Songdogs, by Colum McCann (Phoenix, £5.99 in UK)

Set on the backroads of Mayo and Mexico, this debut novel - the story of a youngster's search for the truth about his Irish photographer fit her and his now missing Mexican mother - purveys a potent mix of anger and nostalgia as it flicks in an assured manner from past to present and back again. McCann writes convincingly about both his milieux, and his descriptive, intensely lyrical style is so seductive you almost miss the strangeness of his vision - but don't on any account miss the portrait of the relationship between elderly father and grown up son which, in its anguished affection, is exquisitely executed.