The Lost and the Blind: A contemporary thriller set in rural Ireland

By Declan Burke

This gripping Irish thriller is an intriguing new departure for comic noir writer Declan Burke.

“A dying man, if he is any kind of man, will live beyond the law.” The elderly German, Karl Uxkull, was senile or desperate for attention. Why else would he concoct a tale of Nazi atrocity on the remote island of Delphi, off the coast of Donegal? And why now, 60 years after the event, just when Irish-American billionaire Shay Govern has tendered for a prospecting licence for gold in Lough Swilly?

Journalist Tom Noone doesn’t want to know. With his young daughter Emily to provide for, and a ghost-writing commission on Shay Govern’s autobiography to deliver, the timing is all wrong. Besides, can it be mere coincidence that Karl Uxkull’s tale bears a strong resemblance to the first thriller published by legendary spy novelist Sebastian Devereaux, the reclusive English author who has spent the past 50 years holed up on Delphi?

But when a body is discovered drowned, Tom and Emily find themselves running for their lives, in pursuit of the truth that is their only hope of survival.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Severn House Digital
• Release date: Apr 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781780106151

Declan Burke

Declan Burke has published six novels: Eightball Boogie (2003), The Big O (2007), Absolute Zero Cool (2011), Slaughter’s Hound (2012), Crime Always Pays (2014), and The Lost and the Blind (2015). Absolute Zero Cool received the Goldsboro/Crimefest "Last Laugh" Award for Best Humorous Crime Novel in 2012. He also is the editor of Down These Green Streets: Irish Crime Writing in the 21st Century (2011). He hosts a website dedicated to Irish crime fiction called Crime Always Pays.

Reviews for The Lost and the Blind

[coffeenosugar · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It’s the financial crisis of 2008, and Ireland’s economy is “wobbling on a foundation of sand, spit and next year’s hopes.” Irish-American billionaire Shay Govern has just received the green light to prospect for gold on Delphi Island just off the Donegal coast, a venture that could pump millions of dollars into the economy. Freelance journalist Tom Noone is facing a financial crisis of his own. Faced with a custody fight from his ex-wife Rachel, he must prove to the courts that he earns a stable income. When Shay Govern offers him a handsome sum to ghostwrite a book about long-forgotten thriller writer Sebastian Devereaux, he sees it as the monetary solution he needs to keep seeing his young daughter Emily on a frequent basis. However, a story is rarely as simple as it seems, and the truth isn’t always the version of the story that people want told. For Tom, what was supposed to be a story about one man takes him to Delphi Island and the site of a Nazi atrocity that took the lives of six children in 1940. But what does that have to do with Sebastian Devereaux – or Shay Govern? What really happened on Delphi Island over sixty years ago? Why is it important that the story is told now, and who is willing to kill to keep the truth from coming out?In "The Lost and the Blind," Declan Burke weaves plot twist after plot twist together to create a thriller full of mystery and intrigue. If you think you can predict endings, you won’t this time. The first few chapters keep you dizzy with questions as the story starts to unfold. If not for Burke’s ability to create a spellbinding tale, you might be tempted to put the book down. You are never quite sure what happened, who to trust, or what’s truly going on in Delphi Island until the end. The only promise is that Burke keeps you turning the page with his style of writing, deft dialogue, and cast of characters. Not many authors are capable of successfully pulling off such a complex plot, but Burke does and makes it seem effortless.