies won the 2016 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction and the 2016 Desmond Elliott Prize. Her second novel, The Blood Miracles, is published by John Murray in April 2017.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 154 reviews
February 1, 2018
Lisa McInerney follows the joy, wit and humour of The Glorious Heresies and its wonderful cast of memorable Irish characters residing in the port city of Cork with a more singular focus on the now 20 year old Ryan Cusack, a more troubled, disturbed and adrift man experiencing serious mental health issues in this sequel. The tone is darker as we follow the inevitable and tragic trajectory of Ryan's life in crime, his personal life a mess with his involvement with Natalie. It is barely surprising that Karine's patience with Ryan wears thin as her attempts to push him onto more fruitful paths in life fall on stony ground. The comic touches, heart, wit and the more complex characterisation of The Glorious Heresies have almost disappeared in this book with its greater focus on crime, drug deals, the forays to connect to Italy by using Ryan's Italian heritage, twists and crime bosses who exploit and betray. Ryan is a more frustrating character with his addictions, trapped, often his own worst enemy, and barely aware of what is going on around him. What I did appreciate was McInerney's writing and her portrayal of an Ireland where so many face such economic hardships as they struggle to survive. Many thanks to John Murray Press for an ARC.
May 13, 2018
Not for the faint hearted or readers who believe Ireland is the land of Saints and Leprachauns, fairy forts and Fairies as Ryan Cusack and his cronies would instill a fear in St Patrick himself
Blood Miracles by Lisa McInerney is the second installment in the Ryan Cusak saga and is a novel rich in wit and humor and a serious amount of profanity but I was expecting a little more second time around from this author. Having enjoyed The Glorious Heresies
I was looking forward to this novel by Lisa McInerney and while I enjoyed the book and had many laugh out loud moments I was hoping to see Lisa take her second novel to in a different direction as I got got a little tired of the drugs world and the goons that went with it. Not sure Blood Miracles works as a stand alone novel and feel I would have been compleatly lost if I hadn't already read Glorious Heresies.I listened to this one on Audiible and it is probably one of the best narrated stories I have ever listened to. The narrator is amazing and the accents and characters and Cork City are really brought to life in the reading. I actually listened to this book in one day and I would rate this 5 stars for the narration alone.
Lisa McInerney's writing is witty, imaginative and at times pure crude but the gangster theme and crime related world wore a little thin and by the end I was glad to part company with Ryan Cusack and his goons.
June 26, 2018
Lisa McInerney's The Glorious Heresies was a very powerful debut, and this sequel in which she returns to its Cork location and many of the same characters, was keenly anticipated.
I was aware that many of the initial reviews were negative, and perhaps this lowered my own expectations, but my impressions remain largely positive - it retains the freshness, vibrancy and vitality of the original while narrowing the focus from a disparate group to a single character, the young drug dealer Ryan, and his existential struggle to resolve the conflicting interests and loyalties of the gangsters he works with, his long term girlfriend Karine and his family.
Much of the subject matter is distasteful - there is plenty of violence, plenty of drug taking and none of the characters is entirely sympathetic, and it does verge on melodramatic thriller territory at times, but overall I found it a very enjoyable book, and I raced through it in two days. I am still looking forward to the final part of the trilogy.
I was aware that many of the initial reviews were negative, and perhaps this lowered my own expectations, but my impressions remain largely positive - it retains the freshness, vibrancy and vitality of the original while narrowing the focus from a disparate group to a single character, the young drug dealer Ryan, and his existential struggle to resolve the conflicting interests and loyalties of the gangsters he works with, his long term girlfriend Karine and his family.
Much of the subject matter is distasteful - there is plenty of violence, plenty of drug taking and none of the characters is entirely sympathetic, and it does verge on melodramatic thriller territory at times, but overall I found it a very enjoyable book, and I raced through it in two days. I am still looking forward to the final part of the trilogy.
July 2, 2018
Apparently this is an unpopular opinion, but I loved this just as much as The Glorious Heresies. I understand why a lot of people didn't. The Glorious Heresies is dark but it still retains a lot of signature Irish humor, and some warmth along with that. The Blood Miracles on the other hand is just a black tragedy. It picks up where McInerney's previous novel left off, but it follows the thread of only one of the protagonists (though a few others play peripheral roles). And it was an interesting choice to shift from following five characters to following only one, but I have no complaints here as McInerney picked the right one.
I can't think of any character I've read recently who I love as much as Ryan Cusack. Ryan is a drug dealer, both his own worst enemy and a victim of circumstance as he was raised by his abusive alcoholic father after his mother's death. While The Glorious Heresies thoroughly examined Ryan's relationship with his father and the near impossibility of breaking out of the life of crime and poverty that he's been raised into, The Blood Miracles shifts the focus to another aspect of Ryan's identity - the Italian side he inherited from his mother. As his boss Dan brokers a deal with the Italian Camorra and forces Ryan into the role of translator, Ryan faces conflicts both internal and external, as he tries to forge a place for himself in this new enterprise without alienating his concerned girlfriend Karine.
The main reason I imagine The Blood Miracles hasn't gone over as well as The Glorious Heresies is that the only plot here revolves around the intricacies of drug dealing and Irish gang dynamics, and if you tried to sell this book to me with that pitch alone I can't say I'd be terribly excited about it. But I think it's a testament to McInerney's skill that I was riveted. She expertly peels back the layers of contemporary Irish society to reveal its dark underworld, infusing her narration with Cork dialect to lend it a vibrant authenticity. This book is brutally, unflinchingly honest in a way that I find so refreshing.
I just adore McInerney's writing. I love her distinctly unpolished style, her flawed and vulnerable and occasionally loathsome characters, her skill at tying together personal and social conflicts. This book is even darker and more violent than its predecessor and I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, but if any of that appeals to you, I cannot recommend these books highly enough. I'm not sure if she's planning on writing more in this series, but I thought the ending was perfect - it ties up all loose ends while still leaving the door open if she chooses to continue Ryan's story. I really hope she does.
I can't think of any character I've read recently who I love as much as Ryan Cusack. Ryan is a drug dealer, both his own worst enemy and a victim of circumstance as he was raised by his abusive alcoholic father after his mother's death. While The Glorious Heresies thoroughly examined Ryan's relationship with his father and the near impossibility of breaking out of the life of crime and poverty that he's been raised into, The Blood Miracles shifts the focus to another aspect of Ryan's identity - the Italian side he inherited from his mother. As his boss Dan brokers a deal with the Italian Camorra and forces Ryan into the role of translator, Ryan faces conflicts both internal and external, as he tries to forge a place for himself in this new enterprise without alienating his concerned girlfriend Karine.
The main reason I imagine The Blood Miracles hasn't gone over as well as The Glorious Heresies is that the only plot here revolves around the intricacies of drug dealing and Irish gang dynamics, and if you tried to sell this book to me with that pitch alone I can't say I'd be terribly excited about it. But I think it's a testament to McInerney's skill that I was riveted. She expertly peels back the layers of contemporary Irish society to reveal its dark underworld, infusing her narration with Cork dialect to lend it a vibrant authenticity. This book is brutally, unflinchingly honest in a way that I find so refreshing.
I just adore McInerney's writing. I love her distinctly unpolished style, her flawed and vulnerable and occasionally loathsome characters, her skill at tying together personal and social conflicts. This book is even darker and more violent than its predecessor and I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, but if any of that appeals to you, I cannot recommend these books highly enough. I'm not sure if she's planning on writing more in this series, but I thought the ending was perfect - it ties up all loose ends while still leaving the door open if she chooses to continue Ryan's story. I really hope she does.
October 22, 2019
The Blood Miracles - now available in German!
I see why McInerney has been called the Irish Irvine Welsh: This book is unapologetically dark and gritty, it depicts criminals and the poor working class without condemning violence, alcohol and drug use. Accordingly, the main strength of the novel is not the plot, but the character study of the protagonist, 20-year-old Irish-Italian drug dealer Ryan Cusack. Losing his mother at an early age and growing up with a violent, alcoholic father, Ryan drops out of school and gets involved in Cork's underworld, trying to get by and looking for recognition while secretly dreaming of pursuing a career as a musician.
