Turbulent Priests Hb [Paperback]

Colin Bateman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 6, 1999

Dan Starkey investigates the birth of a new Messiah on a small island off the coast of Ireland. Back together with his wife Patricia and the baby -- Little Stevie -- that resulted from her affair, Dan accepts a curious commission from Cardinal Daley to investigate the tiny island of Wrathlin, where the inhabitants appear to believe that the new Messiah has been born. The child in question turns out to be a girl called Christine, and the local population has become as defensive and generally crazy as the cast of The Crucible. At first it's just funny for Dan and Trish, but fairly soon the mood turns very much darker. Packed with Bateman's trademarket mixture of jokes, shocks and tenderness, Turbulent Priests is his best novel yet.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Divorcing Jack: 'A joy from start to finish... Witty, fast-paced and throbbing with menace, Divorcing Jack reads like The Thirty-Nine Steps rewritten for the '90s by Roddy Doyle' Time Out Cycle of Violence: 'Bateman's is the ultimate word on the insanity of the Troubles: no one has done it better' Scotland on Sunday Of Wee Sweetie Mice and Men: 'Fast, furious, riotously funny and at the end, never a dry eye in the house' Mail on Sunday Empire State: 'A hugely enjoyable novel... blessed with a beautiful sense of irony... It's like Carl Hiaasen, Tom Wolfe, and Roddy Doyle at their best' The Herald

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Harper Collins (December 6, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0002254166
• ISBN-13: 978-0002254168
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,242,413 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars don't judge this book by its cover ..., September 10, 2003

By 

lazza (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Turbulent Priests (Paperback)

Despite its cover 'Turbulent Priests' has little to do with bedraggled young women who smoke. It's actually a very cleverly plotted story about a young girl on a island off Ireland who is claimed to be the messiah. A reporter is sent out to chronicle events and, to no surprise, all is not what they appear to be. 'Turbulent Priests' is fresh and funny. It lamblasts both the (Catholic) church and Irish society in equal measure without taking it all too seriously. Only the most sensitive will be offended (..although much of the language is crude). I should also add that the book is rather Irish-centric. Folks from outside Ireland/Britain might not understand much of the verbage or the sarcastic humour.

Bottom line: perhaps Colin Bateman's best book. No small praise.