Events of Bateman's debut novel Divorcing Jack (1995), set in Belfast, Northern Ireland, follow a turbulent period in the life of married, cynical and usually drunk journalist Dan Starkey.
In Turbulent Priests (1999), based on Wrathlin Island, a small island north of mainland Ireland, Dan Starkey has been sent by Cardinal Daley, the Primate of All Ireland, to investigate reports that the Messiah has returned in the shape of a young girl, Christine, about to start school.