When he helps drug lord Dan to score a major shipment of high quality ecstasy from Naples, he finds himself in the middle of the drug war between Dan and the main drug supplier of the town, Phelan. Caught up in a web of loyalties, old debts, and blackmail, Ryan has to fear for his life, and every step he takes is a decision for or against another player in this deadly game. The fact that his sensible girlfriend Karine leaves him and Ryan starts an affair with a woman who will turn out to be involved in the drug scheme doesn't help either. This is a pretty good plot for a crime novel (a gernre for which I am certainly not an expert), but I have to admit that the story does have its lengths, especially when later on, side characters who were never properly introduced as three-dimensional people take on important roles - it's pretty hard to fully grasp their motivations.
Still, I really enjoyed how McInerney evokes the Irish underworld without glorifying it or, the other extreme, turning the book into a piece of social commentary. This matter-of-fact approach does help the story and creates a complex sympathy for Ryan, this damaged guy who takes drugs, cheats on his girlfriend and makes all kinds of mistakes. The novel also contains multiple letters he wrote to his mother after her death, which helps to understand his perspective.
It is regrettable though that the German translation reads like, well, a translation: In many instances, I paused and thought what this sentence must have been in English, because the German version sounds so clumsy or out-of-place for the characters speaking. This is pretty unfortunate, especially as the original version was often lauded for its gripping language.
But all in all, Lisa McInerney is an author to watch - just like Ottessa Moshfegh and Sibylle Berg, she adds an important dimension to female writing.
I see why McInerney has been called the Irish Irvine Welsh: This book is unapologetically dark and gritty, it depicts criminals and the poor working class without condemning violence, alcohol and drug use. Accordingly, the main strength of the novel is not the plot, but the character study of the protagonist, 20-year-old Irish-Italian drug dealer Ryan Cusack. Losing his mother at an early age and growing up with a violent, alcoholic father, Ryan drops out of school and gets involved in Cork's underworld, trying to get by and looking for recognition while secretly dreaming of pursuing a career as a musician.
When he helps drug lord Dan to score a major shipment of high quality ecstasy from Naples, he finds himself in the middle of the drug war between Dan and the main drug supplier of the town, Phelan. Caught up in a web of loyalties, old debts, and blackmail, Ryan has to fear for his life, and every step he takes is a decision for or against another player in this deadly game. The fact that his sensible girlfriend Karine leaves him and Ryan starts an affair with a woman who will turn out to be involved in the drug scheme doesn't help either. This is a pretty good plot for a crime novel (a gernre for which I am certainly not an expert), but I have to admit that the story does have its lengths, especially when later on, side characters who were never properly introduced as three-dimensional people take on important roles - it's pretty hard to fully grasp their motivations.
Still, I really enjoyed how McInerney evokes the Irish underworld without glorifying it or, the other extreme, turning the book into a piece of social commentary. This matter-of-fact approach does help the story and creates a complex sympathy for Ryan, this damaged guy who takes drugs, cheats on his girlfriend and makes all kinds of mistakes. The novel also contains multiple letters he wrote to his mother after her death, which helps to understand his perspective.
It is regrettable though that the German translation reads like, well, a translation: In many instances, I paused and thought what this sentence must have been in English, because the German version sounds so clumsy or out-of-place for the characters speaking. This is pretty unfortunate, especially as the original version was often lauded for its gripping language.
But all in all, Lisa McInerney is an author to watch - just like Ottessa Moshfegh and Sibylle Berg, she adds an important dimension to female writing.
May 27, 2021
You're the musician, echoes an ould wain, thumb pressing down on his hand. But you're not playing, are you?The Glorious Heresies, which I read in early 2017, remains one of my favourite reads of the year - my review - and like many others I was really looking forward to this sequel, which has been very well received in the press (the New Statesman's review, while favourable, being the most balanced http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/b...).
However, the GR reviews by Neil, Gumble's Yard and MisterHobgoblin had correctly lowered my expectations that this sequel lacked many of the qualities of The Glorious Heresies, particularly the multiple storylines and shifting perspectives between a range of fascinatingly sketched characters.
In contrast, The Blood Miracles focuses on just one key character from the earlier work - Ryan Cusack, an articulate if under-educated small-time drug dealer (https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...).
A mess in blood and in deed. The oldest son of Tony Cusack and Maria Cattaneo is Cork City born and bred and in its singsong accent speakers fluent Italian, shaky Neapolitan and rough and rapid Hiberno. His eyes are the colour of black treacle and his olive skin is pales by adjacency to the Atlantic; his nonna, with varying degrees of sincerity, blames everything from draughts to the malocchio for his pallor. He takes up just under six feet and a good bit less across the chest than he should, exile being the kind of thing that makes a man skinny. His is the business of fledgling savages the world over: he facilitates the movement of illegal inebriants from his foolhardy class into the hands and mouths and nostrils of those who should know better. He feigns a swagger to hide the fact that he doesn't breathe easy and sleep well. He has notions about his future; he feels violently inadequate sometimes; he hasn't had enough practice to be a good shot.
Having had my expectations calibrated down in advance, I still harboured hopes that this could be an interesting focused character study of Ryan and his inner conflicts. And this is indeed the strongest part of the novel, alongside McInerney's language, for example when his new girlfriend demands details of his glamorous life:
"I want to know you," she says, "And what you do is part of you."
So she seeks gory details, stories about rebellious users and gangsters cleaning guns in underground strip clubs. Would she mind if he detailed reality? It's all about moving around all day, scared shitless, talking shite and throwing shapes at those in the same boat, but knowing it's all chestnuts and mottos and platitudes, like you're working off a script.... So you deflect reality with notions like brotherhood, loyalty, hierarchy. Stupid dick-clutching fantasies. Stories Natalie wants to hear.
This is not part of Ryan. It's something Ryan does to keep the wolf from the door, even though the bears are inside picking their teeth by the fire.
The problem is that there isn't enough of this to sustain a 250+ page novel. And the other characters from the earlier book - particularly Maureen, the wonderful 'ornery grandmother', become mere background here.
McInerney instead reverts to more story - the drug deals that were mere colour in the original become key to the plot, with international ecstasy deals gone wrong, warring factions and a hunt for the betrayer, and this is turn is padded out with an uninteresting side story about the Cork nightclub scene, sentences like So for a while there were sets spun by DJs that blew his mind: Danny Howells, Steve Lawler, John Digweed. showing strong signs of over-research.
The problem is that McInerney, so good at character sketches, with an ear for language and imagery and the ability to sketch a whole city, is no crime thriller writer. The multiple plots in The Glorious Heresies concealed this by reducing the dependence on any one plot strand - although in retrospect there were warning signs when at one key moment she resorted to the Spiderman ending: offer a character a Sophie's choice and then let them take the "neither" option. Here, the story over-relies on Ryan missing crucial things for large periods - e.g. Maureen is the mother of his gangster boss - and also suffers from the Hollywood issue where much of the tension is rather dissipated by knowing the hero must survive to the end of the story.
That all being said, I will be coming back for the next instalment:
"The first one, The Glorious Heresies was sex, The Blood Miracles was drugs and the next one is rock ‘n roll. I’m not really sure exactly how it’s going to go. I’m looking forward to getting started but at the same time I’m terrified. (https://www.rte.ie/culture/2017/0412/...)
April 12, 2019
This city, like all cities, hates its natives. It would rather be in a constant state of replenishment than own up to what it has warped
Where The Glorious Heresies had several plot lines this one mainly focuses on Ryan and while I really love Ryan as an ever more complex character, it started feeling as of the same old issues and dramas were rehashed in an endless loop.
The dark humor that I enjoyed so much in the first book was also noticeably absent from this one which made for a much grimmer reading experience.
