Ciaran West

"I was fifteen years old in September 1991 and I thought I knew everything. I thought the worst thing that could ever happen to you was to have your heart broken. I thought there was nothing that could hurt you more. I was so wrong, and so right, but I wouldn't know exactly how much, until the weekend I spent with that guy we all called Mr Mason."Marian Collins is fifteen years years old, with the greatest friends, a boy who adores her, and two years left before school is over and she can be free to do whatever she wants with her life. Her dad is an absolute dote, her mum is an awful pain, and her nemesis is Tara Meaney. Life is wonderfully normal, on the first day of Fifth Year at Salesian's College; apart from the new English teacher, who it turns out is an English teacher in more ways than one. Marian doesn't know it yet, but Mr Mason is about to be the centre of three crazy days that will change her whole future. So much so, that it will be years before she feels wonderfully normal again.Returning to the nostalgic Limerick universe he started with The Boys of Summer, West's latest novel is funny, heartbreaking, uplifting, tense, and touching. You'll fall in love with his richly drawn characters; you'll cry for their losses, and punch the air at their triumphs. One thing is for sure - they'll stay with you long after the final page.

"West writes about childhood - all the politics, secret joys, terrors, and anxieties - so thoughtfully that by the time you realize that this is not your childhood it's impossible not to relate. The story is reminiscent of The River's Edge and early Stephen King, but with a voice that is uniquely West's own. It is lush and beautiful and heartbreaking."- Amazon.comIt's 1989 in Limerick, Ireland, and eleven year old Richie South's summer is shattered by a terrible crime which happens within a few feet of his home. When little Tommy Kelly is murdered in the local quarry, Richie and his friends decide that they are going to bring the killer to justice. Richie grows up fast, experiencing grief, horror and even love, in the space of a few sweltering hot days. Friendships crumble, families are destroyed, and a romance blossoms from the unlikeliest of sources. From the first page until the last, we are inside Richie's thoughts: Living every second of his terror; knowing every minute of his joy; feeling what it is to be a child again.

"History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes."It's August 1994, in Limerick, Ireland and Jonathan Musgrave is 15, going on 16, and loves his girls, his music, and his booze - among other things. When his rock band finally find the drummer they've been looking for, a chance to compete in a local battle of the bands comes their way, with a prime spot at a local music festival among the prizes.Life is pretty sweet for Jon, until he meets a girl who looks like trouble, and has what would be a night to remember - if he could remember it. From there, he finds himself entangled in a local mystery, a possible crime, and a love affair that takes him by surprise, teaches him who he is, and shows him what he wants to be. But somewhere, behind the scenes, a secret he is keeping threatens to destroy everything he loves.After almost four years West returns to the universe of his debut The Boys of Summer, with a new lead character, the return of some old favourites, and a story that will make you laugh, make you cry, but above all, keep you reading until the final page.

Poppy Riley is missing. The man who has her wants no ransom, has made no contact with her family, and has no intention to do so. His plan for Poppy is far more sinister. In a locked room, somewhere in London, the ten year old girl sits and wonders how she came to be there.Alice wakes up to a call from Frank. He is not a friend, but he knows everything about her. He is not a kidnapper, but he knows how to get Poppy back. The worst day of her life has already started, and he is her only guide through the horror. She knows she cannot trust him, but time is running out.All over the capital, several men are waiting for confirmation that everything has gone according to plan. Strangers to each other, they are tied by a sickening common interest. An interest in Poppy Riley. Alice and Frank have less than twenty-four hours to stop them.

Darkly funny, shocking, heartwarming, brutal, manic, touching, emotional, and exciting - Ciar n West's fourth novel is many things, but it's certainly not a romance, in the traditional sense. Through the lenses of excess, addiction, psychosis, and worse, it tells the story of Tom - a man who has lost everything, is plagued by his demons, and in the grip of the compulsions over which he has no control. Coming back home to a country he no longer recognises, his inevitable downward spiral is halted by a face from fifteen years before - a lost love that was never his to lose in the first place. A glimmer of hope that might be the one thing that can save him. She's the key to what could be a happy future for Tom, but only if he can put his past to rest for good. A Certain Romance is a book that you may find hard to describe to other people, but also one that you'll never forget.