If you'd rather place an order by talking to one of our cheerful order desk clerks, please call 1-888-232-4444 (USA and Canada only) or 250-383-6864. From Europe, ring our UK order desk clerk at local rate number 0845 230 9601 (UK only) or 44 (0)1865 722 113.

34 Warwick Road

by Ronald Smiley

544 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #08-0431; ISBN 1-4251-7518-X; US$31.69, C$31.69, EUR21.65, £16.36

Explosion of drug dealing and revenge in the coastal Irish town of Bray, Co. Wicklow. Murder being the prime motive behind the activities with plans to assassinate a key religious figure in Dublin.

About the Book

The story takes place in Nov/Dec 1990 and centres around the characters of Tom Fleming, director of the charity, The Friends of Ex-Prisoners, (FEP) and his twin brother, Pat Cooney. Sometime in 1950, and shortly after their birth in the home for unmarried mothers, they were separated. Pat was given over to a childless couple from Kerry who paid the nuns handsomely for the infant. Tom was allowed to stay with their real mother and had a comfortable life growing up unaware that he had a twin brother.

Pat’s upbringing was traumatic and he suffered physical and sexual abuse, at the hands of his adoptive father. At the age of ten, having fallen foul of the law, he was sent to an Industrial School run by the Brothers of St Dominic. While at the school he encountered even more abuse and humiliation from the Brothers, especially from the superior, Brother Pius. He vowed that one-day he would exact revenge on all those who made him suffer—the Catholic Church, the police and society in general. After release from the school, at the age of sixteen, he went to England in search of a job. This in turn led him to West Germany where he met Fritz, a former East German Border Guard in a cafe, posing as a refugee. This meeting changed his life when, through Fritz, he was drawn into the Nazi culture. But with increased pressure from the authorities against Nazism, he and Fritz decided to move to Ireland establishing a ruthless but successful drugs operation at a house on 34 Warwick Road, Bray.

Pat Cooney had earlier found out the secret about his birth from his adoptive mother shortly before she died. He was incensed by what he learned and swore vengeance on his twin brother who had landed the better deal in life. Through passing himself off as a retired army officer, plus giving a large donation to FEP, he was appointed to the board of the charity. Once there he set out to plan his revenge. Through a serious of devious manoeuvres he eventually tricks Tom into his clutches thereby putting his plan of revenge into action.

While Tom’s life had been a happy one, in contrast to his twin brother, his business life with FEP was also in difficulties. A few of the board members were even calling for his resignation. Tom’s wife, Clodagh, was becoming more and more frustrated with him and this gave rise to deep tensions between them. Then through a mutual friend Clodagh learns about the minister for Social Advancement, Sam Trump, whose department makes an annual grant for FEP’s work being involved in corrupt dealings with builders.

In the middle of all this is the determined Inspector Susan Holmes of Bray Garda station. She is relentlessly trying to unravel the mystery of the escalation of drug dealing in the Bray area. She is also involved in investigating the attempted murder of one of her young officers, who, while recovering from his injuries reveals to her some startling details about the intended assassination of an important figure in the Catholic Church. Then through a bizarre series of events Susan is eventually drawn into Pat Cooney’s world of torture and brutality with devastating consequences for herself and Tom Fleming and those connected to him.