Pat Mullan

We are downsizing and decluttering. A hoard acquired over many years. We are faced with a major decision: select only the most important things to keep. But very little of our hoard seems unimportant. As we uncover them, or re-discover them, each unlocks past memories. Memories How do we declutter memories? Does the past exist, I wonder, or is it a library of videos, some special, some not so special, organized to entertain or even to frustrate, filled with laughter or sorrow, or people we loved, disliked, or even hated.

Burnt-out lawyer Ed Burke flees New York, a failed marriage, and a high pressure career as a criminal attorney and returns home to Dublin, Europe's most happening city. Hand-in-hand with the new prosperity, a culture of ruthless corruption has taken root and threatens to pervade the highest levels of government in Celtic Tiger Ireland and the EU. Ed's new job, defending a prominent developer in a tribunal investigating the rezoning of prime residential property, draws him into the world of Ireland's elite movers and shakers who will stop at nothing to achieve their aims. He is also drawn into a passionate affair with an old flame, Pia, now the glamorous wife of a corrupt and powerful political leader. As his infatuation turns into love, Pia is murdered in his own bed, and Ed has no doubt that her heartless, power-hungry husband is behind this murder. Edmund Burke's quest to avenge Pia and free himself from a troubled past becomes an adrenaline-pumping race to save Ireland from the grip of a cabal of corrupt power brokers. He must find his way through a tangled web of lies, deceit and murder as he matches his wits against the Machiavellian schemes of the rich, the famous and the powerful who seek to mould the future of Europe and the West.

The joy of early learning. Give your three-year old little girl this fun introduction to numbers. She'll love it