Marshmallows

Marshmallows by Colin O’Sullivan

This is the third novel by O’Sullivan that I’ve reviewed after Killarney Blues and DarkManual. I like Colin O’Sullivan, his novels are a constant surprise; the story darkens with every page and yet there’s always a witty undertone – it’s all so unpredictable. Marshmallows even has a soundtrack, as the drama plays out, an O’Sullivan trope; naturally it’s Christmas oriented as this tale is set on Christmas Eve. Not that this is the kind of Christmas you would wish on anyone, or perhaps you might come to think that the mayhem and violence is deserved?

Christmas Eve. Brick and Brac, not their real names, are brothers, good soldiers, able to follow orders to the letter, of course, no one would have these boys in their army, they inhabit a more disordered world – but every step they…