Crime fiction, but not as we know it

I attended the launch of Absolute Zero Cool by Declan Burke last night in the Gutter Bookshop in Dublin. John Connolly gave it a very nice send off. Also had a good, short chat with Alan Glynn and Decland Hughes. John Banville describes AZC as a cross between Flann O'Brien and Raymond Chandler. I beg to differ. I think it's a cross between Flann O'Brien (the Irish satirist) and Declan Burke (the writer of screwball noirs). If you read the book, that last sentence will make sense. Honest. I'm only a hundred pages in, but it's fair to say that this is one of the most original crime fiction books I've read. Probably ever, actually. Along with Duane Swierczynski's Secret Dead Men, it really takes the genre and throws it out the window to take it in a completely different direction. It's erudite, philosophical, clever and funny. So far, so good. Looking forward to the rest.