Little Criminals

An Irish thug’s scheme for success flies dangerously off the rails in this crime novel by the author of The Midnight Choir.

Frankie Crowe is not one of the great criminal masterminds. He’s a small-time thug who thinks that kidnapping one of Dublin’s newly rich businessmen just may be the low-risk fast track to the status and money he’s certain he deserves. When the local crime boss won’t let him make the snatch, he shoots the boss and commences with his plan—such as it is. When Frankie and his crew kidnap the wrong person, no one, from Inspector John Grace to that pillar of Dublin gangland Jo-Jo Mackendrick, can predict the next twist in a scheme that has gone from wrong to bad to worse.

Kerrigan’s novel is alive to the codes and expectations of the different segments of modern Irish society. His narrative is taut and harrowing, his dialogue spot-on. Little Criminals is that exciting combination of entertainment and art available only in superior crime fiction.

Praise for Little Criminals

“A great story . . . relentless and brilliant.” —Roddy Doyle, Book Prize–winning author of Love

“Gene Kerrigan’s writing is magnificent. It is graceful, tough, hardboiled and tender, as razor-sharp and gritty as it is lyrical and truthful.” —Joseph O’Connor, author of Star of the Sea

“A novel of great emotional impact and beautifully etched characters.” —The Guardian (UK)

“Little Criminals is a terrific novel, tense and exciting.” —The Independent on Sunday (UK)