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Novel Talent: The Ones To Watch...

"Author Ronan O'Brien has a fine sense of drama, marrying the minutiae of everyday life to the extraordinary, with spirited aplomb."

-Eithne Farry
Irish Daily Mail, 4th January 2008

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Legal eagle's debut echoes Roddy Doyle

"...the obvious comparison is to Roddy Doyle's Barrytown trilogy and it is a tribute to Dublin author Ronan O'Brien's
skills (curiously, his day job is a solicitor in the DPP's office) that the book stands up well to such comparison. The narrator is a rounded, sympathetic character and the cast of grotesques are well drawn and original...a very funny
book and an accomplished first novel." 4 out of 5 stars

-Hugh Bonar
Irish Mail on Sunday, January 27th 2008

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Skating on the surface of Celtic Tiger Ireland

"This novel is not a moral treatise on the vicissitudes of contemporary Irish life, nor is it meant to be. It is, nevertheless,
a reflection of our relentless need for movement and distraction, there is no time here for stillness or quiet rumination: everything in this world is in flux...Is CONFESSIONS OF A FALLEN ANGEL a commentary on Celtic Tiger Ireland? Unintentionally perhaps. Is it a diverting read? Most definitely."

-Derek Hand, a lecturer in the English department in St Patrick's College, Drumcondra
Irish Times, 2nd February 2008

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"... a warm, irreverent tale about distinguishing between fate and personal responsibility."

-Catherine Taylor
The Guardian, 9th February 2008

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A leap of the heart and a headbanger villain

"The heart leaps up a little when one hears of a new Irish fiction writer whose first book is described by his publisher as "characterised by that unique brand of Dublin humour". ...the heart leaps up at this new Irish novel. Similarly, with our friend, the narrator. Having spent his life hovering between life and death, between dreams and reality, he finally finds redemption: "There is a goodness inside all of us, even Norman, and that is what prevails when everything else has turned to dust." "

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-John S Doyle
Sunday Independent, 24th February 2008

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Southside authors storm book club

"A new author from the Southside has stormed the bestseller charts with his first novel. "Confessions of a Fallen Angel" is the breathtaking debut from Ronan O'Brien, a solicitor ,who hails from Templeogue. The book first entered the Irish bestsellers chart at number five and thanks to a remarkable word-of-mouth buzz climbed to number four last week. In some Dublin bookstores it holds the number one position. Ronan's achievement is made all the more impressive given the chart is currently dominated by such well-established and prize-winning authors as Cathy Kelly, James Patterson and Anne Enright."

-Niall Bourke
Southside People, 6th February 2008

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What's Hot

"Every year I talk to a bookseller about his predictions for the year to come. He helps me to compile a list of 'what's hot' for a newspaper book supplement. Two years ago, he said the book trade expected great things from Dubliner John Boyne's upcoming book, The Boy In the Striped Pyjamas. That book has since rarely left the number one spot in the bestsellers list for children, and will be a movie any day now. For 2008, he predicted success for debut writer
Ronan O'Brien; a Dublin solicitor who specialised in criminal law. Like Boyne, O'Brien has come up with a hugely original idea...O'Brien has a fresh voice, and he writes with exuberance. There are scenes that will make you laugh out loud;
but the humour is interspersed with pain. I loved his dialogue and felt he had a true sense of his subject. The
characters leap off the page too. I could understand why this book has caused so much excitement..."

-Sue Leonard
Books Ireland magazine, February 2008

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Staff Pick of the Month for January 2008 in Hughes & Hughes.

"Ronan O'Brien's debut novel tells the life story of a man with a gift for seeing the future, a gift that could also be seen
as a curse. It is a book that never settles for the obvious or cliched view of its narrator or of Dublin life and it is as full of humour and pathos as it is full of heart. Read it."

-Orla Houlihan, Dun Laoghaire branch

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"This terrific debut contains page after page of eventful and hilarious adventures rooted firmly in the ordinary world of a young man growing up in hard-man Dublin . Even his beautifully written passion for his future wife and his description of his descent into alcoholism contain wonderfully funny and witty observation. I thoroughly enjoyed this and think Mr. O’Brien is going to be around for a while."

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"I have read many wonderful proofs containing just the occasional typo (”The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, “The Mistresses Daughter”, “Confessions of a Fallen Angel” etc…) where the authorial voice shines through in all its glory. It’s a joy, in these cases, to feel that you are getting in on something wonderful right at the start."

-A place for Booksellers to let off steam

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"Confessions of a Fallen Angel is a fresh, highly original debut by a writer not afraid to take on the bigger issues of life. Fate and love in their many guises stalk these pages, as well as a man who, like the hero in a Greek tragedy, rails against the destiny mapped out to him, trying only to safeguard what he holds dear. It will grip you from the first paragraph."

-Maggie O'Farrell

Check out Maggie's website: http://www.maggieofarrell.com

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Best Reads - our spring fiction special highlights the season's finest new novels around

"After a near-death experience,a boy finds himself able to foresee the deaths of others. Eventually, he outgrows it and discovers true love, only to have the visions again. Set in the outskirts of Dublin, it's spooky, magical and engrossing."

Elle Magazine, March 2008

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Made for the movies

"Debut Irish author Ronan O'Brien's tale of love, death and eerie premonitions - CONFESSIONS OF A FALLEN ANGEL - is just waiting to be turned into a screenplay with blockbusting potential."

Image Magazine, February 2008

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Your Top Ten Books

"Confessions of a Fallen Angel - a heartbreaking story about a young man who struggles to face the fact that he can foresee death. "5 out of 5 stars

Heat Magazine, 16th - 22nd February 2008

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"Cursed from childhood with the ability to see the deaths of those close to him, the mysterious narrator of this chiller (whose name we never learn) is tortured by his visions and the memories of his attempt to save the life of a friend. This thrilling tale will keep you reading long into the night."

New Woman Magazine, March 2008
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