Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.29 AVERAGE
4.29 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoy this series. Sean Duffy and his Carrickfergus RUC station colleagues DC Lawson and DSC McCrabban work very well together. Also, appreciate how Duffy has matured with life changes, Beth and Emma. The early Troubles in Belfast underlying the current story. Excellent!
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The book opens with Duffy having been "lifted" from a pub in Derry, and he knows that the IRA hit squad that lifted him is going to kill him. Then, we go back to why Duffy is in Derry in the first place, and the crime that starts the entire plot - a drug dealer shot and killed with a crossbow. And that's on a minor plot point in the story.
I was worried how the basic set up of the story was going to change, what with how book 5 ended, but I think that the changes were good, that Duffy is growing as a character, and that this would be a good ending for the series.
I was worried how the basic set up of the story was going to change, what with how book 5 ended, but I think that the changes were good, that Duffy is growing as a character, and that this would be a good ending for the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
This is probably my least favourite of the Duffy series. There's plenty of great action, but the plot is thinner than previous installments and I feel like McKinty rushed this one. It just wasn't as satisfying as some of his others.
Having said that, what I've loved about this series is the fantastic sense of place he's created. The bleakness and despair that blanketed Northern Ireland during The Troubles, like the endless grey sky and rain, are almost like characters in these books. I remember seeing the regular news reports about the violence in Northern Ireland in the 80s, and I feel like these books have taken me right into the human thick of it.
Having said that, what I've loved about this series is the fantastic sense of place he's created. The bleakness and despair that blanketed Northern Ireland during The Troubles, like the endless grey sky and rain, are almost like characters in these books. I remember seeing the regular news reports about the violence in Northern Ireland in the 80s, and I feel like these books have taken me right into the human thick of it.
The always excellent Sean Duffy series finds the troubled catholic RUC officer in 1988 Belfast, and in the prologue he is being marched at gunpoint by paramilitaries in balaclavas to remote point where he will have to dig his own grave before execution.
Thus the subsequent chapters explain how he arrived at that point as he investigates what appears to be a straightforward murder of a local drug dealer.
A great plot and brilliantly evocative storytelling . Definitely one of my favourite series which shines a fascinating light on the history of the troubles which is particularly relevant as it goes back to 1968 when a a civil rights march was the spark for the subsequent horrors.
Thus the subsequent chapters explain how he arrived at that point as he investigates what appears to be a straightforward murder of a local drug dealer.
A great plot and brilliantly evocative storytelling . Definitely one of my favourite series which shines a fascinating light on the history of the troubles which is particularly relevant as it goes back to 1968 when a a civil rights march was the spark for the subsequent horrors.
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Drug use, Rape, Murder, Alcohol
Duffy comes through again. He is living with his girlfriend, Beth and baby daughter, Emma on Coronation Road in Carrickfergus. Beth, from a well off Protestant family doesn't like living in this neighborhood of working class Prods. It's not exactly the center of paramilitary activity, but one of their neighbors is high up in one of the Protestant paramilitary organizations. Beth will discover later in the story that having such neighbors can be a good thing.
A drug-dealer is murdered by crossbow in the middle of a Protestant paramilitary territory on another estate (what Americans call "the projects") and Duffy is called back from holiday with his parents in Donegal, near Glencolumbkille. The victim's Bulgarian wife refuses to talk to the police and they assume she doesn't speak English so get someone from the Bulgarian Embassy in Dublin to come up to Carrick. This begs the question - how did she communicate with her husband? The Bulgarian embassy employee "connects" with Duffy, finding him trustworthy, and proves to be helpful later on in the investigation.
Duffy finds himself being pursued simultaneously by the Provisional IRA and the police's Special Branch after he manages to do more than ruffle feathers in various camps. He is also unhappy with some upcoming changes in command at his station. Beth and baby Emma never see him, and Beth is wondering why they stay in Northern Ireland.
