Wee Rockets does for Belfast what Irvine Welsh did for Edinburgh. A gang of fourteen-year-old hoods rampage through West Belfast, indulging in violent street crime and mugging pensioners to pay for cider, cigarettes and sweets. Branded scum by a shocked community and pursued by a dogged local vigilante, the young gangsters’ antisocial behaviour soon escalates into something much worse.
“The Wire? This is Barbed Wire. A cheeky slice of urban noir, a drink-soaked, drug-addled journey into the violent underbelly of one of Europe’s most notorious ghettos, Wee Rockets makes The Outsiders look like the Teletubbies”
– Colin Bateman
For fans of A Clockwork Orange, Kidulthood, The Wire, Boyz n the Hood or City of God set in Belfast– and for anyone with an open mind about disaffected, disenfranchised youth in modern urban society.
“Gerard Brennan stands apart from the Irish crime fiction crowd with a novel rooted in the reality of today’s Belfast. The author’s prose speaks with a rare authenticity about the pain of growing up in a fractured society, shot through with a black humour that can only come from the streets. Wee Rockets is urban crime fiction for the 21st century, and Brennan is a unique voice among contemporary Irish writers.”
– Stuart Neville
“In Wee Rockets Gerard Brennan has written a fast paced, exciting story of West Belfast gang culture; brimming with violence, authentic street dialogue and surprising black humour. This is a great debut novel. Brennan takes us into the heart of Belfast’s chav underclass, in a story that lies somewhere in the intersection between The Warriors, Colin Bateman and Guy Ritchie. This is the first in what undoubtedly will be a stellar literary career.”
– Adrian McKinty
"Brennan impressed me hugely with his debut novella The Point, and Wee Rockets has cemented my opinion that he belongs among the top rank of Northern Irish crime writers."
– Loitering With Intent
"So assured and mature you’d think this was his eight or ninth book, not one of his first."
– Spinetingler Magazine
"This is a tremendous book and I urge you to read it."
– I Meant To Read That
“I think the main theme is that of nature versus nurture. The characters are presented as products of their environment. I don’t think it’s a judgemental book; it simply shows you how these kids and adults react to certain situations.
"The reader may not always approve of the action taken but hopefully they can understand what has informed it.
“It’s also an exploration into how good people can do bad things and bad people can do good. I’ve purposely tried to blur that line so that the characters aren’t simply black or white. Morally they operate in shades of grey.
"It’s my hope that a character you hated in the first chapter can grow into a hero by the final act and vice versa.”
Gerard Brennan is the author of the novella, The Point, and co-editor of Requiems For The Departed, a collection of crime fiction based on Irish myths. He lives in Dundrum, Northern Ireland.
“The Wire? This is Barbed Wire. A cheeky slice of urban noir, a drink-soaked, drug-addled journey into the violent underbelly of one of Europe’s most notorious ghettos, Wee Rockets makes The Outsiders look like the Teletubbies”
– Colin Bateman
For fans of A Clockwork Orange, Kidulthood, The Wire, Boyz n the Hood or City of God set in Belfast– and for anyone with an open mind about disaffected, disenfranchised youth in modern urban society.
What they’re saying…
“Gerard Brennan stands apart from the Irish crime fiction crowd with a novel rooted in the reality of today’s Belfast. The author’s prose speaks with a rare authenticity about the pain of growing up in a fractured society, shot through with a black humour that can only come from the streets. Wee Rockets is urban crime fiction for the 21st century, and Brennan is a unique voice among contemporary Irish writers.”
– Stuart Neville
“In Wee Rockets Gerard Brennan has written a fast paced, exciting story of West Belfast gang culture; brimming with violence, authentic street dialogue and surprising black humour. This is a great debut novel. Brennan takes us into the heart of Belfast’s chav underclass, in a story that lies somewhere in the intersection between The Warriors, Colin Bateman and Guy Ritchie. This is the first in what undoubtedly will be a stellar literary career.”
– Adrian McKinty
"Brennan impressed me hugely with his debut novella The Point, and Wee Rockets has cemented my opinion that he belongs among the top rank of Northern Irish crime writers."
– Loitering With Intent
"So assured and mature you’d think this was his eight or ninth book, not one of his first."
– Spinetingler Magazine
"This is a tremendous book and I urge you to read it."
– I Meant To Read That
From the author…
“I think the main theme is that of nature versus nurture. The characters are presented as products of their environment. I don’t think it’s a judgemental book; it simply shows you how these kids and adults react to certain situations. "The reader may not always approve of the action taken but hopefully they can understand what has informed it.
“It’s also an exploration into how good people can do bad things and bad people can do good. I’ve purposely tried to blur that line so that the characters aren’t simply black or white. Morally they operate in shades of grey.
"It’s my hope that a character you hated in the first chapter can grow into a hero by the final act and vice versa.”
About the author…
Gerard Brennan is the author of the novella, The Point, and co-editor of Requiems For The Departed, a collection of crime fiction based on Irish myths. He lives in Dundrum, Northern Ireland.
