The Butcher Boy

“I was thinking how right ma was — Mrs. Nugent all smiles when she met us and how are you getting on Mrs and young Francis are you both well? . . .what she was really saying Ah hello Mrs Pig how are you and look Philip do you see what’s coming now — The Pig Family! ” This is a precisely crafted, often lyrical, portrait of the descent into madness of a young killer in small-town Ireland. “Imagine Huck Finn crossed with Charlie Starkweather,” said The Washington Post. Short-listed for the Bram Stoker Award and the Man Booker Prize.