Iron Annie
A Novel
-
- $10.99
-
- $10.99
Publisher Description
**LONGLISTED FOR THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE**
An uncompromising, darkly humorous look at life in the criminal underworld of the Irish border from a major new Irish literary voice.
Dundalk—The Town, to locals—took Aoife in when she left home at eighteen. Now she’s gone from a small-time slinger of hash to a bona fide player in Dundalk’s criminal underworld. Aoife’s smart, savvy, and cool under pressure. Except, that is, when it comes to Annie. Annie is mysterious and compelling, and Aoife is desperate to impress her and keep her close. Unfortunately, not everyone in The Town shares Aoife’s opinion of Annie. So much so that when Aoife’s friend and associate, the Rat King, approaches her about off-loading ten kilos of stolen coke, he specifically tells her to keep Annie out of it. Aoife doesn’t want to do the job without Annie, though, so she lands on an idea. Annie has contacts in the UK, and sure it’d be better to get the coke as far away from Dundalk as possible. At first, everything goes to plan. But when Annie decides she'd like to stay in the UK, Aoife makes a decision that changes everything, and finds her whole world turned upside down.
Gritty yet tender, tragic yet hopeful, Iron Annie crackles with energy, warmth, and heart.
A VINTAGE CRIME/BLACK LIZARD ORIGINAL.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Cassidy debuts with a scabrous story of love and class collision that trails an irresistible duo as they dispose of a cache of cocaine. Aoife, who is bisexual and a small-time criminal, is obsessed with posh Annie, who is new to town in Dundalk, and the two become occasional lovers. Aoife receives a request from her sometime boss, the Rat King, who has stolen 10 kilos of cocaine from a rival gang and wants Aoife to sell it. She agrees and, after springing Annie from jail, where Annie was being held without bail for a minor offense, the two are off to England to get to work. After crossing to Liverpool on the ferry, the two motor south in a friend's car, dispensing kilos and sexual favors at stops along the way from Manchester to London. En route, Aoife recalls stories of her wild past. She narrates in a vernacular filled with Irish slang ("craic" is anything entertaining, "beors" are attractive women"), while pansexual Annie doles out street wisdom ("Someone looking for a leg-up is less likely to break yours"). The chronicle is light on story but thick with atmosphere. With his rich language, Cassidy lands in the company of Kevin Barry, Roddy Doyle, and other notable bards of the Irish demimonde.
