CHRISTMAS week in Co Donegal and someone is going to miss out on Christmas dinner. The author was born and still lives in the area, so his novel . . . hard to believe it's his first . . . oozes authenticity.

The naked corpse of a teenage girl is found dumped near the border separating Donegal and Derry. The exact location of the body means that both the Gardai and PSNI are called in. Garda Inspector Devlin knows the girl's family. Her father is a troublesome alcoholic and petty thief and when Devlin calls on the family to tell them of the discovery, the father snaps: "I'll deal with it." Why not? It's his daughter. Seriously though, this is all Devlin needs, a messy drunk interfering in the case. Plus, his marriage isn't all it should be. Can things get any worse? Yeh, an old flame of his turns up wanting to rekindle their sex life. Some great dialogue and a convincing portrait of small town claustrophobia.

Fighting For Dublin: The British Battle for Dublin 1919 . . .1921
By William Sheehan
Collins Press, /15, 166pp

MOST of the significant events of the period have already been written and published. What makes Sheehan's book unique is that its perspectives and "information" is skilfully culled from "The Record of the Rebellion in Ireland", an official British account. So the book to hand could have been far lengthier. Wouldn't have bothered me; I found it fascinating. Full of lies, spins and omissions.

Many a quizzical eyebrow will be arched, for example, on the official view and reaction to the death of Terence McSwiney. A massive protest outside Mountjoy Prison is scattered by a plane flying "below the eaves of the houses". That skill was perfected to terrify Arabs and camels in the first world war. Here you will find the deceit and arrogance that led to the end of British imperialism, the bungles, the botches and miscalculations. Far too short a read.

U2 Popaganda: Essential U2 Quotations
Gathered by Tony Clayton-Lea
Hodder Ireland, /12, 291pp

ESSENTIAL? Essential, I suppose, if the fans . . . not me . . . want to get a glimpse inside these guys' heads. That said, you must ask yourself were these quotes meant for posterity? Was Larry Mullen serious when he said, "If Bono left, we could carry on. If I left, we'd be screwed." Difficult to tell. This is not the fault of Clayton-Lea, for the book is richly sourced. The book is themed into sections: Africa, Love, Drugs and Alcohol, Fame, Success etc, . Adam Clayton, it is suggested here, was once about to marry Naomi Campbell. Doesn't bear thinking about. Then there is Bono, his influence on world events. The extremely ordinary quality of his singing voice. There is a scathing reference here to the Duet album and Bono's contribution, his duet with Sinatra of 'I've Got You Under my Skin'. An egotistical step too far where he hung himself out to dry.

The Lay of the Land
By Richard Ford
Bloomsbury �8.00 726pps

AT THE very core of Ford's latest Frank Bascombe novel, his wonderfully human and generous creation ruminates thus: "For your life to be worth anything, you must sooner or later face the possibility of terrible, searing regret." Frank has entered his midfifties period. "The time of life when life is a destination more than a journey." The novel's period is 2000, the population of the US are in a stupid tizzy over the outcome of a hi-jacked presidential election.

Frank's crises, though, are more personal. His estate agency is pulling good business, yes, but the long-deserved period of quiet tranquillity he so longs for is still a way off and there are more periods of searing regret to be lived through.

The Weeping Women Hotel
By Alexei Sayle
Sceptre Books �8.00 257pps

ULTIMATELY a satisfying read in which some received notions and perceptions get a good riffling, Sayle's latest novel is also a bit lightweight, almost allegorical. Once you get into the first quarter, it gets a bit weird. Two sisters, one of them overweight, the other one a beauty. Overweight woman meets a fella who helps her improve her self esteem, lose weight and become a lot more attractive. In between that, Sayle has some rants at modern society; targets being twins called Yentob and a pretentious writer called Paulho Puoncho. Then he almost falls into the 'magic realism' trap by introducing a talking bird. Almost.