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A wild ride. Imagine the film Desperado scripted by Hunter S Thompson. Murder and corruption in Mexico; a journalist narrator with a death wish and a thirst for vengeance. Que chingados! Ian Rankin on twitter
A tough and uncompromising debut - you'll be glad you read it. Lee Child
A hilarious, gripping, poetic off-the-wall crime story set in a delirious Mexican underworld that William Burroughs, Sam Peckinpah & Hunter Thompson would have recognised. I loved it. Adrian McKinty, author of THE CHAIN
Intoxicating and chilling. Observer
Feverish, lyrical and gripping from beginning to end the Irish writer's crime novel is both a searing indictment of corruption and murder in Mexico and a darkly moving gay love story as reporter Andrew finds himself out of his depth and out of control as he investigates his lover Carlos's death. Independent (30 best books for summer 2019)
Strong stuff... MacGabhann's blend of violent action and vivid, even lyrical description is laced with dark humour and is very readable. Guardian
One thing novelists can do more effectively than journalists, perhaps, is to remind us that every killing in Mexico ought to seem as shocking an aberration as a murder in the St Mary Mead vicarage. This is one of the achievements of this debut novel by Tim MacGabhann, an Irish journalist and Mexico resident... Although this is a country in which "every lamppost on every street wears a peeled lagging of 'Missing' posters'", the novel is not an epic catalogue of depravity in the manner of Don Winslow's Cartel trilogy; instead, it uses just two murders as a focal point for Mexico's grief and rage... Pacy and exciting... The novel is written ... lyrically, with an offbeat humour, which helps defamiliarise a situation to which Western readers have become inured, and communicate its horrors afresh. Daily Telegraph
Arresting: it spins a tale of murder and murky deeds, but really excels in how it seems to capture something essential at the heart of his adopted country... Call Him Mine soars in two regards. First MacGabhann paints an extraordinarily vivid picture of Mexico, in all its seething, sweltering madness and beauty. The last time I read a book which placed the reader so firmly and intensely into the heart of a place, it was the 'Fate' and 'Santa Teresa' sections of Roberto Bolano's great 2666: also set in Mexico and, perhaps not coincidentally, also written by an outsider. The second is the quality of MacGabhann's prose. Phrases like 'bruised poetry' sound glib I know, but it's about the best way I can think of describing Call Him Mine... It will be interesting to see where MacGabhann's career goes next. For now, Call Him Mine is a fine start. Irish Independent
Audacious and affecting. From the first page the reader is immersed in a modern-day Mexico beset by drug cartels and corrupt police forces... Most books succeed or fail based on the sensibilities of their protagonists and the truth of their voices and Call Him Mine succeeds... In his writing MacGabhann has conjured up a vivid sense of place... the language of the prose is rich and radiant... The pacing of the book is breathtakingly fast, but the chapters are so well composed that we never lose sight of the flow or the narrative clarity... This exciting and accomplished novel is a major achievement, as MacGabhann displays the grace of Greene, the pace of Hammett, the imagination of Bolano and the darkness of Elroy. An exciting new voice in Irish writing. Irish Examiner
Intense, inventive and gritty. Attitude