Ryan is a council boy trying very hard to make good and f*#*^%ing up at every turn. He knows that he has sold his soul to the devil in his latest business deal and combined with his ever-increasing dramas with women, it may just land him 6 feet under.
This was more of a challenging read than the first book, but I cannot deny the powerful writing and sense of place created. This is a talented author who gives you a glimpse of Ireland in all its raw, unvarnished glory.
Recommended for readers who loved The Glorious Heresies
September 10, 2018
McInerney's second novel about a group of drug dealers in Cork City, but so much more. Ryan Cusack has been dealing drugs for 6 or 7 years. He has been with his girlfriend Karine for 6 years. Things go sour between them and Ryan gets into even more trouble. I was not liking this much for the first part of the book. In general, I am not fond of stories of gangsters and thugs. Part of the story is whether or not Ryan is either. He is certainly into bad stuff. Eventually, I got pulled in.
This is worth reading if you were a fan of McInerney's first book The Glorious Heresies. I liked the first better, but nonetheless, this is a worthwhile read. There is violence, deception, betrayals, and plot twists. If you follow new Irish fiction, this is a must-read.
This is worth reading if you were a fan of McInerney's first book The Glorious Heresies. I liked the first better, but nonetheless, this is a worthwhile read. There is violence, deception, betrayals, and plot twists. If you follow new Irish fiction, this is a must-read.
April 24, 2017
There's a problem with reading this book: either you read The Glorious Heresies first or you don't. If you don't, you will miss out on a lot of the references in the story. If you do, however, you may well come away feeling let down by the comparison. I did.
To be fair, it could go either way. For some people, the move from multiple story lines to a focus on just a single character will mean the book is tighter and more compelling because there is time to build the tension with everything related from a single viewpoint. For others, and I am one of these, it lacks the sparkle and ebullience of its predecessor.
I’m going to be unfair now and concentrate on the things I didn’t like about the book. This will make it seem worse than it is, I think, but there were several things that bugged me.
I enjoyed Heresies a lot, but what I liked about it was the multiple perspectives, whereas this is just a straightforward story of drug deals. What I liked was some of the complexity in the characters, but this focuses on a single character and he seems to have become a lot shallower between the books. Heresies seemed to be able to combine tragedy and comedy, but this is fairly unremittingly tragic. Unfortunately, there are also rather too many cliched scenes and a twist that you can see coming from a long way off.
Apart from all that, it was great!
Things are set up well at the end for Part 3. I’d be up for it if it goes back to the Part 1 approach, but I am not so sure if it continues with Part 2’s style.
To be fair, it could go either way. For some people, the move from multiple story lines to a focus on just a single character will mean the book is tighter and more compelling because there is time to build the tension with everything related from a single viewpoint. For others, and I am one of these, it lacks the sparkle and ebullience of its predecessor.
I’m going to be unfair now and concentrate on the things I didn’t like about the book. This will make it seem worse than it is, I think, but there were several things that bugged me.
I enjoyed Heresies a lot, but what I liked about it was the multiple perspectives, whereas this is just a straightforward story of drug deals. What I liked was some of the complexity in the characters, but this focuses on a single character and he seems to have become a lot shallower between the books. Heresies seemed to be able to combine tragedy and comedy, but this is fairly unremittingly tragic. Unfortunately, there are also rather too many cliched scenes and a twist that you can see coming from a long way off.
Apart from all that, it was great!
Things are set up well at the end for Part 3. I’d be up for it if it goes back to the Part 1 approach, but I am not so sure if it continues with Part 2’s style.
August 17, 2022
Absolutely BRILLIANT.
July 15, 2018
My opinion is kind of torn on this one. A book full of characters who live on drugs, sex, booze and criminality. Violence is ever presence. It's not a pleasant read but at the same time I guess this is life for some.
The central character of Ryan edges on drug fuelled craziness as he juggles two girlfriends, one also being his violent boss Dan's latest lover, dodging the local mob boss, a missing drug shipment, his relationship with his father and his desire to somehow escape.
Like the first book in this trilogy the story ends with hope for a better future but I am not confident Ryan will escape his demons.
The central character of Ryan edges on drug fuelled craziness as he juggles two girlfriends, one also being his violent boss Dan's latest lover, dodging the local mob boss, a missing drug shipment, his relationship with his father and his desire to somehow escape.
Like the first book in this trilogy the story ends with hope for a better future but I am not confident Ryan will escape his demons.
April 13, 2017
‘This city, like all cities, hates its natives. It would rather be in a constant state of replenishment than own up to what it has warped. Ryan sees it well enough: the tribes in town, hipster baristas and skinny suits and the tides of students pushing the rest of them back up the hills.’
Let me start by saying that I was a huge fan of Lisa McInerney’s debut The Glorious Heresies. Back in 2015, this book grabbed everyone’s attention and took the literary world by storm. The following year saw awarding of the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Desmond Elliott Prize add to the furore of a remarkable debut. To say that I came to The Blood Miracles with high expectations is an understatement.
And here is where we get to the problem with expectations… You start a book expecting more of the same and then you become disorientated when you discover that the author has other plans for you! As I began reading The Blood Miracles, it quickly became evident that McInerney had not written an easy by-the-numbers sequel to piggyback on to her previous success. Instead, she took her dark world in a slightly different direction and changed the perspective. You have to admire her greatly for this. The end result is both a satisfying sequel (which is important for her loyal readers) and a fantastic book capable of standing alone in it’s own right.
Cork City once again makes an excellent setting in Lisa McInerney’s The Blood Miracles.
The Blood Miracles sees us climb deep inside the head of 20-year-old tearaway Ryan Cusack, ‘the assemblage of seven years of wrongdoings.‘ Whereas in her previous novel, the reader was treated to multiple narratives, this time we get the story of Cork’s cutthroat underworld solely from Ryan’s perspective. Yes, the devoted fan will keen for the quirky characters of old, but rest assured that these favourites do appear all in good time.
In the meantime, we discover that Ryan is not in a good place mentally at all. A couple of half-baked suicide attempts have left him in limbo. His long term girlfriend Karine is fed up of his moods, his dad Tony is a broken man and his boss Dan Kane is relentless in both his own personal ambitions and his dark designs for Ryan. All Ryan wants to do at times is ‘remove his head, place it on a shelf, throw a towel over it.’ But unfortunately there are no moments of peace and lurking all the while in the background is the malevolent shadow of crime kingpin J.P. Phelan.
From this starting point, McInerney’s weaves a deliciously intricate tale of misfortune remnant of Henry Hill’s busy day in Goodfellas. Poor Ryan cannot seem to catch a break and the walls seem to be closing in on him whichever direction he turns.
Once again, McInerney amazes with her swift turn of phrase and use of the vernacular. The sprinklings of Cork city slang add real flavour to this story and also give it a chilling authenticity. With rumours of a third and final instalment to this story, as well as the option of a TV series, I have a strong feeling that this will not be the last time that we hear from Ireland’s ‘Rebel County.’
Would I recommend this book to a friend?
Yes. This is a real slow burning crime novel that tightens the screw of the plot the more that you read. This will result in a couple of late nights reading as you endeavour to see how it all ends. Another excellent book from an emerging author at the top of her game. I look forward to seeing where her next novel goes.
Let me start by saying that I was a huge fan of Lisa McInerney’s debut The Glorious Heresies. Back in 2015, this book grabbed everyone’s attention and took the literary world by storm. The following year saw awarding of the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Desmond Elliott Prize add to the furore of a remarkable debut. To say that I came to The Blood Miracles with high expectations is an understatement.
And here is where we get to the problem with expectations… You start a book expecting more of the same and then you become disorientated when you discover that the author has other plans for you! As I began reading The Blood Miracles, it quickly became evident that McInerney had not written an easy by-the-numbers sequel to piggyback on to her previous success. Instead, she took her dark world in a slightly different direction and changed the perspective. You have to admire her greatly for this. The end result is both a satisfying sequel (which is important for her loyal readers) and a fantastic book capable of standing alone in it’s own right.
