The Organised Criminal by Jarlath Gregory is about blood, family and organized crime. Jay O’Reilly, reluctantly returning for home for his cousin’s funeral, is offered a job by his father. His family's criminal activity had made Jay determined never to return. His father is a well-known smuggler with a far-reaching nefarious empire.

 

Though Jay likes to think he’s turned his back on his community, his lost-past still fascinate him. The job is deceptively simple, worryingly so, but lucrative. Despite himself, Jay is tempted, tempted by the money, tempted by the possibility of escape and a chance to make things right.

 

Gregory’s wry wit questions the ethics, conscience and loyalty of Jay, his family and his friends. Spiked with black humor throughout, Jay’s feelings of loneliness, displacement, dissatisfaction and even hatred elevate this thrilling celtic noir novel and show that a job is never just a job. It becomes a story of fear, family-ties, male friendship and power.

 

As Jay contemplates the job, he reacquaints himself with the place and the family he left, only to find that it is exactly as hard, cold and unwelcoming as he remembered. When the truth behind his father’s offer is finally revealed, Jay faces a primal struggle between familial bonds and moral obligations.