From the Publisher
A great rattlebag of a novel, Restless Souls turns genre inside out. At turns comedic, at turns literary, at turns thriller, at turns philosophical, it never stops being a page-turner. Mixing humour with its attendant darkness, Sheehan postulates that we all must eventually face our own history. Ultimately this is a road journey into memory. This is a great debut, reminiscent of Colin Barrett, Sara Baume, Rob Doyle, Claire Louise Bennett and a whole new generation of Irish writers.
—Colum McCannauthor of the National Bestseller Let The Great World Spin
One part war story, one part bro story, and one part road trip, Restless Souls is a wonderful debut by a talented, intelligent writer who knows how to make you think and make you feel and make you laugh. I devoured it.
—David Ebershoff, author of The Danish Girl and The 19th Wife
Restless Souls is a hilariously shambolic road trip, a moving, freaked out, at times bruisingly mordant examination of the purgatorial agonies of PTSD, and above all a bawdy, alive, profane panegyric to the indissoluble bonds of friendship.
—Colin Barrett, author of Young Skins, National Book Award 5 Under 35 Honoree and Winner of the Guardian First Book Award
Restless Souls is the funniest sad book I've read in a long time, and a first novel of amazing complexity and maturity. Sheehan shows us the traumas of war and family like a seasoned veteran of both, and administers jokes like a battlefield nurse. A terrific debut from a dynamic new writer.
—J. Robert Lennon, author of Broken River
Bittersweet might be the word for the feeling Dan Sheehan conjures up with this tale of three childhood friends trying to put things right, except that the warmth and depth with which he portrays the challenges of friendship go way beyond sweetness, and there's nothing bitter about the anger and darkness into which he is unafraid to send his characters; instead, this is a story of what happens when the best of intentions meet the hardest of truths. Here are the shadow of war, the long reach of trauma, and the moments when it becomes clear that shared memories, and banter, and boyhood code, may no longer be enough. A touching, brave book.
—Belinda McKeon, author of Tender
Restless Souls is a terrific debut novel, bold and wise, each page lit with wit and with feeling. In his examination of friendship, Ireland, and a distant Sarajevo under siege, Dan Sheehan marks himself out as a writer to watch.
—Jonathan Lee, author of High Dive
"Tender and rambunctious and animated by a dauntless faith in human connection, RESTLESS SOULS is a book that that boldly ranges across the borders of nations, decades, and literary genres. Sheehan is a brave new voice in fiction, fusing comedy and heart to explore a friendship transformed by trauma, but vitally, achingly resilient nevertheless."—Alexandra Kleeman, author of YOU TOO CAN HAVE A BODY LIKE MINE
"Dan Sheehan has turned the American road novel into an international affair... he writes at the intersection of history, compassion, humor, and the humane. RESTLESS SOULS has a roaming heart like Kerouac, banter like Martin McDonagh, but with a touch more redemption and soul. "—Alex Gilvarry, author of EASTMAN WAS HERE, National Book Award 5 Under 35 Honoree