Cork City once again makes an excellent setting in Lisa McInerney’s The Blood Miracles.
The Blood Miracles sees us climb deep inside the head of 20-year-old tearaway Ryan Cusack, ‘the assemblage of seven years of wrongdoings.‘ Whereas in her previous novel, the reader was treated to multiple narratives, this time we get the story of Cork’s cutthroat underworld solely from Ryan’s perspective. Yes, the devoted fan will keen for the quirky characters of old, but rest assured that these favourites do appear all in good time.
In the meantime, we discover that Ryan is not in a good place mentally at all. A couple of half-baked suicide attempts have left him in limbo. His long term girlfriend Karine is fed up of his moods, his dad Tony is a broken man and his boss Dan Kane is relentless in both his own personal ambitions and his dark designs for Ryan. All Ryan wants to do at times is ‘remove his head, place it on a shelf, throw a towel over it.’ But unfortunately there are no moments of peace and lurking all the while in the background is the malevolent shadow of crime kingpin J.P. Phelan.
From this starting point, McInerney’s weaves a deliciously intricate tale of misfortune remnant of Henry Hill’s busy day in Goodfellas. Poor Ryan cannot seem to catch a break and the walls seem to be closing in on him whichever direction he turns.
Once again, McInerney amazes with her swift turn of phrase and use of the vernacular. The sprinklings of Cork city slang add real flavour to this story and also give it a chilling authenticity. With rumours of a third and final instalment to this story, as well as the option of a TV series, I have a strong feeling that this will not be the last time that we hear from Ireland’s ‘Rebel County.’
Would I recommend this book to a friend?
Yes. This is a real slow burning crime novel that tightens the screw of the plot the more that you read. This will result in a couple of late nights reading as you endeavour to see how it all ends. Another excellent book from an emerging author at the top of her game. I look forward to seeing where her next novel goes.
March 19, 2022
Great writing that's somehow both poetic and has all the touches of a friend recounting a favourite anecdote, yet without either element ever becoming annoying or taking focus off the story.
More of a straightforward crime novel than the last one, a lumpenprole tableau of Cork. Really reminds me of Irvine Welsh, with drug dealing replacing drug using and gentrification replacing slumminess. Thought not quite as zeitgeisty as Welsh can be, maybe, because it's more about diving into its own world than commenting on ours.
More of a straightforward crime novel than the last one, a lumpenprole tableau of Cork. Really reminds me of Irvine Welsh, with drug dealing replacing drug using and gentrification replacing slumminess. Thought not quite as zeitgeisty as Welsh can be, maybe, because it's more about diving into its own world than commenting on ours.
April 14, 2017
It's so intriguing coming to “The Blood Miracles” after reading Lisa McInerney's rhapsodic debut “The Glorious Heresies” about the lives of several disparate individuals in modern day Cork. This new book is a continuation of that story, but she narrows the focus onto Ryan who we first met as a teenager with his longterm girlfriend Karine. Ryan's initial involvement working for drug dealer Dan has morphed into becoming a key player in Dan's gangster circle. But these aren't the kind of modern gangsters portrayed in The Sopranos (as Ryan quite clearly states at one point.) I don't think it's necessary to have read “The Glorious Heresies” before reading this new book as Ryan's past and current situation are quite clearly explained at the beginning. However, it's interesting for me having first read McInerney's writing in her short story 'Berghain' from the anthology “The Long Gaze Back.” The style of this new novel more closely resembles that initial story. It captures the heady atmosphere of a young group of working class Irish men and women struggling to find their place in an economically-strained society. McInerney is particularly adept at portraying this conflict in her hero Ryan who finds himself at a crisis point in this novel without any strong role models or institutional support to guide him.
Read my full review of The Blood Miracles by Lisa McInerney on LonesomeReader
Read my full review of The Blood Miracles by Lisa McInerney on LonesomeReader
December 3, 2017
The Glorious Heresies was one of my favourite reads from last year, so I was really excited to read this sequel. Unfortunately, although it did show McInerney's wit and attention to detail, the focus solely on Ryan just didn't work as well for me and I was a little disappointed. Not a bad book, just not a patch on the first.
The audio narration by Shelley Atkinson was superb though.
3.5 stars
The audio narration by Shelley Atkinson was superb though.
3.5 stars
December 24, 2024
2.5 stars
Genuinely upset over how disappointing this was.
Where The Glorious Heresies had so much life, The Blood Miracles had almost none. And this novel's lifelessness is its most fundamental problem. Ryan goes through so much shit throughout the course of its narrative, and yet we never really see him deal with any of it. There are the occasional glimmers of depth and insight, but other than that, it felt like he was just going from one fuck-up to another, with no time for him--or us--to properly process the psychological or emotional repercussions of those fuck-ups. Like, I can maybe buy that that's part of Ryan's character, that the point is precisely that he's unable to grapple with his decisions and their consequences, but I don't think it makes for very compelling reading to have so little insight into a character who is making the most infuriatingly frustrating and idiotic decisions possible. And of course, Ryan made bad decisions in The Glorious Heresies, but that novel worked because we got to see his pain, his anguish, his awareness that he was constantly letting himself and the people he cared about down. The Ryan of The Blood Miracles is not subdued so much as he is hollow. He fucks up and you're like okay, I guess that's another shitty decision out of the 29037129371 shitty decisions he's already made... It was truly the most frustrating reading experience I've had all year.
I don't know what happened between The Glorious Heresies and The Blood Miracles, but something got lost along the way. The wit, the spirit, the energy of the first book is nowhere to be found here, and the result is a novel that feels like such a drag--depressing in a way that invites irritation rather than understanding from the reader (at least this reader). I was so ready to love this book; I would've forgiven it so much, and it still let me down.
(Also if I have to hear about Natalie in the next book I am going to SCREAM. OH MY GODDDDD I have never cared less about a character.)
Genuinely upset over how disappointing this was.
Where The Glorious Heresies had so much life, The Blood Miracles had almost none. And this novel's lifelessness is its most fundamental problem. Ryan goes through so much shit throughout the course of its narrative, and yet we never really see him deal with any of it. There are the occasional glimmers of depth and insight, but other than that, it felt like he was just going from one fuck-up to another, with no time for him--or us--to properly process the psychological or emotional repercussions of those fuck-ups. Like, I can maybe buy that that's part of Ryan's character, that the point is precisely that he's unable to grapple with his decisions and their consequences, but I don't think it makes for very compelling reading to have so little insight into a character who is making the most infuriatingly frustrating and idiotic decisions possible. And of course, Ryan made bad decisions in The Glorious Heresies, but that novel worked because we got to see his pain, his anguish, his awareness that he was constantly letting himself and the people he cared about down. The Ryan of The Blood Miracles is not subdued so much as he is hollow. He fucks up and you're like okay, I guess that's another shitty decision out of the 29037129371 shitty decisions he's already made... It was truly the most frustrating reading experience I've had all year.
I don't know what happened between The Glorious Heresies and The Blood Miracles, but something got lost along the way. The wit, the spirit, the energy of the first book is nowhere to be found here, and the result is a novel that feels like such a drag--depressing in a way that invites irritation rather than understanding from the reader (at least this reader). I was so ready to love this book; I would've forgiven it so much, and it still let me down.
(Also if I have to hear about Natalie in the next book I am going to SCREAM. OH MY GODDDDD I have never cared less about a character.)
October 22, 2017
I guess I would have preferred for this to go off in a new direction rather than offer a new perspective on characters we'd already met. It makes it a bit weird with a big reveal two thirds of the way through either coming as a complete surprise if you haven't read The Glorious Heresies, or a long overdue clanger getting dropped. The dialog is still top class, but the plotting got a little overwrought and Ryan's back and forth between the women who continuously want to have sex with him despite his weakness and general stupidity is hardly the stuff of Shakespearean tragedy. Still, entertaining, just less so than the previous volume.
