First published 2017
Ryan deals drugs at fifteen in Cork, determined not to become his alcoholic father Tony. When his client Georgie needs something badly enough, she will pretend to find God to get it. Georgie works as a prostitute, and her boyfriend serves as her pimp. Maureen accidentally kills Georgie's pimp, creating an unwanted reunion with her son Jimmy after forty years apart. Jimmy runs the city's most feared criminal operation. The botched killing forces all five characters to confront their real and imagined sins. Ryan struggles against his father's destructive path. Georgie manipulates through false religious conversion. Tony battles his addiction. Maureen faces the consequences of her violent act. Jimmy must deal with his mother's return to his criminal world. Each character attempts to find their own form of atonement, but reconciling with their past choices proves more difficult than any of them expected.
Genres: fiction, drama, crime, contemporary
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: character-driven, redemption, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Cork, Ireland
Period: contemporary
368 pages · Paperback · Querido
Content warnings: addiction, drug-use, violence