'This is a wonderful novel with all the lyricism one would expect of a poet. It is written with a confidence and pace reminiscent of Ian McEwan's 'Comfort of Strangers'. - Amazon review 'Ciaran O'Driscoll's dark comedy A Year's Midnight invites readers on a surreal and supernatural exploration of madness ... Picture Alsatians drawing deeply on a self-rolled cigarette, pondering their views on abortion. Sound a little strange? Well yes, it is - considerably so. Then there are the poltergeists, a mystical paddock and a considerable dose of sexual confusion and guilt. If alarm bells are ringing at this point, then no doubt the 200-page novel will prove altogether too weird. But if you're going to give it a miss, then you'll also lose out on some seriously good writing...' - Alice Johnson. 'This is a highly original and unpredictable novel that veers from passages of quirky and sardonic humour to the surreal. George has to endure, as the title suggests, a kind of dark night of the soul during which he descends into a psychosis of gothic proportions.' - Amazon review 'Ciaran's reading was thoughtful yet engaging, poised yet poignant. The beauty of Ciaran's prose is its slow distilling simplicity; the ability to transform an everyday phrase or saying and through its exploration, create something profound or peculiar or both. His use of language makes you want to jump up and down on a trampoline, shouting aloud a word you've said a thousand times before, as if you've just discovered it for the first time.' - Wayne Cleworth