Divorcing Jack by Colin Bateman

From the Publisher

In this explosive thriller set in "post-terrorist" Belfast, the old hatreds continue to fester and the politics remain deeply personal. Anyone, at any moment, may decide the war's not yet over. Belfast journalist Dan Starkey is caught by his wife wrapped in the arms of a woman he hardly knows. Within hours his virtually anonymous girlfriend has been murdered, and before anyone can sort out whether she was killed by the IRA, Protestant extremists, or a jealous beau, Starkey has become the killer's next target. He had always kept himself above Belfast's violent fray with the cynical, beer-drenched wit that fueled his notorious column in a Protestant newspaper. But when the Belfast police figure Starkey as their prime suspect, his wits are suddenly all he has left to keep himself ahead of both sides of the law - and to win back his wife. As he seeks to solve the crime himself, his frantic pursuit of the only clues to the killer's identity leads him deep into the most guarded reaches of Northern Irish political power.

Publishers Weekly

Witty, fast-paced and engaging, Bateman's debut novel deals with the dilemma of a young Belfast columnist who looks beyond his marriage for sexual satisfaction only to get caught up in a search for damaging information about a prominent political candidate. When Dan Starkey returns to the apartment of his new conquest, Margaret McBride, after going out for pizza, he finds the young brunette riddled with bullets; worse, Starkey accidentally kills the woman's mother during a subsequent struggle in the dark. Margaret turns out to have been a politician's daughter, and her dying utterance (``divorce... Jack... divorce'') sends the fugitive Starkey in pursuit of a tape that reveals the sordid past of the leading candidate in the upcoming election for prime minister. As he hunts for the tape, Starkey is pursued by several parties, including an IRA contingent with a reputation for mayhem and violence. With the exception of an unexpected ending turning on double murder, the plot machinations are formulaic, but Bateman rarely lets the action flag. What makes this tale stand out, however, is the wit and charm of its protagonist, a sweet-tempered cynic with a devilish sense of humor. The intricate Irish politics are gracefully rendered, and Bateman's wry take on the gritty Belfast landscape adds an appealingly light touch. The author apparently has another Dan Starkey novel in the works; that's very good news indeed. (Sept.)

Library Journal

Dan Starkey is a Belfast columnist, determined wit, and dedicated alcoholic. At one of the numerous parties he and wife Patricia organize, Starkey meets a young woman and begins his first extramarital affair. Before the cheating is well under way, Starkey's lover is murdered, and he becomes the principal suspect. Unfortunately, his lover's father was involved in Irish politics, and Starkey is shortly on the lam from both police and terrorists. While trying to extricate himself from this predicament, Starkey hooks up with another beautiful woman disguised as a nun, a priest with a new heart, and an American journalist who may be a CIA agent. Bateman's first novel, set in and around Belfast, is a jaunty thriller, exciting and funny. Buy everywhere fiction is read.-A.J. Wright, Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham

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