Headbanger/Sad Bastard

Headbanger: Garda Pat Coyne is a Dublin policeman who is passionately devoted to sorting out the world's problems. He sees cars, crime, pollution and golf as ominous signs of a disintegrating society. Coyne's principal mission is to deal with crime, Ireland's biggest growth industry. Though only a cop on the beat, he decides to take on the notorious gang leader, Drummer Cunningham. Sad Bastard: Garda Pat Coyne, aka "Mr. Suicide," is back. Injured in the line of duty, and living alone, he’s become more obsessive and volatile, developing a fetish for women’s knickers. When a body washes up on the docks, the prime suspect is none other than his son, Jimmy. Both Coynes are notorious for their spells of self-destruction. Coyne’s estranged wife blames him, his mother-in-law berates him, and his therapist labels him psychotic. But when a duo of criminal thugs try to kill his boy, Coyne decides to straighten things out.

Hugo Hamilton is a novelist whose work has won a number of international awards, including the 1992 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, the 2003 French Prix Femina Etranger, the 2004 Italian Premio Giuseppe Berto and a DAAD scholarship in Berlin.