Tooth & Nail

From the Desmond Elliot Prize-shortlisted writer of Iron Annie comes a story of found family, second chances and one man's slow descent into a dangerous criminal underworld. Before he was known as The Rat King, the infamous criminal kingpin of Dundalk, he was simply Paul a clever but aimless man fresh out of university who, after falling in with his capricious girlfriend's crew of squatting anarchists, finds himself homeless and desperate. To get by, Paul strikes a deal with a shady man who offers him a roof over his head and a regular supply of drugs in return for birdwatching spying on the visitors to one particular house. Robin Redbreast (25, leather jacket, red hair and beard) is a regular to the place, but its the Night Bird Blue Gattigan that turns Pauls stomach. Blue radiates violence and cruelty and, when he targets someone close to Paul, Paul sets out for payback. With the help of a whos who of Dundalks underworld a traveller with all the right connections, a genius metalworker with a heart of gold and a mat-drinking, ayahuasca-imbibing ex-NRA solider known locally as the Shaman Paul hatches a plan that will send a deafening message to Blue. But when Blue strikes back, Paul is forced to ask himself the all-important question: how deep into this world of crime is he truly willing to go?