Hand in the Till

"Comic Irish writing at its best"--Colin Quinn, comedian.


"The Troubles" of Northern Ireland are history, and in the city of Derry, former foes Catholics and Protestants are living happily side by side. Or are they?


Hardened mother of seven unruly thugs, Fionnuala Flood, gets more than she bargains for when she buys a case on the black market that contains not canned potatoes or turnips, but explosives. And a wilting branch of the defunct IRA will stop at nothing to get it back.

Adding to the Fionnuala woes, her two oldest sons are in prison, her husband's hands are fondling more than frozen fish at the packing plant, and her lesbian daughter has just published a book exposing the family's attempts to get their claws into Auntie Ursula Barnett's lottery winnings the year before. Daughter Dymphna, unwed mother, has just been kicked out of her boyfriend's house, adding two more mouths to feed.


And worst of all, daughter Siofra's middle school is hosting a multi-denominational talent contest, Fingers Across the Foyle, which is supposed to build harmony, but will pit the Catholic students against their Protestant rivals. Siofra wants to nab the grand prize, a trip to Belfast to meet her idol Miley Cyrus in concert. Fionnuala is having none of it.

Will the Semtex explode or will sanity prevail? Throw in bottles of hallucinogenic absinthe, Ursula coming back to town for a showdown, and an old VCR that might change the world, and you have Hand In The Till, a darkly comic look at revenge, retribution and, perhaps, reconciliation.

Best-selling author Gerald Hansen lived for years in his mother's hometown of Derry, Northern Ireland and attended Dublin City University. As a Navy brat, he grew up in California, Thailand, London, Iceland and Germany. His debut novel, An Embarrassment of Riches was an Amazon Breakthrough Novel semifinalist in 2010, Hand In The Till came out in 2011, Fleeing The Jurisdiction in 2012, and Best Served Frozen in 2014. Gerald now lives in New York City.