Bloodland - by Alan Glynn (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

A Picador Paperback Original

A helicopter crash off the coast of Ireland sends unexpected ripples through the international community in this intricate new thriller from the author of Winterland and Limitless (now a major motion picture).

Susie Monaghan was on the cusp of stardom when her life was cut short by a tragic helicopter crash. After a full investigation, her death was ruled an accident: case closed. But a hungry young journalist named Jimmy Gilroy isn't buying the official story. Before dying, Susie's path had crossed with an unlikely gallery of powerful men: an ex-Prime minister with a carefully guarded secret; the businessman brother of a U.S. Senator angling for the Oval Office; and a billionaire investor with his eye on an extremely rare commodity. Might there also be a link between Susie's death and a deranged security contractor operating in Congo? Piece by piece, Jimmy uncovers a bizarre nexus of coincidence among these disparate people and events, revealing a conspiracy of frightening reach and consequence--one that could cost him his life.

Set against a vividly drawn world of corporate and political intrigue, Alan Glynn's Bloodland is a riveting paranoid thriller of uncommon depth and page-turning suspense.

Review Quotes

"Ripped from tomorrow's headlines, Bloodland is irresistible....Exhilarating." --Val McDermid

"Glynn plays out these grand themes--the global economic crisis, America's battle with China for dominance in Africa, the human costs of illegal mining--on a very personal scale, through a group of deeply flawed but compelling characters." --NPR

"Glynn spins a seamless web of conspiracy spanning three continents....I read Bloodland twice, the second time for the rare pleasure of watching a first-rate investigative reporter--and novelist--at work." --The Daily Beast

"Stunningly intricate...like an amped-up twenty-first-century version of Dashiell Hammett's The Glass Key." --Los Angeles Review of Books

"A classic paranoid thriller... In a year of global economic disasters, scandalous political mismanagement and the attempted occupation of various strategic interests by 'the 99%, ' Bloodland is a very timely novel indeed." --Declan Burke, January Magazine (A Best Book of the Year)

"Imagine a first-rate investigative reporter digging into global corruption and turning what he learns into fast-paced fiction, and you have Irish noir star Glynn." --Jane Ciabattari, BBC.com (Crime Writers to Read Now)

"Powerfully engaging...A thriller has to thrill. And Bloodland, an intelligent, often thrilling book, delivers." --The Richmond Times-Dispatch

"Scarily plausible in a way that eludes most thriller writers, with an alarmingly authentic cast of control freaks and loose cannons...I've not read such a multilayered, expertly plotted portrayal of arrogance, greed, and hubris in a long time. [There are] echoes of John le Carré, 24, and James Ellroy here, but Glynn's talent is all his own, and his ability to ratchet up the tension is eye-popping." --The Guardian (London)

"A tightly woven picture of global corporate influence and corruption. Glynn's work has drawn comparisons to John le Carré... [which] usefully illuminates Bloodland's bold, pointed topicality... From the inauspicious beginnings of a dead reality TV star, Glynn's great novel finds an impressive, surprising scope." --The Portland Mercury

"A cracking conspiracy thriller worthy of le Carré, set in the dark heart of the Congo, Ireland, and New York." --Irish Independent (Dublin)

"Gripping...Glynn builds up the tension skillfully....He seems at home writing about intrigue on both sides of the Atlantic...[and] utterly at ease whether writing about troubled Dublin businessmen, former private military contractors with post-traumatic stress disorder, bitter politicians, or high-flying corporate masters of the universe....But while Bloodland makes some serious points, it never forgets that a good thriller is there to entertain the reader as well as to make [one] think---and this is a very entertaining book." --The Irish Times (Dublin)

"Alan Glynn has created enough twists and thrills to keep readers up late--even without resorting to illegal and dangerous substances." --The New York Times Book Review on Limitless

"A compulsive chemical thriller." --San Francisco Chronicle on Limitless

"Timely, topical, and thrilling." --John Connolly on Winterland

"A terrific read . . . completely involving." --George Pelecanos on Winterland

"Winterland sets a dramatically high benchmark for emerald noir. With all the operatic inevitability of Greek tragedy, it anatomises what greed has done to Ireland. A resonant, memorable, and uncomfortable read." --Val McDermid on Winterland

"A heavyweight, grow-up thriller . . . Emotionally truthful, with a plausible cast, and told in wonderfully fluent prose, Winterland is a gripping tale of a world of greed and secrets." --The Guardian (London) on Winterland

About the Author

Alan Glynn is a graduate of Trinity College. His first novel, The Dark Fields, was released in March 2011 as the movie Limitless by Relativity Media. He is also the author of Winterland.