Ali Karim was a Board Member of Bouchercon [The World Crime & Mystery Convention] and co-chaired programming for Bouchercon Raleigh, North Carolina in 2015. He is Assistant Editor of Shots eZine, British correspondent for The Rap Sheet and writes and reviews for many US magazines & Ezines.
Readers may be more familiar with the author’s pen name John Creed, which he uses for his thriller writing. His real name Eoin McNamee is reserved for his literary work, which like his John Creed novels are often set in and around the border between Northern and Southern Ireland. When McNamee explores the downfall of Paddy and Lorraine Farrell in The Bureau – I am reminded of a line from Dennis Lehane - "In Greek tragedy, they fall from great heights. In noir, they fall from the curb."
Eoin McNamee’s latest work is set in what some term the ‘bandit territory’ between Drogheda / Dundalk and Southern Ireland’s capital Dublin; historically in Ireland’s recent past.
The novel opens with the deaths of Paddy and Lorraine. It is unclear if the bodies found in their upstairs bedroom were from a murder-suicide pact or a revenge killing. Then McNamee, retells the story of their lives, and the setting up of an under-the-counter Bureau de Change, which will lead to the couple’s shotgun deaths.
The author weaves memorable characters deftly into the narrative such as dodgy police inspector Owen Corrigan, Gangsters like Dominic and Mary McGlinchey, with Paramilitary and Irish Republican types into the lives of the two main couples ‘Paddy and Lorraine’ and ‘Brendan and Jean’.
The plot is replete with border smuggling, money laundering, financial crimes and shady lawyers. Though the pace is slow, the dialogue and characters colourfully engaging – thus allowing the reader to savour this literary work of noir crime-fiction. The bank robbery of Travellers Cheques from the American Express office in Grafton Street Dublin is written with an authentic eye, as it couples the kidnapping of the Manager from his home in a vivid flourish.
Because of the detail in the narrative, I was unsurprised to discover this work of fiction was based on True-Crime, namely family history from Eoin McNamee [“The Bureau started when I came across a letter to my father written from Cork prison: Dear Brendan, I thought I’d drop you a few lines as its Sunday here and we have time on our hands … “]
Read More from the author HERE about the background to The Bureau
Editor’s Note: I was late to the party in getting to this novel in hardcover. The paperback release is on 26th March 2026.