March 14, 2021
4.5* This sequel to The Glorious Heresies is not the same as The Glorious Heresies. It uses one narrator rather than many, it's darker and less humorous. But does any of that make it less? Absolutely not. It's another clever, layered story with richly-drawn characters, surprising twists and fabulous writing. There are fewer comic touches, but they are still there. McInerney's skill is once again evident and I won't hesitate to pick up the next thing she publishes.
October 20, 2018
Gracias a Los pecados gloriosos, galardonada en 2016 con el Women's Prize por Fiction, Lisa McInerney (Galway, 1981) se convirtió rápidamente en una de las novelistas más destacadas del momento. El debut de McInerney, espoleado por un impetuoso ritmo narrativo, dibujaba las vidas de un grupo de personajes pertenecientes al hampa irlandés, entremezclando diversos hilos argumentales en una sobresaliente obra coral que destacaba por su rabioso desparpajo y un irreverente humor negro. Dos años después, Lisa McInerney regresa en Los milagros de la sangre al desolador escenario de su primer trabajo, dando nuevamente vida a unos personajes atrapados en la decadente espiral de excesos que corroe la ciudad de Cork.
Al contrario que su predecesora, Los milagros de la sangre es una novela mucho menos dispersa y ambiciosa. McInerney deja a un lado la multiplicidad de tramas para centrarse casi exclusivamente en los turbios tejemanejes de Ryan Cusack, un trapichero de veintiún años cuya ascendencia napolitana le permitirá jugar un papel importante en el nuevo proyecto profesional de su jefe, a saber, abrir una jugosa ruta de narcotráfico entre Irlanda e Italia. A pesar de las súplicas de su novia Karine, con la que mantiene una tormentosa relación desde hace seis años, Ryan acepta servir como enlace entre ambas bandas, exponiéndose a una serie de riesgos que podrían poner en peligro tanto su vida como la de su familia.
Sin embargo, Ryan pertenece a una generación desamparada a la que no le importa perder lo poco que tiene. Huérfano de madre y con un padre alcohólico que demuestra su afecto a base de palizas, Ryan busca medrar en una de las pocas esferas donde no se oye hablar ni del futuro ni de la tasa de desempleo. Con abrumadora mordacidad, McInerney ofrece una perspectiva poco halagüeña de la realidad socioeconómica de su país, Irlanda, azotado por una desconfianza ciega en las instituciones y el ruidoso desmoronamiento de los valores tradicionales. Sin duda, un caldo de cultivo idóneo para que florezca el escapismo sintético al que se entregan sin concesiones los protagonistas de la novela.
Desprovisto de referentes sólidos, Ryan deambula por la vida sin mayor motivación que la de ahogar la culpabilidad en un cocktail de alcohol y estupefacientes. Cuando Karine decide abandonarlo definitivamente —en parte para centrarse en sus estudios y en parte por temor a sus cada vez más violentas reacciones— Ryan descubre una nueva forma de tocar fondo junto a Natalie, una chica tan explosiva como desenfrenada que siente predilección por las juergas nocturnas y el sexo sucio. Gracias a Maureen, una misteriosa mujer que acoge a Ryan en su casa después de encontrarlo semiinconsciente en plena calle, el protagonista de Los milagros de la sangre redescubrirá su talento por la música, una disciplina que le inculcó su madre de pequeño y que parece estar dispuesto a retomar.
Aunque el estilo vibrante y frenético de McInerney —plagado de coloquialismos y diálogos enmarcados en la más pura desesperación— se mantiene intacto en su segunda obra, Los milagros de la sangre me ha parecido que no sobrepasa a Los pecados gloriosos en ningún momento. Es más, diría que incluso le cuesta estar a la altura. A pesar del carácter intrigante y adictivo de la historia, planea sobre las páginas de Los milagros de la sangre cierta falta de profundidad, de lucidez, que se hace especialmente evidente en el tratamiento de los personajes secundarios (casi nulo) y la (en ocasiones) cándida exploración de los bajos fondos de la ciudad de Cork. Con todo, Los milagros de la sangre constituye un complemento interesante (y, lo que es mejor, independiente) al despiadado pero sugerente universo narrativo de Lisa McInerney.
Al contrario que su predecesora, Los milagros de la sangre es una novela mucho menos dispersa y ambiciosa. McInerney deja a un lado la multiplicidad de tramas para centrarse casi exclusivamente en los turbios tejemanejes de Ryan Cusack, un trapichero de veintiún años cuya ascendencia napolitana le permitirá jugar un papel importante en el nuevo proyecto profesional de su jefe, a saber, abrir una jugosa ruta de narcotráfico entre Irlanda e Italia. A pesar de las súplicas de su novia Karine, con la que mantiene una tormentosa relación desde hace seis años, Ryan acepta servir como enlace entre ambas bandas, exponiéndose a una serie de riesgos que podrían poner en peligro tanto su vida como la de su familia.
Sin embargo, Ryan pertenece a una generación desamparada a la que no le importa perder lo poco que tiene. Huérfano de madre y con un padre alcohólico que demuestra su afecto a base de palizas, Ryan busca medrar en una de las pocas esferas donde no se oye hablar ni del futuro ni de la tasa de desempleo. Con abrumadora mordacidad, McInerney ofrece una perspectiva poco halagüeña de la realidad socioeconómica de su país, Irlanda, azotado por una desconfianza ciega en las instituciones y el ruidoso desmoronamiento de los valores tradicionales. Sin duda, un caldo de cultivo idóneo para que florezca el escapismo sintético al que se entregan sin concesiones los protagonistas de la novela.
Desprovisto de referentes sólidos, Ryan deambula por la vida sin mayor motivación que la de ahogar la culpabilidad en un cocktail de alcohol y estupefacientes. Cuando Karine decide abandonarlo definitivamente —en parte para centrarse en sus estudios y en parte por temor a sus cada vez más violentas reacciones— Ryan descubre una nueva forma de tocar fondo junto a Natalie, una chica tan explosiva como desenfrenada que siente predilección por las juergas nocturnas y el sexo sucio. Gracias a Maureen, una misteriosa mujer que acoge a Ryan en su casa después de encontrarlo semiinconsciente en plena calle, el protagonista de Los milagros de la sangre redescubrirá su talento por la música, una disciplina que le inculcó su madre de pequeño y que parece estar dispuesto a retomar.
Aunque el estilo vibrante y frenético de McInerney —plagado de coloquialismos y diálogos enmarcados en la más pura desesperación— se mantiene intacto en su segunda obra, Los milagros de la sangre me ha parecido que no sobrepasa a Los pecados gloriosos en ningún momento. Es más, diría que incluso le cuesta estar a la altura. A pesar del carácter intrigante y adictivo de la historia, planea sobre las páginas de Los milagros de la sangre cierta falta de profundidad, de lucidez, que se hace especialmente evidente en el tratamiento de los personajes secundarios (casi nulo) y la (en ocasiones) cándida exploración de los bajos fondos de la ciudad de Cork. Con todo, Los milagros de la sangre constituye un complemento interesante (y, lo que es mejor, independiente) al despiadado pero sugerente universo narrativo de Lisa McInerney.
December 8, 2024
More tales about drug dealers and low life in Cork. Solid without being as visceral as The Glorious Heresies. Drug dealer Ryan is older (20) but no wiser. He is now a senior lieutenant in an up and coming outfit that is angling to displace the underworld Kingpin.
Lies and double crossing galore. Ryan is caught between domestic bliss with a (relatively) posh girlfriend and the danger, rewards and excitement of the drug world.
The drug world is dangerous though ....
Most of the old characters are there, including a delicious turn from Maureen a take no shit 70 year old pensioner with a surprising history.
Lies and double crossing galore. Ryan is caught between domestic bliss with a (relatively) posh girlfriend and the danger, rewards and excitement of the drug world.
