Gerard Brennan
Blasted Heath Books
ASIN B00GYZLHRU
One of the readers of my review blog suggested I give Gerard Brennan a try. The first one I tried was good but not great it was a collection of short stories called Other Stories and Nothing But Time. Reading it I could see where the recommendation came from, it felt kind of like reading Chuck Palahniuk or Irvine Welsh but not quite. This one was much much closer and I see why Brennan is compared to those two.
This is a novella set in the world of Wee Rockets. The main character is Danny Gibson a young tough serving time in a facility for young offenders. Danny is not tall in stature but he is tough as nails and also smart, even if that brain is often turned to destructive tendencies. He is learning how to act in front of his staff, the teachers and even his educational psychologist. But there are some things he just cannot let go. He will not show weakness. And he is vindictive. But something strange happens; Conan Quinlan a new detainee has found a soft spot in Danny's armour. Conan is on the autism spectrum and the teachers do not thing he is in the right facility. Danny sort of takes him under his wing.
This story really surprised me. It was rough and raw like other stories by Brennan I have read, and yet this one over comes that anger and harshness and shows us something else. The story was really well done and immediately upon finishing it I started reading the novel set before it Wee Rockets.
Books by Gerard Brennan:
Wee Rockets
Wee Danny
The Point
Breaking Point
FireProof
Undercover
Other Stories and Nothing But Time
Welcome to the Octagon
Books Contributed to:
Requiems for the Departed
Streets of Shadows
Twelve Mad Men
The Tabacco-Stained Sky
True Brit Grit
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