Headbanger/Sad Bastard

Headbanger – Pat Coyne is a Dublin policeman passionately devoted to sorting out the world and its problems. For Coyne, cars, crime, pollution and golf are all ominous signs of a disintegrating society. The world is committing suicide, with MTV droning in the background. Coyne’s principal mission is to deal with crime, Ireland’s biggest growth industry. Though only a beat cop, he decides to take on the notorious gang leader, Drummer Cunningham. When a murder investigation leaves detectives clueless, he enters into a personal feud with the underworld, with disastrous consequences for himself and his family. Coyne is a Dublin Dirty Harry for whom everything begins to go wrong.

Sad Bastard – Garda Pat Coyne – aka ‘Mr Suicide’ is back. Injured in the line of duty and out of work with too much time on his hands, he’s become more obsessive and volatile, developing a fetish for women’s knickers. When a body washes up on the docks, the prime suspect is none other than the former Garda’s son, Jimmy. Both Coynes are notorious for their sweeping spells of self-destruction, but while Pat’s motives lean toward cleaning up the world’s messes, Jimmy possesses a taste for mayhem. Coyne’s estranged wife blames him, his mother-in-law berates him, and his therapist labels him psychotic. But when two criminal thugs try to kill his boy, Coyne decides that it’s up to him to straighten things out.

• Brilliant groundbreaking novels from one of Ireland’s finest contemporary writers
• Author is the winner of the 1992 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, the 2003 French Prix Femina Etranger and the 2004 Italian Premio Giuseppe Berto
• Part of the noeXit2 ‘Ace Double’ series of two books in one, with striking new covers and sprayed edges