John Lynch is a successful film, television and stage actor. Torn Water is his first novel. He lives in France.

Reviews for Torn Water:'Lynch brings alive the grimy realities of a land and family in the grip of the Troubles, while also conjuring the lilting dreamscapes of a young boy's mind.' Observer‘A tale of great delicacy and originality, in which the fierce intensity of adolescence and, even more, the paranoia and yearning of childhood are evoked with precision, grace and overwhelming conviction.’ Independent on Sunday‘“Torn Water” has the tight tone and feel of the period it depicts and captures well the uncertainties of someone leaving the capsule of childhood behind and taking their first footsteps out into the vast unknown where there are no certainties and no ghosts or angels to guide you.’ Irish Sunday Independent'As a moral lesson for modern Ireland it is conventional but appealing.' Irish Times‘You get the beat of a writer’s heart all the way through the book.’ Jennifer Johnston‘The short, often shocking, chapters shift between Gabriel's experiences while drying out to the pitiable recollections of growing up with a pious, ineffectual mother and a sexually abusive, alcoholic father –Lynch doesn't shy away from the unsavoury details of this childhood and he's unflinching when it comes to demonstrating how Gabriel is all but destroyed by his father's ghastly legacy.’Metro