Dungannon library to host launch of acclaimed author’s historical thriller

Anthony Quinn, whose debut Disappeared was lauded by the national press as ‘unquestionably one of the crime novels of the year’, will be signing copies of his latest book The Blood Dimmed Tide at the event, which is open to the public.

The mystery novel, which examines Irish poet WB Yeats’ obsession with ghosts, has attracted critical praise already with one advance reviewer describing it as ‘an Irish Shadow of the Wind’.

And New York Times bestselling author Brian McGilloway also described it as ‘a thrilling mystery story from a unique voice in Irish crime fiction’.

Anthony said that the bar had been raised very high by Disappeared and the superlative reviews it had garnered in the British and Irish press.

“I hope the expectation and hype doesn’t overshadow my next books”, he said.

“It’s a great thrill to pick up the Times and see that their crime reviewer Marcel Berlins has given your book top billing over the latest offerings from international bestsellers such as Val McDermid and Henning Mankell.

“Berlins called Disappeared ‘beautifully haunting’ and wrote: “This is the message so disturbingly, convincingly and elegantly conveyed in Anthony Quinn’s first novel, Disappeared. Its unusual setting — not Belfast or a city made famous by violence, but rural Lough Neagh, full of the sights and sounds of crows and mallards — enhances the touch of unworldliness in a stark tale of multiple betrayal and revenges still seeking an outlet.”

“Obviously, these are words that I’ll use to sustain me through the long nights of staring at a blank page waiting for inspiration to take hold.”

He said he was delighted to have The Blood Dimmed Tide compared to Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s The Shadow of the Wind.

“I’m a big fan of Zafon’s book - it merged the gothic with the mystery, romantic and literary genres in such an entertaining way.

“I wanted to do the same with the life of WB Yeats and Ireland at the outbreak of the War of Independence. Yeats led such a mesmerising life, combining so many talents, mixing the supernatural and the literary with politics and history.

“I hope the book does justice to his life and that era of Irish history.”

He added that it was impossible to do justice to WB Yeats in just one book.

“In my mind’s eye, Yeats is less a physical presence and more a whirlwind of intellectual energy, always seeking answers, always probing the evidence before him, always odd and unpredictable in his behaviour - which makes him the perfect central character for a mystery story, especially one that involves the spiritual world.

“He was very much a sleuth of the supernatural, as well as a literary and political phenomenon.

“He invented so many selves that it is impossible to do him justice between the covers of one book. This is why I want to return to him in my sixth book, which I plan to start in the New Year.”

To pre-order a copy of The Blood Dimmed TIde go to: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blood-Dimmed-Tide-Anthony-Quinn/dp/1843444658