For me, Bateman immediately invites comparisons with Adrian McKinty, another Irish novelist setting his stories during the troubles, and the Bateman does not hold up well.

Divorcing Jack is the debut novel and first of the Dan Starkey series by Northern Irish author, Colin Bateman, released on 28 January 1995 through HarperCollins. A neglected housewife makes an unexpected friend at a nursing home, where she hears a true tale about an independent woman in 1920s Alabama, who ran the town diner, served food to people of color and protected her sister-in-law from an abusive spouse. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.Our online collections hold information on over 800,000 film titles – including television programmes, documentaries, newsreels, as well as educational and training films. They are at least reading copies, complete and in reasonable condition, but usually secondhand; frequently they are superior examples. The whirlwind of death, danger, politics and sex that picks him up and plunks him down, well the worse for wear, begins with a kiss wrapped around a shared breath mint.

Parker endeavors to help his friend, but all too soon is himself a victim of rival forces trying to locate the vital evidence for which the unfortunate Margaret was murdered. The novel was well received by Christina Hardyment of The Independent, who stated that " James Nesbitt's almost edible Irish voice enhances the wit and wizardry of a story that is as much a mystery novel as a romance, and which deservedly won the Betty Trask Award in 1994". 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. Between these two he’s been in big-budget Hollywood fare that are clearly beneath him (Dragonheart, The Island Of Dr. The sarcasm and fallibility of a hero doing all the wrong things for all the drunk reasons plays beautifully against the fast paced nature of this thriller.Kane is no lawman, but he accepts the badge because he has an old score to settle with the town's chief trouble-maker.

I sat and thought of lovely Margaret, of her hair and her eyes and her laugh and the way she kissed me and her skin that smelled of mandarin oranges. Have interesting times happen to your hero, and lay the clues to the mystery so your reader always wants to read just one more chapter. There I was, expecting this to be another British 1990s comedy caper and what I got was, well, sort of that? It's good to see David Thewlis, one of the finest British actors of his generation, play the lead in a British film – as he did in his prime, and not a side character in Hollywoodian films like Harry Potter.

A mint shared with a woman he barely knows as his wife whispers in his ears, "You have twenty-four hours to move out. Griffiths appears in a brief but spectacular role as a nurse temporarily dressed up as a sexy nun; she comes to the rescue when Starkey — who takes a great deal of punishment during the course of the film — needs urgent medical attention. Before I say anything about plot or characters or historical and social context, let me shout out as loudly as I possibly can that what makes Divorcing Jack such a fun read, a book that will keep you chuckling as you eagerly turn the pages, is the tale's narrator and all-around comic hero, Dan Starkey.