Duffy has plenty of opportunities to drive his BMW at 100 mph plus making one wonder why he is never stopped in a country crawling with police and soldiers. I do have a bone to pick about Duffy's claim that it's only an hour and a half from Glencolumbkille to Carrickfergus. Belfast to Glencolumbkille is 143 miles and supposedly a 3 hour drive. He drives it in 88 minutes. I read the ARC so perhaps this discrepancy is corrected in the final version.
The 4 star rating is due to the fact that the middle of the book seemed to lose momentum but Duffy was probably saving his energy for the final chapters where the s--t hits the fan.
A drug-dealer is murdered by crossbow in the middle of a Protestant paramilitary territory on another estate (what Americans call "the projects") and Duffy is called back from holiday with his parents in Donegal, near Glencolumbkille. The victim's Bulgarian wife refuses to talk to the police and they assume she doesn't speak English so get someone from the Bulgarian Embassy in Dublin to come up to Carrick. This begs the question - how did she communicate with her husband? The Bulgarian embassy employee "connects" with Duffy, finding him trustworthy, and proves to be helpful later on in the investigation.
Duffy finds himself being pursued simultaneously by the Provisional IRA and the police's Special Branch after he manages to do more than ruffle feathers in various camps. He is also unhappy with some upcoming changes in command at his station. Beth and baby Emma never see him, and Beth is wondering why they stay in Northern Ireland.
Duffy has plenty of opportunities to drive his BMW at 100 mph plus making one wonder why he is never stopped in a country crawling with police and soldiers. I do have a bone to pick about Duffy's claim that it's only an hour and a half from Glencolumbkille to Carrickfergus. Belfast to Glencolumbkille is 143 miles and supposedly a 3 hour drive. He drives it in 88 minutes. I read the ARC so perhaps this discrepancy is corrected in the final version.
The 4 star rating is due to the fact that the middle of the book seemed to lose momentum but Duffy was probably saving his energy for the final chapters where the s--t hits the fan.
Another book, another convoluted crime to be solved by DI Sean Duffy (this time a heroin dealer killed with, of all things, a crossbow). In some ways I can't say anything about this book I haven't said about all the others. Summary? I love this author. And this series. And Sean.
Oh, how I love Sean. Not because he's a smart, honorable, determined cop--well, not only for that. I also love him because he's witty, sardonic, self-deprecating, a recovering addict, a music snob (in the best way). A quoter of poetry even when he knows the other person won't get the reference. A Catholic who questions God's existence. A steadfast friend. A new dad who isn't sure he knows what he's doing but is very sure he'd die or kill for his little girl. A guy who has seen so much evil, he's been feeling worn out for several books now, yet he's still working toward justice even when he's on his own in that goal.
Other reviewers have praised at length the standout writing of this series--dialogue, setting (1980s Northern Ireland), plot, narrative voice--and I too applaud all these elements. But I fell in love with this series because of who Sean is, and my love has grown as McKinty has molded him with careful evolution over the years. This book seems to be the end. Saying good-bye to a character I love so much is always a melancholy thing, but Sean has earned this ending, and I am content.
Oh, how I love Sean. Not because he's a smart, honorable, determined cop--well, not only for that. I also love him because he's witty, sardonic, self-deprecating, a recovering addict, a music snob (in the best way). A quoter of poetry even when he knows the other person won't get the reference. A Catholic who questions God's existence. A steadfast friend. A new dad who isn't sure he knows what he's doing but is very sure he'd die or kill for his little girl. A guy who has seen so much evil, he's been feeling worn out for several books now, yet he's still working toward justice even when he's on his own in that goal.
Other reviewers have praised at length the standout writing of this series--dialogue, setting (1980s Northern Ireland), plot, narrative voice--and I too applaud all these elements. But I fell in love with this series because of who Sean is, and my love has grown as McKinty has molded him with careful evolution over the years. This book seems to be the end. Saying good-bye to a character I love so much is always a melancholy thing, but Sean has earned this ending, and I am content.