Capital Sins

Publishers Weekly

The Celtic Tiger roars and whimpers in Cunningham's finely honed satire, set in booming 2006 Ireland, where real estate developer Albert Barr lives the high life and has all his bets on the success of a massively expensive project called Goose Point. It's backed by HUBBI bank, though its egomaniacal chairman is squeezing Barr for more collateral and the bank itself is so overextended that its future also rests on the success of Goose Point. But the project keeps hitting roadblocks from archeologists who claim the site is a gold mine for Irish history. Barr's home life isn't any rosier as he tries to placate his slightly unhinged wife, who happens to be the daughter of a government official who can help Barr get the necessary permits. Then there's Lee Carew, a struggling journalist who literally stumbles upon something that could shut down the whole project, and the revelation has the potential to destroy a lot more than his career. Cunningham (The Sea and the Silence) balances his plots nicely, giving readers a fast and witty nutshell of the financial collapse without resorting to preachiness or sacrificing his wicked sense of humor. (Feb.)