HOT off the press and launched in a lurching railway carriage, ‘Power & Perdition’ is a novel from RTE Lyric fm presenter Eamonn Lenihan. Working in Limerick’s Cornmarket nightly on what he calls ‘Blue’, known to us as ‘The Blue of the Night’, Lenihan cut his chops a long time back as a writer and indeed, composer of music by way of schooling through Berklee College, Boston.
Set in present day, ‘Power & Perdition’ follows the path of young John Power. “It’s a very Irish novel,” feels its creator, himself a father of five. ”There are elements of Flann O’Brien there – but nothing on that scale of talent – and Beckett in the humour. Power is essentially an adult at a crossroads in his life, and look, they say the brain does not develop fully until age 25. The narrator is quite indulgent of him. That’s the parent in me”.
The book rollicks along the adventures of Power who is job-obverse, and his friendship with Mulligan. The banter between these two drive a lot. “He has left home, is determined not to go back, and clearly lacks judgement. John Power is a feckless drifter, not without charm and not without principles”.
What he is, is a true work of fiction, opposite to Lenihan’s hard-working life of double jobbing for years. The radio host is a musician too; trained in piano and voice, he was given a saxophone aged 40. “I progressed well for a couple of years, then didn’t progress. I realised I would never be Charlie Parker”.
Eamonn Lenihan has published stories variously and had his first novel taken up by Random House only to be dropped. PAYE life beckoned with family to support. Look to local book shops for ‘Power & Perdition’ or bid for one of six free, signed copies on Goodreads.com. Published by nobetterman.com