The Ghost Factory

Reviews / Votes

'Several recent novels have taken the Troubles as their theme
... The Ghost Factory ranks among the best of these fictions. It is a wonderfully large-souled book' Guardian


'Wonderful. I was gripped at times, and surprised by laughter, and bound up helplessly with Jacky's fate. I read sentences that were piercing and true on every page. The Ghost Factory deserves to be a huge success' Anthony Quinn, author of Freya


'As a private, intimate reflection on what it was like to live through the worst years of the violence, this novel is unrivalled' Irish Sunday Independent


'Deftly plotted and adroitly written, this account of Jacky's conflicts is mesmeric' New Statesman


The novel explores the effects, psychological and physical, on victims, families and neighbourhoods. Beyond the darkness, though, it is also a humorous window onto a tightknit community, and a love story, warmly told' Sunday Times


'This outstanding debut, written with flair and an all-pervasive dark humour, gives a deeply human face to Northern Ireland's Troubles' Mail on Sunday


'Friendship, loyalty, love and retribution are the stuff of this violent but emotional and touching novel with a cautionary sting in the tail. Jacky is a well-rounded character, torn between his future and what has gone before. He is given an authentic, engaging voice which pulls in the reader, with well-judged flashes of humour' Daily Mail


'Spare, elegant and effective' The Tablet


'For those concerned with the everyday practice of human rights violations in Northern Ireland, The Ghost Factory is a landmark in the literature of the Irish Terror. It is about "the pain of others", as the writer Susan Sontag might put it. But it is also about the universal qualities of empathy, friendship, humour, faithfulness and erotic love' Belfast Telegraph