The drug world is dangerous though ....
Most of the old characters are there, including a delicious turn from Maureen a take no shit 70 year old pensioner with a surprising history.
January 19, 2021
Follow up to the Glorious Heresies - which I loved enough to rate a 4 star.
What I loved about that book is largely missing from this one.... the pitch black uniquely Irish humour appears to have completely disappeared and we are left with a crime novel without suspense and a character drama that bores through deathly dull characters.
The book concentrates on Ryan - the 15 year old from book 1 is now 20/21 and fully immersed in the Cork drug smuggling ring. He has a long term girlfriend but takes on an elderly lover. He is asked to used his Italian family connections to help establish another import route.
Thats about it.
I may have started the book in the wrong mood (3am bout of rare insomnia) but the tale never gripped from the get go and if it wasn't a quick page turning read - completed in 4 days - I would surely have abandoned.
What a shame. Hopefully the talented author will move onto something new and this won't be a never ending series.
What I loved about that book is largely missing from this one.... the pitch black uniquely Irish humour appears to have completely disappeared and we are left with a crime novel without suspense and a character drama that bores through deathly dull characters.
The book concentrates on Ryan - the 15 year old from book 1 is now 20/21 and fully immersed in the Cork drug smuggling ring. He has a long term girlfriend but takes on an elderly lover. He is asked to used his Italian family connections to help establish another import route.
Thats about it.
I may have started the book in the wrong mood (3am bout of rare insomnia) but the tale never gripped from the get go and if it wasn't a quick page turning read - completed in 4 days - I would surely have abandoned.
What a shame. Hopefully the talented author will move onto something new and this won't be a never ending series.
December 8, 2025
i adore my irish writers so how have i been sleeping on lisa mcinerney!!!
March 19, 2017
McInerney's sequel did NOT disappoint. Following the wonderfully absorbing The Glorious Heresies comes Blood Miracles where the reader is taken along a gripping tale of love, betrayal, dirty deals and survival. I devoured this book within a couple of days. Ryan is one of the most complex and intriguing characters despite the wonderfully easy prose in which McInerney describes him in. That is surely a testament to the author's skill. I cannot wait to read what happens next.
Full review up on my blog: https://mybookinggreatblog.com/2017/0...
Full review up on my blog: https://mybookinggreatblog.com/2017/0...
May 9, 2017
From the winner of the Baileys Prize and the Desmond Elliott Prize for her first novel The Glorious Heresies, I am only too delighted to share my review of The Blood Miracles, the sequel, from Irish author Lisa McInerney.
Just recently published by John Murray, I can tell you immediately that I absolutely loved this book as much as The Glorious Heresies and I think best described in Lisa McInerney’s own words…‘The Glorious Heresies is a landscape and The Blood Miracles is a portrait.’
Please read on for my review of this wonderful book…
The Blood Miracles is what could be termed a loose sequel to The Glorious Heresies. It is well able to stand on it’s own two feet but I would recommend reading book 1 first as many of the characters are present in both books and it would give the reader a better backdrop to the story.
As already mentioned I have read The Glorious Heresies, where I referred to it as ‘a ballsy, yet witty read told with a touch of Cork humour and a lot of passion’. That same passion is very evident in this the second book from Lisa McInerney. Ryan Cusack is now in his early twenties. No longer just a troublesome teen looking for ways to make a fast buck, Ryan is now a fully fledged drug-dealer.
‘A mess in blood and in deed. The oldest son of Tony Cusack and Maria Cattaneo is Cork City born and bred and in it’s sing-song accent speaks fluent Italian, shaky Neapolitan and rough and rapid Hiberno. His eyes are the colour of black treacle and his olive skin is paled by the adjacency to the Atlantic…….His is the business of fledgling savages the world over: he facilitates the movement of illegal inebriants from his foolhardy class into the hands and mouths and nostrils of those who should know better.’
His relationship with his girlfriend of six years, Karine, is still on tender hooks, as Karine attempts to map out a successful career in nursing against all the odds. She has witnessed Ryan crash and burn in the past. She is aware of his exceptional musical talent and attempts to encourage Ryan down that path.
But Ryan knows that he has sold his soul to the devil and he cannot walk away from the people he is now in business with.
Ryan is caught between two local dealers Dan Kane and Jimmy Phelan. These two are fighting over the local patch and Dan is now bringing a new element into the mix, a very dangerous one, The Camorra. With Ryan’s Italian heritage he becomes the perfect go between for Dan but like everything that Ryan does, it’s not long before he realises he is in way over his head.
I should not feel any empathy for Ryan Cusack, yet there is something about his character that is just so sad. Through the book he writes a sort of journal to his mother, who was involved in a fatal accident when he was younger. He is very aware of the decisions he is making, yet there is a fragility about him that just draws the reader in.
Ryan goes on journey and makes some very significantly dangerous enemies along the way. A highly smart and intuitive individual, yet he seems to attract situations of life-threatening peril and it is only with luck on his side that he sidesteps some very deadly scenarios.
The cast of characters in The Blood Miracles is just wonderful. I am a native of Cork City and as I turned each page, I walked next to Ryan as he strolled the streets of my hometown. Lisa McInerney lived in Cork for many years and her familiarity with it’s landmarks, colloquialisms and dialect is pitch perfect.
‘Sometimes Ryan wants to remind Cork City that it can’t hide it’s nature from him. He wants to stand on Patrick’s Bridge and roar at both north and south banks “Don’t think I don’t have the bones of you!” This city like all cities hates it’s natives. It would rather be in a state of replenishment than own up to what it has warped.’
Jimmy Phelan continues his reign of terror in The Blood Miracles. A man with no moral compass, a man who thinks nothing of pulling the trigger should someone or something get in his way. His mother Maureen, also a character from The Glorious Heresies, is a strong woman. Her relationship with Ryan in The Blood Miracles is quite touching and you almost feel like he has someone looking out for him. His father Tony, a raving alcoholic, seems unable to reach out to Ryan and as the book progresses every other relationship Ryan has seems to be in difficulty. Having Maureen by his side, though an odd pairing, almost gives comfort to the reader
Lisa McInerney has written another outstanding read. With the possibility of a TV series looming for The Glorious Heresies and with her books being translated in other countries, Lisa McInerney has hit on something unique. Her writing style is highly original. For some the use of foul language may offend but I personally feel it brings true character to the book. Dialect can oft-times be very difficult to transcend the local environment but in both these books it is the language used which enables the books to move out from the locality and cross borders, while constantly keeping the story-line in context with the Cork setting.
Gritty, audacious, at times brassy and most definitely gutsy, The Blood Miracles is a fitting continuation in this series. Told with Cork wit and black-humour, these books are just ‘pure daycent boy!!’
If you like a book that will challenge you and will make you think, while at the same time make you laugh out loud. I 100% recommend, with the full 5* treatment, both The Glorious Heresies and The Blood Miracles.
Just recently published by John Murray, I can tell you immediately that I absolutely loved this book as much as The Glorious Heresies and I think best described in Lisa McInerney’s own words…‘The Glorious Heresies is a landscape and The Blood Miracles is a portrait.’
Please read on for my review of this wonderful book…
The Blood Miracles is what could be termed a loose sequel to The Glorious Heresies. It is well able to stand on it’s own two feet but I would recommend reading book 1 first as many of the characters are present in both books and it would give the reader a better backdrop to the story.
As already mentioned I have read The Glorious Heresies, where I referred to it as ‘a ballsy, yet witty read told with a touch of Cork humour and a lot of passion’. That same passion is very evident in this the second book from Lisa McInerney. Ryan Cusack is now in his early twenties. No longer just a troublesome teen looking for ways to make a fast buck, Ryan is now a fully fledged drug-dealer.
