''Game of Throw-ins'' is a 2016 book by Irish author Paul Howard and is the sixteenth novel in the

Ross O'Carroll-Kelly Ross O'Carroll-Kelly is a satirical fictional Irish character, a wealthy South County Dublin rugby union jock created by journalist Paul Howard. The character first appeared in a January 1998 column in the ''Sunday Tribune'' newspaper and late ...

series. The title refers to the TV series ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the firs ...

'' and the rugby

throw-in A throw-in is a method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball has exited the side of the field of play. It is governed by Law 15 of The Laws of the Game. Award When the ball goes out of play past the touch-line t ...

Plot

Ross joins a struggling

Seapoint Seapoint () is a small seafront area between Blackrock and Monkstown in Dublin in the Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown area. It is best known for its beach and bathing areas, beside a Martello Tower on the Dublin Bay seashore. The beach currentl ...

rugby team. Ronan is in a turf war with a rival '' Love/Hate'' tour operator. Honor is in love with a

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

lookalike. Fionnuala is marrying a 92-year-old billionaire.

Reception

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' praised it, saying "This is sharp

satire Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

that manages the difficult trick of creating characters we care about. It is a very funny book, often hilarious, providing storylines that mostly keep the page-turning going. Yet it has a genuine heart of darkness hidden beneath the layers of

craic ''Craic'' ( ) or ''crack'' is a term for news, gossip, fun, entertainment, and enjoyable conversation, particularly prominent in Ireland. It is often used with the definite article – ''the'' craic – as in the expression "What's the craic ...

, great gags, great storytelling and human warmth. In this way, Ross O'Carroll-Kelly is

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

." Anne Gildea, also in ''The Irish Times'', wrote that "I’m in love with the latest Ross O’Carroll-Kelly – ''Game of Throw-ins''. The passage where Ross is confused, mid-match, about the line-out codes the captain has assigned is one of the funniest things I’ve come across in print." The ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet n ...

'''s Tanya Sweeney wrote that "the entertaining fun of this SoCoDu satire has clearly yet to wane."

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

's ''tn2 Magazine'' awarded it 3/5, saying that it was "not the best title in the series, but it’s a solid entry nonetheless. The overarching themes of time, change and broken families are balanced perfectly against the hilarious antics of Ross and his lunatic family." ''Game of Throw-ins'' was nominated for ''Irish Independent'' Popular Fiction Book of the Year at the 2016

Irish Book Awards The Irish Book Awards are Irish literary awards given annually to books and authors in various categories. In 2018 An Post took over sponsorship of the awards from Bord Gais Energy. It is the only literary award supported by all-Irish bookstores. ...

. It was the third-bestselling book at

WH Smith WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and ...

in Ireland for 2016. It sold 23,997 copies in 2016 overall.

References

{{Ross O'Carroll-Kelly 2016 Irish novels Irish comedy novels Penguin Books books Ross O'Carroll-Kelly Irish satirical novels Fiction set in 2014 Fiction set in 2015