Dublin Seven - Softcover

Gaffney, Frankie

3.75

69 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1910742112 ISBN 13: 9781910742112

Publisher: Liberties Press, 2015

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And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.

Dublin Seven is the gritty, violent, sometimes raunchy story of nineteen-year-old Shane, coming up as a small-time coke dealer in Dublin. Having just left school and keen to assert his independence, Shane loses himself in the tail end of Celtic Tiger nightlife. Through a chance meeting with a local gangster, he sets himself up in business.

—C’mere. D’ye know where I’d get a bit of tha stuff? Shane asked Griffo. —It’s deadly so it is.
—Yeah no bother kid, it’s always there if ye want it, anytime.
Soon, Shane’s life is drugs, dance music, gangsters – and a beautiful girlfriend. But as the Celtic Tiger limps out of sight, so does Shane’s luck. The threats multiply, his paranoia builds and the violence creeps closer.

Dublin Seven is a classic coming-of-age gangster tale, combined with a troubled urban romance. An explosive cross between Trainspotting and Love/Hate.

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About the Author:

Frankie Gaffney came of age in Dublin’s North Inner City. His father spent time in prison, and he was himself immersed in the city’s underworld. In his mid-twenties he left this behind and went to Trinity College Dublin, where he studied English Literature. He has since been awarded the Ussher Fellowship to conduct literary research there. Dublin Seven is informed both by the milieu in which he grew up, and his formal study of great literature.

Review:

“In 18-year-old Shane Laochra, a working-class novice drug dealer, Gaffney has created a smart and irreverent voice. Dialogue, from the banter between the ‘youngfellas’ to the intimacies of first love, is well done. When Shane is let speak for himself, his engaging story brings the reader into a world where the odds seem stacked against young men as they start their adult lives.” (Sarah Gilmartin The Irish Times)

"Unnerving, page-turning suspense...an evocative, fast-paced journey through Dublin’s underworld.'" (Dr Michael Pierse, author of Writing Ireland's Working-class: Dublin After O'Casey.)

"Dublin Seven offers a rare glimpse into the life of inner city youth, so often played out in black and white in newspapers and news reports. The setting is gritty and frequently violent... The plot is well constructed and the central characters recognisable... One of the stand out points of this strong and promising debut is the language. The characters speak in the distinct Dublin dialect, their accents shine through, broad, sharp and uncompromising." (Shiny New Books)

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