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Irish Crystal: A Nuala Anne McGrail Novel
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Product Description
This latest tale of Nuala Anne McGrail begins with a foreboding dream of some terrible impending evil, but what is the origin of this nameless peril? From the Homeland Security goons determined to deport the Irish-born Nuala on the basis of nothing more than vague suspicions and accusations? Or from the tangled dealings of the Currans, a prosperous clan of Irish-American aristocrats?The true danger becomes shockingly apparent when a catastrophic car-bombing rocks the Chicago riverfront. Uncovering the twisted minds behind the bombing is not easy; Nuala and her husband, Dermot, soon find themselves enmeshed in a complicated tapestry of lies and secrets. Nuala+s instincts also lead her to a forgotten manuscript revealing the treachery and deceit behind a tragic chapter in Irish history.Between the past and the present, our heroine and her devoted spouse have more than enough mysteries to contend with, but the two of them are bound to make the truth just as clear as . . . Irish Crystal.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #789091 in Books
- Published on: 2006-02-07
- Released on: 2006-02-07
- Format: Bargain Price
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Hardcover
- 304 pages
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In Greeley's cute ninth Nuala Anne McGrail novel (after 2005's Irish Cream), beautiful Nuala Anne, who's fey, wakes one morning in a particularly dark mood from a nightmare prefiguring disaster. Soon after, a car bombing strikes the powerful Curran family and sends ripples through Chicago's Irish-American community. Nuala Anne sends Dermot Coyne, her handsome husband, to consult a document, written by an Irish priest who witnessed the execution of Irish patriot Robert Emmet in 1803, which she intuits may help with the crisis caused by the car bombing. Meanwhile, Nuala Anne must cope with a host of other challenges, including the threat from the Homeland Security Department to deport her back to Ireland. Greeley's lovable part-time sleuths always deliver, but here he has almost too much going on. The shifts in Irish dialects, Dermot's internal asides and the document extracts can confuse the uninitiated. Greeley displays two very different families, the Currans and Nuala Anne's, which, like the best crystal on close examination, reveals one badly cracked, while the other shines on brightly. (Feb.)
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Review
“’Tis a charmin’ tale that Andrew Greeley tells. . . . It’s a lively novel filled with Irish wit, interesting situations, and likable people.”--The Chattanooga Times on Irish Whiskey
“The prolific cleric plops his psychic singer heroine and her family into a delightful stew of trouble in his latest crowd pleaser. . . . The double plot is rich with detail, while the couple’s earnestness and good intentions are never in question.”--Publishers Weekly on Irish Stew!
“A love story as much as a mystery, with Greeley portraying Chicago’s middle-class Irish-American ethnics with flair, dignity, and affection for their lilting speech.”--Chicago Sun-Times on Irish Lace
About the Author
Father Greeley received the S.T.L. in 1954 from St. Mary of Lake Seminary. His graduate work was done at the University of Chicago, where he received the M.A. Degree in 1961 and the Ph.D. in 1962.
Father Greeley has written scores of books and hundreds of popular and scholarly articles on a variety of issues in sociology, education and religion. His column on political, church and social issues is carried by the Chicago Sun Times and many other newspapers. He stimulates discussion of neglected issues and often anticipates sociological trends. He is the author of more than thirty bestselling novels and an autobiography, Furthermore!: Confessions of a Parish Priest.
Customer Reviews
fast paced paranormal thriller
Dermot, the husband of the beautiful, enticing and caring Nuala Annie McGrail, adores his fey wife. Her mystic powers have led them into solving mysteries that have saved lives and brought criminals to justice. When Nuala Annie wakes up screaming about spies being around them, Dermot knows that her dream is a vision and they will be plunged into another mystery very soon.
At a party celebrating that Nuala Anne has finally becoming a citizen, an explosion rocks the foundation of the building; Nuala knows that the home of John and Estelle Curran just blew up. Having recently had dinner with the Currans, Nuala and her husband want to help them; they get a chance to do so when the couple, on the advice of a detective (who knows Nuala's history), ask for their assistance. Two more attempts are made on the family and Nuala realizes someone is spying on them. With the information Dermot collects from the various family members she tries to figure out who it is but there is a plethora of suspects.
There is plenty of action and excitement in this exciting who-done-it. Andrew M Greeley's heroine, a mystic, singer, wife, mother and investment counselor accountant is a total charmer with her husband as totally enamored of and bemused by her as is readers. There are enough colorful suspects to keep the reader guessing who the spy is until the author the chooses to reveal that person's identity in this fast paced paranormal thriller.
Harriet Klausner
Overall, another worthy entry in the Nuala Ann series...
Andrew Greeley's affluent Irish Catholic families in modern-day Chicago are more fantasy than reality anyway, especially Dermot and Nuala. The trouble is, they are so damn appealing to us remaining hopeless romantics. They are sexy and talented and witty and decent and in every book, in danger. So we root for them to figure out who the bad guys are, and neutralize them. As with the other novels in the series, to accompany the contemporary mystery, there is a bit of Irish history thrown in with a mystery aspect of its own for Nuala to solve. This time, the historical one is a bit less dramatic than its predecessors. Father Greeley, by and large a good writer, paints with a broad brush some of the flaws of federal agents and of the recent administration's attempts to keep us safe from real terrorists. Take the plot for what it is, however, an entertainment device to tell a story with a few gentle lessons in morality, religion and Irish Catholic culture. I agree with an earlier reviewer that a little of character Cindasue Murphy's Appalachian dialect goes a long way, but I don't think it has ruined this book for fans. Greeley, as with most priests I've known (and most writers) has virtues which outweigh his flaws, and pros which count more than his cons.
Formula Greeley
Don't get me wrong. I love the series and I love the characters. I love the interplay of the Irish history past (a painless way of learning more about Irish historical characters) with the "charming" family life of Nuala and Dermot. I have read the entire series.
However like all series there comes a point where it begins to look like the author has lost a bit of his enthusiasm. I so enjoyed the earlier books watching the romance grow between the two leads-Irish Gold I think was the best. I think that is less focus on that and we are suppose to believe after 3 children Nuala still looks and acts like 19.She and Dermot have inordinate amount of time to ravish each other-the children,of course, wise beyond their years (although the middle child barely gets a mention) and have superhuman amounts of energy not only to solve crimes but to sew Communion dresses.
It is a nice fairy tale world where there is lots of money and everything works out in the end. And I will continue to read -I love the family but for once it would be nice to see Nuala act a bit more like a mother of 3 and be a little frazzled.