‘A mess in blood and in deed. The oldest son of Tony Cusack and Maria Cattaneo is Cork City born and bred and in it’s sing-song accent speaks fluent Italian, shaky Neapolitan and rough and rapid Hiberno. His eyes are the colour of black treacle and his olive skin is paled by the adjacency to the Atlantic…….His is the business of fledgling savages the world over: he facilitates the movement of illegal inebriants from his foolhardy class into the hands and mouths and nostrils of those who should know better.’
His relationship with his girlfriend of six years, Karine, is still on tender hooks, as Karine attempts to map out a successful career in nursing against all the odds. She has witnessed Ryan crash and burn in the past. She is aware of his exceptional musical talent and attempts to encourage Ryan down that path.
But Ryan knows that he has sold his soul to the devil and he cannot walk away from the people he is now in business with.
Ryan is caught between two local dealers Dan Kane and Jimmy Phelan. These two are fighting over the local patch and Dan is now bringing a new element into the mix, a very dangerous one, The Camorra. With Ryan’s Italian heritage he becomes the perfect go between for Dan but like everything that Ryan does, it’s not long before he realises he is in way over his head.
I should not feel any empathy for Ryan Cusack, yet there is something about his character that is just so sad. Through the book he writes a sort of journal to his mother, who was involved in a fatal accident when he was younger. He is very aware of the decisions he is making, yet there is a fragility about him that just draws the reader in.
Ryan goes on journey and makes some very significantly dangerous enemies along the way. A highly smart and intuitive individual, yet he seems to attract situations of life-threatening peril and it is only with luck on his side that he sidesteps some very deadly scenarios.
The cast of characters in The Blood Miracles is just wonderful. I am a native of Cork City and as I turned each page, I walked next to Ryan as he strolled the streets of my hometown. Lisa McInerney lived in Cork for many years and her familiarity with it’s landmarks, colloquialisms and dialect is pitch perfect.
‘Sometimes Ryan wants to remind Cork City that it can’t hide it’s nature from him. He wants to stand on Patrick’s Bridge and roar at both north and south banks “Don’t think I don’t have the bones of you!” This city like all cities hates it’s natives. It would rather be in a state of replenishment than own up to what it has warped.’
Jimmy Phelan continues his reign of terror in The Blood Miracles. A man with no moral compass, a man who thinks nothing of pulling the trigger should someone or something get in his way. His mother Maureen, also a character from The Glorious Heresies, is a strong woman. Her relationship with Ryan in The Blood Miracles is quite touching and you almost feel like he has someone looking out for him. His father Tony, a raving alcoholic, seems unable to reach out to Ryan and as the book progresses every other relationship Ryan has seems to be in difficulty. Having Maureen by his side, though an odd pairing, almost gives comfort to the reader
Lisa McInerney has written another outstanding read. With the possibility of a TV series looming for The Glorious Heresies and with her books being translated in other countries, Lisa McInerney has hit on something unique. Her writing style is highly original. For some the use of foul language may offend but I personally feel it brings true character to the book. Dialect can oft-times be very difficult to transcend the local environment but in both these books it is the language used which enables the books to move out from the locality and cross borders, while constantly keeping the story-line in context with the Cork setting.
Gritty, audacious, at times brassy and most definitely gutsy, The Blood Miracles is a fitting continuation in this series. Told with Cork wit and black-humour, these books are just ‘pure daycent boy!!’
If you like a book that will challenge you and will make you think, while at the same time make you laugh out loud. I 100% recommend, with the full 5* treatment, both The Glorious Heresies and The Blood Miracles.
October 3, 2017
The Glorious Heresies was one of my favourite books last year so I was looking forward to picking this one up too. We're introduced to the main character, Ryan, in the first book and while you can pick up this book without having read the first one, it's worth reading The Glorious Heresies for the background.
Ryan had it all. A job dealing drugs that gave him lots of money and kept him away from his father's violent hands, on the good side of his boss and an adoring and beautiful girlfriend. But his head wasn't in the right space. After being given time to get it back in order, his boss has decided it's time for Ryan to buck up and what better way to get back into things but to use Ryan's Italian heritage to open up a new black market trading route. But shit hits the fan and everything starts to unravel, starting with his girlfriend leaving him and a fuck up in the new trading route. Can Ryan keep it together or is it just time for him to admit that he was living on borrowed luck?
There's a lot of differences and similarities between The Glorious Heresies and The Blood Miracles. The main difference is this focuses on one character in a shorter time span while TGH had many different characters who's lives were all interconnected over a time period a 5 or so years. Ryan was definitely one of the more interesting characters in TGH but he fell a bit flat here. Maybe it's the mental health issues, maybe it's because it was set in a shorter time frame, maybe Ryan isn't that interesting after all, maybe it's because it was lacking the magic of all the interconnecting characters. Some of the characters do pop up in this book but it wasn't the same. What was the same was McInerney's dark wit, it did make me laugh at times and I love how the humour has such a dark edge to it. McInerney also nails the Cork voice really well, you can hear the accent float up from the page and the turn of phrases completes the authenticity of the characters and setting. I also didn't like the manic pixie dream girl character of Natalie. Overall, while there was elements I liked, if you're looking for a follow up to The Glorious Heresies, you might be disappointed by this. 2.5 stars
Ryan had it all. A job dealing drugs that gave him lots of money and kept him away from his father's violent hands, on the good side of his boss and an adoring and beautiful girlfriend. But his head wasn't in the right space. After being given time to get it back in order, his boss has decided it's time for Ryan to buck up and what better way to get back into things but to use Ryan's Italian heritage to open up a new black market trading route. But shit hits the fan and everything starts to unravel, starting with his girlfriend leaving him and a fuck up in the new trading route. Can Ryan keep it together or is it just time for him to admit that he was living on borrowed luck?
There's a lot of differences and similarities between The Glorious Heresies and The Blood Miracles. The main difference is this focuses on one character in a shorter time span while TGH had many different characters who's lives were all interconnected over a time period a 5 or so years. Ryan was definitely one of the more interesting characters in TGH but he fell a bit flat here. Maybe it's the mental health issues, maybe it's because it was set in a shorter time frame, maybe Ryan isn't that interesting after all, maybe it's because it was lacking the magic of all the interconnecting characters. Some of the characters do pop up in this book but it wasn't the same. What was the same was McInerney's dark wit, it did make me laugh at times and I love how the humour has such a dark edge to it. McInerney also nails the Cork voice really well, you can hear the accent float up from the page and the turn of phrases completes the authenticity of the characters and setting. I also didn't like the manic pixie dream girl character of Natalie. Overall, while there was elements I liked, if you're looking for a follow up to The Glorious Heresies, you might be disappointed by this. 2.5 stars
April 13, 2017
There’s a very good review of this on Goodreads by MisterHobgoblin. He says “All The Blood Miracles does is to cheapen the memory of The Glorious Heresies by flattening the original characters and dumbing down the original intrigue.” I couldn’t agree more. I loved The Glorious Heresies – (and incidentally I do think you need to read that one first as there’s so much backstory referred to in this 2nd part that doesn’t really make sense unless you know whence it derives) – which I felt was bold, original and perceptive, and showed a real empathy for and understanding of the characters and a real insight into how life can so easily go wrong. Ryan Cusack, the protagonist of both novels, had something very special about him that made this reader at least fall a bit in love with him. But now he’s becomes a self-destructive and stupid druggie and criminal, somehow mixed up with the Camorra (OK, I know he’s half-Italian but even so….) in thrall to 2 dodgy characters who simply come across as comic book villains rather than the well-rounded characters they were in the earlier book and all Ryan does here is take drugs, have sex, get beaten up and go to nightclubs. Boring. No exploration of character, no subtlety, no depth, no humour – and the humour was such an integral part of the first book along with the tragedy. What a disappointment. The book managed to keep me reading because by this time I’m invested in Ryan, but I lost the sympathy that had built up in The Glorious Heresies and here just wanted to slap him.
Did not finish
February 27, 2017Just can't get into this unfortunately, but think I have to be in a certain frame of mind - parking it for now but will return at some point.
