Disaster Inc, Caimh McDonnell
Right, so the paperwork up front. DISASTER INC is the first in the series, "McGarry Stateside", featuring Bunny McGarry, who has already made an appearance in the "Dublin Trilogy" which isn't a trilogy, and doesn't just feature McGarry, and has another spin off - "MCM Investigations". So good luck if you're trying to read these in order. I've got a schedule setup and lists everywhere and I've just gone with the "get them all, worry about the order later on" methodology which I hope pleases the author (sign up for his newsletter at https://whitehairedirishman.com/ it's a hoot, although the latest instalment tells me there's an 8th book in the Dublin Trilogy out soon), Regardless it's pleasing me, despite the potential for bankruptcy if this blasted Trilogy heads into Agatha Christie numbers territory.
TLDR; these are brilliant, chaotic and great fun. If you're able to get the audio versions then the narrator, Morgan C Jones, is part of the attraction - he does a great job with distinguishing each of the characters from the increasing complicated cast, and I still reckon Dylan Moran's doing a sneaky cameo in there somewhere.
Anyway, DISASTER INC. According to the Dublin Trilogy (can't remember which one - cut me some slack) Bunny McGarry's dead, which he may as well be, what with the lack of a decent cup of tea in the US where he's lurking around in a diner sans belongings, when a couple of idiots mask up and attempt to rob the place. Which results in some very "particular" to the male of the species injuries for one of them, an overarching nightmare scenario for them both, and a companion of questionable source for Bunny McGarry, whose most definitely not in the US to save random women. He's there for one in particular. You'll have to have read the "Dublin Trilogy" to realise why he's looking for a woman named Simone, suffice to say for those that haven't, there's reasons and there's nuns. Roll with it.
Take a quick look at the blurb for this one and you might be forgiven for thinking the plot sounds a bit farfetched. There's an argument that many of the plots in this myriad of interconnected hilarity are more than a bit farfetched, they are teetering on unbelievable, but then Bunny's strangely believable, real, odd, and just the bloke when the going gets tough. He's vaguely superhuman, vaguely dangerous, totally out of control, utterly ruthless and bloody seriously determined. He's also very short of decent cups of tea so dangerous might not be a strong enough word.
I can't tell you how happy I was to fall over this series / mismash / universe / whatever. They make me laugh out loud, they make me spend a lot of time rewinding to check that I just heard what I thought I just heard, and the fact that there's now another entrant in the central trilogy, and I've still got three(ish) to go in the McGarry one, then there's the MCM ones, and the short stories, and well, I will happily be here for quite a while.
All Bunny McGarry wants is a spot of breakfast and a decent cup of tea. So imagine how annoyed he gets when two masked men attempt to rob the New York diner he is in? Unfortunately, dealing with that problem just leads to a whole lot more. One of the diner’s other customers isn’t who she appears to be, and the odds aren’t great that she is going to live to see another breakfast.