Thanks:
To Kathryn Court, Victoria Savanh, Christopher C. Smith, and everyone at Penguin Books US; to my editor and friend, Brian Langan, for making me a better writer; to Eoin McHugh, Antony Farrell, Larry Finlay, Bill Scott-Kerr, Fiona Murphy, Ben Willis, Alison Barrow, Sophie Christopher, James Jones, Kate Samano, Hazel Orme, Elspeth Dougall, Brian Walker, Sophie Smyth, Helen Edwards, Ann-Katrin Ziser, and all the people who work so hard to bring my books to the shelves; to the booksellers who ensure they don’t linger there; to the readers who make it possible for writers to exist; to Joseph O’Connor and my friends, colleagues and students at the School of Creative Writing and across the University of Limerick; to James Doyle, for his help and advice; to Alan Hayes for his friendship and wisdom; to my wonderful parents, Anne and Donie Ryan, for everything; to Mary, Christopher, Daniel, John, Lindsey, Aoibhinn and all of my family near and far for their love and support; to Anne Marie, Thomas and Lucy, who make it all worthwhile; to the late Mike Finn, Taekwondo Master, gentleman, quiet hero.