August 16, 2024
*anguished Karine voice* "RYAN!"
My experience of this series is so incredibly heightened by Shelley Atkinson's narration. I'll be pottering around the house, hearing Maureen's melodic lilt or sticking Ryan's "gyorl" on the end of a sentence. McInerney's dialogue is brilliant, sharp and cutting, and Atkinson brings it to life in the most incredible, distinct way. One of the best narrators I've ever enjoyed.
I adored the first book, a sucker punch of a narrative that held an undercurrent of pain and heart, and this book didn't *quite* hit that high bar. Much of that was down to the shift of focus to exclusively Ryan as he continued his descent into the underworld. While Ryan was very much the beating heart of the first novel and remained utterly, frustratingly compelling and sympathetic in this book, I missed the various strands of the first book. McInerney's writing, the coarseness and her ability to craft searing dialogue, really lent itself to that approach of multiple strands. With Ryan taking the spotlight, all of those elements were there but the linear nature of his plot didn't quite allow for the same impact.
Despite that (!), I can't remember the last time I was so inclined to keep listening when I really should have been going to bed. As the hero/anti-hero of the piece, Ryan doesn't half get himself into the most frustrating situations. What makes his story so compelling though is that each bad decision that he makes is so fundamentally plausible, stemming from the grief and insecurity that are his core. Building on the flicker of a connection in the previous book, Maureen recognised this in Ryan, her acerbic manner and emotional intelligence allowing her to see the vulnerable young man who was being sucked deeper and deeper into a life that would ultimately be his death, whether by his own hand or the criminal underworld. Their bond was the strongest aspect of this book, two people who wear a veneer of brashness but who have been shaped by the pain of their pasts and who found something of a safe haven in one another. They filled a hole in one another's lives, the mother who wasn't able to mother and the son without a mother, and they became one another's salvation as a result of that.
My experience of this series is so incredibly heightened by Shelley Atkinson's narration. I'll be pottering around the house, hearing Maureen's melodic lilt or sticking Ryan's "gyorl" on the end of a sentence. McInerney's dialogue is brilliant, sharp and cutting, and Atkinson brings it to life in the most incredible, distinct way. One of the best narrators I've ever enjoyed.
I adored the first book, a sucker punch of a narrative that held an undercurrent of pain and heart, and this book didn't *quite* hit that high bar. Much of that was down to the shift of focus to exclusively Ryan as he continued his descent into the underworld. While Ryan was very much the beating heart of the first novel and remained utterly, frustratingly compelling and sympathetic in this book, I missed the various strands of the first book. McInerney's writing, the coarseness and her ability to craft searing dialogue, really lent itself to that approach of multiple strands. With Ryan taking the spotlight, all of those elements were there but the linear nature of his plot didn't quite allow for the same impact.
Despite that (!), I can't remember the last time I was so inclined to keep listening when I really should have been going to bed. As the hero/anti-hero of the piece, Ryan doesn't half get himself into the most frustrating situations. What makes his story so compelling though is that each bad decision that he makes is so fundamentally plausible, stemming from the grief and insecurity that are his core. Building on the flicker of a connection in the previous book, Maureen recognised this in Ryan, her acerbic manner and emotional intelligence allowing her to see the vulnerable young man who was being sucked deeper and deeper into a life that would ultimately be his death, whether by his own hand or the criminal underworld. Their bond was the strongest aspect of this book, two people who wear a veneer of brashness but who have been shaped by the pain of their pasts and who found something of a safe haven in one another. They filled a hole in one another's lives, the mother who wasn't able to mother and the son without a mother, and they became one another's salvation as a result of that.
April 11, 2021
When I started this book, I knew that it was not going to be my usual type of genre. As I got into the first couple of chapters and realized the subject matter revolved around raves, drugs and the criminal underbelly who involve themselves in these spheres, I was even more certain this book was not for me as I have never had the remotest interest in that world in my own life. To compound that opinion further, the book was literally drenched in slang terminology (Irish and gang/drug slang) which made it a struggle to read at first. But I'm not one to give up on a book once I've started, so I ploughed on.
My early insights could not have been more wrong. Yes, it took me at least 10 chapters to settle and get adjusted to the prose and language used. What followed was quite an exciting and beautifully written story. Daresay there were even moments in there where I found myself getting properly teary. There were other moments where I burst out laughing in spite of the serious subject matter. I disliked and disagreed with the main characters actions through a lot of the book but in places it shows you were he's coming from and it hit me in a way that illicited sympathy and understanding. I loved the unexpected friendship that this story featured (no spoilers) which ended up being so important.
I will even admit that I was past the halfway mark when it really just hit me that, once I eliminated the struggle with understanding slang terms and the general subject matter; how beautifully written and prosaic this novel was.
It's no wonder this book won the Bailey's Womans Prize for Fiction and the Desmond Elliott Prize for debut novels. It reminded me that is definitely good to step outside my comfort zone once in a whille with reading choices, as they can really pay off like this one did. A solid 4 stars.
My early insights could not have been more wrong. Yes, it took me at least 10 chapters to settle and get adjusted to the prose and language used. What followed was quite an exciting and beautifully written story. Daresay there were even moments in there where I found myself getting properly teary. There were other moments where I burst out laughing in spite of the serious subject matter. I disliked and disagreed with the main characters actions through a lot of the book but in places it shows you were he's coming from and it hit me in a way that illicited sympathy and understanding. I loved the unexpected friendship that this story featured (no spoilers) which ended up being so important.
I will even admit that I was past the halfway mark when it really just hit me that, once I eliminated the struggle with understanding slang terms and the general subject matter; how beautifully written and prosaic this novel was.
It's no wonder this book won the Bailey's Womans Prize for Fiction and the Desmond Elliott Prize for debut novels. It reminded me that is definitely good to step outside my comfort zone once in a whille with reading choices, as they can really pay off like this one did. A solid 4 stars.
April 30, 2017
I enjoyed The Glorious Heresies very much so it pains me to say this, but I got to about half-way in The Blood Miracles and gave up. I may go back to it at some point, but for now I've had enough.
The Blood Miracles picks up Ryan Cusack's story from the end of The Glorious Heresies. After a sort of recuperation period he is back at work with Dan, organising a new drug route from the Camorra in Naples. He continues to drink and use drugs, so his life continues as a series of mess-ups (not the exact phrase used in the narrative) and dealings with dangerous people as things fall apart with Karine…and so on.
Lisa McInerney writes as well as in the first book, but I needed more that The Blood Miracles offers, I'm afraid. There is no leaven this time of comedy or humanity, nor any of the background social commentary; it's just a long, bleak slog of Ryan messing up, getting into trouble, allowing his addictions to spoil things, and so on. It's a convincing portrait, but we've already had that, better done, in The Glorious Heresies and in the end I simply couldn’t find a reason to carry on reading.
Lisa McInerney is a very good writer and I am genuinely sorry to have to be critical of this book, but it really fell a long way short of what I would expect from her and I can't recommend it.
(I received an ARC via Netgalley.)
The Blood Miracles picks up Ryan Cusack's story from the end of The Glorious Heresies. After a sort of recuperation period he is back at work with Dan, organising a new drug route from the Camorra in Naples. He continues to drink and use drugs, so his life continues as a series of mess-ups (not the exact phrase used in the narrative) and dealings with dangerous people as things fall apart with Karine…and so on.
Lisa McInerney writes as well as in the first book, but I needed more that The Blood Miracles offers, I'm afraid. There is no leaven this time of comedy or humanity, nor any of the background social commentary; it's just a long, bleak slog of Ryan messing up, getting into trouble, allowing his addictions to spoil things, and so on. It's a convincing portrait, but we've already had that, better done, in The Glorious Heresies and in the end I simply couldn’t find a reason to carry on reading.
Lisa McInerney is a very good writer and I am genuinely sorry to have to be critical of this book, but it really fell a long way short of what I would expect from her and I can't recommend it.
(I received an ARC via Netgalley.)
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