The Father

Introducing Sean Rooney, Psychosleuth.

Set in Glasgow, The Father is the critically acclaimed debut novel of Tom O. Keenan and the first in the series of crime thrillers featuring troubled forensic profiler Sean Rooney. The Father was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger in 2014. Mental illness, alcohol abuse, and the tedium of pursuing psychopathic killers, leave Sean Rooney a pathetic man, a failed forensic profiler, a bit of a loser and definitely retired. DCI Jacqueline Kaminski has other ideas. Faced with a multiple murder - and some headless corpses - she needs Rooney back on the case.

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'A wonderful and gritty debut novel.'    Torquil MacLeod

'Scottish noir at its best.'      The Crack

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REVIEWS

Mr RWS

The Father

"Dark,gripping tale~left me wanting to know more.

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I have not been able to finish a book since my slipped disc recurred 3 months ago but I could not put this book down. The central character ,Rooney, is believable but hard to sympathise with at first but as you read more and understand his background you find yourself rooting for him. I can't wait to find out what could possibly follow this amazing story."

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Paul Brazill

The Father

"Tom O. Keenan‘s debut novel, is an odd hybrid of the police procedural, noir, Brit Grit, black comedy and political thriller.

Set in an almost futuristic, dystopian Glasgow, The Father‘s protagonist Sean Rooney is a messed up alcoholic shrink who is dragged into a murder investigation by his ex-wife, DCI Kaminski. Broody and contrarian, Rooney is the sort of person who would cut off his face to spite his nose and makes Tony Black‘s Gus Dury look like Dr Phil.

The twist to this particular noir tale, though, is that Rooney has a voice in his head, who acts as a sort of stroppy Greek chorus and even narrates the tale. Indeed, the running dialogues between Rooney and, well, Rooney give a lot of the humour to a twisty crime story which very quickly spirals into am high-octane and over-the-top thriller.

The mixture of introspective noir and action movie is a tricky balancing act but one that Tom O. Keenan pulls-off and makes The Father a very interesting read indeed."

Mr. George McNeil

The Father

"A gritty Glasgow Thriller

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For a first Sean Rooney thriller this was an extremely well crafted debut. Tom certainly has the gift of bringing to life the two completely opposite protagonists. He has been able to create a story that has pace, earthiness, tension, rejection, frustration, humiliation, humour and even a hidden love/hate relation between Sean and DCI Jacqueline. Tom's background has certainly helped him in understanding the inner torment of Sean and this has given the story an edge over other crime writers. Tom is a name to watch and I cannot wait to read his second book to find out how Sean and Jacqueline cope with each other and Sean's ingenuity in helping Jacqueline solve the crime against a background of the other side of Glasgow life - the side that the public, at large, are totally unaware of but still exists."