Book Review: The Eskimo in the Net

I bought this one thinking that it would involve an Inuit battling three guys in matching suits and shades a la "The Matrix" but I was sadly mistaken... Actually, the reason for procurement is that the author is one of our own, a certain Gerard Beirne. And no phony "O" either...

This is his debut effort, published in 1993, and is a splendid first novel. Fishing with his friend off the coast of Donegal, the protagonist Jim Gallagher hauls in the body of an Eskimo. What follows is part who-dunnit as Gallagher tries to figure out why Mr Eskimo showed up in Ireland (clue: not global warming), while making acquaintances with some babes, uninterested local cops, fixers, and many hangovers.

Even if Gerard Beirne was not one of our own, I would not hesitate to give The Eskimo in the Net two thumbs up, but since he is a Beirne, he also gets two snaps in a circle.

Gerard hails from parts unknown in Ireland and currently lives in Canada (upper Montana). He has also written a book of poetry, a short story "Sightings of Bono" (later turned into a film of the same name) and in 2009, a second novel "Turtle". He currently teaches at the University of North Brunswick.