An Honest Life
Ruthless crime lord Declan Hennessy has only one ambition; to rule Dublin’s northside. Once he is in control of the drug trade, he can take his foot off the pedal and enjoy the empire he has built for his family.
Incompetent amateur Martin Lynch has charm and no real malice. At heart an honest man, he struggles to provide for his family as a result of bad debts and worse luck.
Declan and Martin despise each other but over the past two decades, their families’ lives have become intertwined in unsettling ways. Despite the common traits they share, nothing can resolve the long-standing conflict between them.
When two rival gangs enter Declan’s territory, a violent struggle for power ensues; a struggle that both families cannot avoid. Whilst Declan and Martin will do anything to protect their families, they soon realise that the only thing they need protection from is… themselves. If they cannot find a way to unite, they will lose everything.
An Honest Life is a powerful and stirring crime novel with a dark sense of humour
that reveals the redemptive power of adversity.
The origin of the story
Pictured left is The Telegraph Pub - the inspiration for Declan's pub in An Honest Life and the street sign from Holmewood Road, the real-life road I grew up on and the fictional address for Martin Lynch in An Honest Life.
This story bizarrely started off from an intense dream that kept reoccurring until I started jotting down segments of it piecing together it contents. From that I was able to examine the flash points, making comparisons with past events throughout my life.
It was after a service visit to a well-known author address that planted the seed for me to start writing. The story draws in memories of myself growing up so the named roads and pubs are all relevant to people I grew up with or who live in SW2 in London. As much as I would love to put names to characters, alas they are indeed all fictional and bear no resemblance to anyone dead or alive.