And now for a scorching burst of new talent. Of course he’s Irish. It’s like when they kept winning the Eurovision Song Contest - the Irish cannot help producing literary stars. This is a rough, real slice of punkish Dublin low life, a black comedy, a ghost story and more. When Denny Cullen’s mother dies he returns to his childhood home. His siblings are squabbling, and his old friends are a collection of disasters, like Pajo, who has abused so many chemicals that “he smells like a breach of the Kyoto agreement”. And home life gets yet more complicated with the appearance of a ghost. A fab first novel - the clever little blighter isn’t even 30.
Ghosts and Lightning by Trevor Byrne; Canongate, £10.99; 320pp; Buy this book