Cold Snap, by Thom Jones (Faber & Faber £6.99 in UK)

Global aid meets west coast America in these off the wall stories peopled by strung out, dope crazed, hairy chested men who have…

Global aid meets west coast America in these off the wall stories peopled by strung out, dope crazed, hairy chested men who have either just come back from a stint in a refugee camp in Africa or are just about to go there. Everything is meaningful and everyone is mean. An armed robber insists on buying a pew fridge for his suicidal ex girlfriend, a doctor's pet baboon freaks out on too much whiskey and equatorial heat, a marine curses his way through thirty days of mess duty. Jones effortlessly sustains a whirlwind of wards with a devastatingly self deprecating undertow, if you're looking for a kinder, gentler America don't look for it here.

Arminta Wallace

Arminta Wallace

Arminta Wallace is a former Irish Times journalist