the Bar at Bottom of Broadway

SHAUN 'Loaf' Donnelly has been pulling pints in Ballyrush his entire adult life.But his hometown is changing.The Good Friday Agreement was supposed to herald the start of a bright new day for Northern Ireland.Eight years on from its signing though and the peace is far from perfect.Following a violent incident in The Barking Dog one night, Loaf decides he has had enough.His cousin Johnny, a roguish but likeable character, has just signed the lease on a pub in the Isle of Man.Loaf agrees to join him and together they set out to resurrect the vacant, rundown Thirsty Sailor.All is going smoothly until thugs representing Charlie Harrison, the Isle of Man's top crime boss, turn up.Harrison's nefarious dealings set in train a series of events that will have life-changing consequences for everyone involved in The Thirsty Sailor.Meanwhile an unlikely friendship springs up between Loaf and his elderly neighbour, Magnus Quaye.When Magnus does him a favour one day, Loaf offers the pensioner the opportunity to revisit Derry, the city where he met and married his beloved wife Josie.As if that wasn't enough, a drunken encounter with law student Abbey Vincent turns Loaf's world on its head.Following her return home to Canada he decides to try and track her down via Facebook, the new social media site that has the world in its grip.His cyber quest proves fruitful but in a way he could never have imagined.Set over the course of a single summer, The Bar at the Bottom of Broadway is a warm, witty, beer-soaked tale of crime, camaraderie, romance and how life is all about the decisions we make.

Pagina's: 216, Paperback, Maple Publishers