The US produces the most compulsively-readable crime fiction in the world? - get Down These Green Streets

Duane Swierczynski has a new book out - Fun and Games. It's right at the top of my present wish list. I've just come across the following review quote, which set my alarm bells ringing. Don't get me wrong I'm a big fan of US produced crime fiction, but it's a big claim to say the US produces the most compulsively-readable crime fiction in the world.

"Along with fellow writers Charlie Huston and Victor Gischler, Duane Swierczynski leads an insurgency of new crime writers specializing in fast-paced crime rife with sharp dialogue, caustic humor and over-the-top violence. Together, they ensure that the grittiest and most compulsively-readable crime fiction in the world is still produced right here in the USA. Spinetingler Review

In fact I'm hoping to attend an event this evening that might put that statement to the test. Down These Green Streets is a collection of essays, interviews and short stories by Irish crime authors, edited by Declan Burke (who blogs over at Crime Always Pays). Contributors include John Connolly, Tana French, Ken Bruen, Arlene Hunt, Declan Hughes, Gene Kerrigan, Alan Glynn, Alex Barclay, Eoin McNamee, Brian McGilloway, Niamh O’Connor, Jane Casey and Gerard Brennan (all of whom will be in attendance at the launch this evening), along with Adrian McKinty, Andrew Nugent, Colin Bateman, Cora Harrison, Cormac Millar, Gerry O’Carroll, Ingrid Black, John Banville, Kevin McCarthy, Neville Thompson, Paul Charles, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Sara Keating, Stuart Neville, Tara Brady.

Now for a small island of around 6 million people this is a team to take on all-comers. And if you want grit and compulsively-readable crime fiction, then these lot produce it in spades. The Irish don't do cozies.

Anyway, do check out Duane Swierczynski's Fun and Games as it will be compulsively-readable, but also check out the Irish authors listed above. And if you are in Dublin tonight Down These Green Streets is being launched by Eoin Colfer in the Gutter Bookshop, 6-7.30pm. More details here.