A literary, historical, Irish family-saga fiction piece, for grownups Lucid, engaging prose covering half a century of a provincial Irish business family, which could be microcosmic of the nation, from a first-time author. The Considine brothers, Rudi and Gus, are at war. Their father, Malachi, has died in a ‘freak accident’. But are there actually such things as freak accidents? When Rudi attempts to grab Gus’s inheritance there’s a real prospect of human blood appearing on the Hawthorne Meats slaughterhouse floor. Enter Cosgrave, a solicitor with expensive tastes, and Toomarood, the banker with an eye to making money outside of his day job. Mix in the ‘free’ energy device, after experts have stated that the promoters are suffering from long-term, severe self-delusion. Does this all make up a catastrophe waiting to happen? How will Gus’s childhood friend, Raymond Quinn, his partner, Kaarina, and their children, be able to deal with him being placed under an exit ban in China because of his part in a pyramid scheme that has defrauded Chinese small investors? Is Gus really the nice guy everyone thinks he is? His activities as a ‘celebrity butcher’ might suggest otherwise. Does Rudi go too far by defrauding Quinn senior and his business partner through the use of a shadow company? Is Rudi capable of murder? And Rudi’s wife, Penny - whose side is she on? Treachery hangs over this story of the pressures and tensions, both personal and commercial, of Celtic-Tiger era Ireland, especially when that edifice is destroyed in the Global Financial Crisis of 2008. For Rudi, the payback from Gus and Raymond is severe indeed. ENDS