Tooth & Nail

From the Desmond Elliot Prize-shortlisted writer of Iron Annie comes a story of found family, second chances and one man's slow descent into a dangerous criminal underworld.

Before he was known as The Rat King, the infamous criminal kingpin of Dundalk, he was simply Paul - a clever but aimless man fresh out of university who, after falling in with his capricious girlfriend's crew of squatting anarchists, finds himself homeless and desperate. To get by, Paul strikes a deal with a shady man who offers him a roof over his head and a regular supply of drugs in return for 'birdwatching' - spying on the visitors to one particular house. Robin Redbreast (25, leather jacket, red hair and beard) is a regular to the place, but it's the Night Bird - Blue Gattigan - that turns Paul's stomach. Blue radiates violence and cruelty and, when he targets someone close to Paul, Paul sets out for payback.

With the help of a who's who of Dundalk's underworld - a traveller with all the right connections, a genius metalworker with a heart of gold and a mate-drinking, ayahuasca-imbibing ex-NRA solider known locally as the Shaman - Paul hatches a plan that will send a deafening message to Blue. But when Blue strikes back, Paul is forced to ask himself the all-important question: how deep into this world of crime is he truly willing to go?