Dark Times in the City (World Noir)

The author of The Rage delivers “an absorbing, beautifully written, gritty tale of Irish detection and corruption” (The Times, London).

Danny Callaghan is having a quiet drink in a Dublin pub when two men with guns walk in. They’re here to take care of a minor problem―petty criminal Walter Bennett. On impulse, Callaghan intervenes to save Walter’s life. Soon, his own survival is in question. With a troubled past and an uncertain future, Danny finds himself drawn into a vicious scheme of revenge. Dark Times in the City depicts an edgy city where affluence and cocaine fuel a ruthless gang culture, and a man’s fleeting impulse may cost the lives of those who matter most to him. Gene Kerrigan’s new novel is his finest yet; a CWA Gold Dagger Crime Novel finalist, it’s gripping from start to finish, powerful, original, and impossible to put down.

“Following The Rage, Kerrigan delivers another spare, cut-to-the-bone noir in which a well-meaning ex-con finds himself trapped in the vice of circumstance. . . . Kerrigan’s grasp of contemporary Dublin and its underworld denizens puts him shoulder to shoulder with the best Irish crime writers.”―Booklist (starred review)

“Kerrigan gives us a Dublin we never knew in sharp clear prose and neatly bounded dramatic scenes of Irish cops and robbers that leave us fearing that some of the dust and other detritus they stir up may very well end up splattering on our shoes.”―The Boston Globe

“Kerrigan’s gripping police procedural . . . is good news for readers who can appreciate the moral complexities of this flawed hero.”―The New York Times