Critically acclaimed novel Knowing Women on special offer

From 7 Sept critically acclaimed novel Knowing Women in Kindle Countdown. 67% off, Only 99 cents. Offer lasts for a week.

Laurence J Benbo is a thirty seven year old graphic artist and Dublin bachelor, awkward with women and lonely after the breakup with his girlfriend Deborah. He meets Jadwiga, a lapdancer and, after winning a lottery, he bestows gifts on her. But his upwardly mobile brother Maoilíosa and his scheming wife Ena, on hearing of his win, try to blackmail the innocent Laurence into handing his money over to them by alleging that he interfered with their daughter Lydia. Laurence seeks out Jadwiga for advice in her lapdancing club. To his dismay, he sees her going into a room with Maoilíosa. He spends the night awake listening to the rain pattering at his window, thinking of Deborah and he imagines little Lydia coming to seek out her uncle Lar to finish the story he had started reading to her. As the rain gets heavier he knows there is going to be a storm.

‘A very thought-provoking story that leaves you asking yourself, What if? A reminder of how devastating loneliness can be… Lawless does an amazing job bringing the reader inside the world of the characters…The story really is Epic!! I can honestly say I’ve become a fan of Mr. Lawless, and I look forward to reading his next work.’
David Clarke, Goodreads review.

‘Prolific and possessed of a lively, fleet-footed style that brims with intellect and poeticism (he has a study of modern poetry, 2009′s Clearing The Tangled Wood, to his name), Lawless is an author who we should perhaps start taking more seriously.’ Sunday Independent

Danny Faraday meets Laura Calane, an Irish-American postgrad student in Trinity College, and their attraction is instant. Laura is beautiful and enigmatic and plays infuriating mind games. Her father Con dislikes Danny because Danny doesn’t hate Muslims. Con is poisoned with hate. An ex-fireman, he was on duty on 9/11 and lost his wife in the tragedy. His fireman brother Thady saved Con’s life that day and sometime later Thady retired to live in Ireland. Laura visits Thady regularly. And therein lies the problem.
Danny has suffered his own tragedy, losing his parents in a plane crash and still feels vaguely responsible. Laura and Danny commence a relationship fraught with trouble, in which Thady plays his part. If this book hadn’t been published in 2016, with Donald Trump feeding on the bloodlust and paranoia of so many white Americans, one could be forgiven for thinking the plot is a tad far-fetched. But Lawless has his finger on the pulse of post-9/11 America, and his depiction of the bitterness and paranoia within Laura’s family is – in the context of Trump’s rise to prominence – frightening.
Laura is less convincing, alas. She is a fruitcake, while Danny is an even-minded man. A bit haunted maybe, but aren’t we all? Therefore I didn’t hold out much hope for their strange coupling. However, this is an excellent novel by an award-winning writer, highly praised by the likes of Jennifer Johnston.
James Lawless deserves to be more widely read than he is.

Sunday Independent