Second in the McGarry Stateside series which is a spinoff from the Dublin Trilogy series (which isn't a trilogy), and a side road from the MCM Investigations series and, well for those that have read Caimh McDonnell's books already you'll get the "chaos" and if you're new to the whole thing - welcome to the best little madhouse in Ireland. Or the US in this case. And, of course, I'm behind with this review - maybe the chaos is contagious. Maybe I'll go with that as an excuse from here on in.
Anyway - Bunny McGarry (you really really REALLY have to read at least the first few Dublin Trilogy books and then the first in the McGarry Stateside series to have an ice-creams chance in a hellscape of figuring out what the actual .... is going on here - but trust me, that's no trial). In fact you may find yourself, like I am now, vaguely obsessed waiting for the next book to arrive - preferably in audio format because Morgan C. Jones is just the best narrator there is (although hasn't the voice of Smithy switched a bit in recent outings), and what's with the Sisters of the Saint and why is Bunny in America searching for Simone, which always seems to end up as the furthest thing from his ticked off list when all hell breaks loose.
Read the blurbs on these books and you'll get a slight hint of the styling, but there is nothing, absolutely nothing, like the utterly absorbing chaos field that you step into once you start reading (listening in my case) to these series.
Anyway - long story short, Bunny's a man on a mission to find the woman he loves. As are a lot of dangerous people. The only ones who know where she is are members of a rogue order of very unusual nuns (The Sisters of the Saint) who have, in the words of the blurb "raised not being found to the level of art form". They've also had a good kick at being the most unexpected types of nuns you're ever likely to come across. In the meantime, Bunny's drawn around him a very unlikely band of brothers - most of whom appear to be something straight out of "unexpected superhero casting 101".
In this outing it turns out that the required nuns have been kidnapped, and we're sort of in a Labours of Hercules type scenario where every step forward is a step to the left. The labours are being dictated by the kidnappers in a round about sort of way, but the Sisters are determined to get their fellow nuns back, and they are not above using McGarry as a human battering ram in the process. So when McGarry discovers that the one man that might have the clue to the next Labour is a priest whose life work is keeping kids out of gangs, although why such a man would have an assassin on his tail is just one of the mysterious questions that McGarry had better get an answer to in a hell of a hurry. Even if that does mean going undercover in the church, although the no swearing, no drinking and no violence rules might be the thing that finally breaks the camels back.
The whole thing is manic good fun, with daring doings, fabulous twists and turns, and some extensive and hilarious dialogue, misunderstandings and mayhem. And really if this review has confused you, dear reader, then welcome to the Bunny McGarry / States/ MCM Investigations / Dublin (not a) Trilogy and a whole world of highly addictive crazy good fun.
I Have Sinned
Bunny McGarry is a man on a mission. He left behind his life in Ireland to go to New York to find the woman he loves, who happens to have a lot of very dangerous people looking for her. The good news is that they don’t know where she is, the bad news is that Bunny doesn’t either and the only people that do are a rogue order of nuns called The Sisters of the Saint who have raised not being found to the level of art form.
Bunny’s one clue is a priest he thinks might know something, but Father Gabriel de Marcos isn’t willing to play ball. The padre runs a boxing club at the bad end of the Bronx, battling to keep kids out of gangs – noble, thankless work. Thing is, saints don’t typically have assassins sent after them. What sins are hidden in this priest’s mysterious past? Bunny has no choice but to save Gabriel from the demons that are on his tail. He has to manage all this while living under the rules that chill him to the very bone. No drinking. No swearing. No violence.
I Have Sinned is book two in the McGarry Stateside series, a continuation of the smash hit Dublin Trilogy which also featured Bunny McGarry. It melds high-octane action with a distinctly Irish acerbic wit.