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mizbee's review against another edition
3.0
Didn't like this one as much as the first in the series. Female characters merely "love interests", annoyingly shallow.
plantbirdwoman's review against another edition
4.0
This is the second book in Adrian McKinty's trilogy featuring Belfast bad boy Michael Forsythe. In the first book, Michael almost single-handedly destroyed an Irish mob group, after which he had a price on his head and was forced to go into witness protection.
In this book, we find him living with his new identity and on vacation in the Canary Islands. Unfortunately, he manages to get in the middle of a riot between football hooligans, even though he wasn't really involved, and he is arrested by Spanish police.
Thrown into jail, he could be facing several years in a Spanish prison, or, even more worrying, he could be extradited back to Mexico to face charges there. He had escaped from a prison there in the first book.
Facing these unpalatable possibilities, Michael is visited in prison by a couple of representatives from British Intelligence, MI6. The MI6 leader, a woman named Samantha, offers him a way out. He can work undercover for them and infiltrate a rogue IRA sect in the U.S. called the Sons of Cuchulainn and help to destroy them.
This all takes place in the 1990s at a time when a tenuous cease fire is being negotiated in Northern Ireland and there is hope that peace may finally be about to break out there. The Sons of Cuchulainn want nothing to do with peace and are determined to throw a spanner into the works of the negotiations. Michael's job, should he choose to take it, will be to stop them.
Michael (now called Sean) reluctantly agrees and a day later is on a plane back to America and on to Boston where he must seek to ingratiate himself to the small group of sociopaths who are the heart of the Sons of Cuchulainn.
McKinty writes with a poetic lilt and some of the best parts of the book for me are the dialogues between various characters, which just seem spot-on. Michael/Sean's is a distinctive voice and, as he is the narrator of the story, we hear that voice throughout and we see things always through his eyes.
Some of the things that we see are truly appalling. The scenes of torture and murder were very hard to read but they are an essential part of the story, an essential tool for revealing the violent and sadistic activities of the enemy Michael/Sean must face and defeat if he is to live.
The suspense builds and builds. Since there is a third entry in this trilogy, the reader can be pretty sure that Michael Forsythe is going to make it out alive, but it is a near thing, and blood flows like a river on the way.
I wouldn't recommend this for the faint of heart, but it is an exciting and very well-written thriller.
In this book, we find him living with his new identity and on vacation in the Canary Islands. Unfortunately, he manages to get in the middle of a riot between football hooligans, even though he wasn't really involved, and he is arrested by Spanish police.
Thrown into jail, he could be facing several years in a Spanish prison, or, even more worrying, he could be extradited back to Mexico to face charges there. He had escaped from a prison there in the first book.
Facing these unpalatable possibilities, Michael is visited in prison by a couple of representatives from British Intelligence, MI6. The MI6 leader, a woman named Samantha, offers him a way out. He can work undercover for them and infiltrate a rogue IRA sect in the U.S. called the Sons of Cuchulainn and help to destroy them.
This all takes place in the 1990s at a time when a tenuous cease fire is being negotiated in Northern Ireland and there is hope that peace may finally be about to break out there. The Sons of Cuchulainn want nothing to do with peace and are determined to throw a spanner into the works of the negotiations. Michael's job, should he choose to take it, will be to stop them.
Michael (now called Sean) reluctantly agrees and a day later is on a plane back to America and on to Boston where he must seek to ingratiate himself to the small group of sociopaths who are the heart of the Sons of Cuchulainn.
McKinty writes with a poetic lilt and some of the best parts of the book for me are the dialogues between various characters, which just seem spot-on. Michael/Sean's is a distinctive voice and, as he is the narrator of the story, we hear that voice throughout and we see things always through his eyes.
Some of the things that we see are truly appalling. The scenes of torture and murder were very hard to read but they are an essential part of the story, an essential tool for revealing the violent and sadistic activities of the enemy Michael/Sean must face and defeat if he is to live.
The suspense builds and builds. Since there is a third entry in this trilogy, the reader can be pretty sure that Michael Forsythe is going to make it out alive, but it is a near thing, and blood flows like a river on the way.
I wouldn't recommend this for the faint of heart, but it is an exciting and very well-written thriller.
bubbazuzu's review against another edition
5.0
Love, love, love this book. I'm a big fan of Adrian McKinty but this has got to be his best book. The pacing is excellent. The characters are richly drawn. Even the setting is spot on. McKinty has a great knack for knowing when to change the tone of the book. The softer character driven sections are expertly placed to balance the gritty scenes. He doesn't rely on the action to move the book along; its a natural progression of the story, organically grown, so you don't grow tired of it and you don't feel exhausted either.
By the way, I listened to this novel via Audible and the narrator Gerard Doyle nails it. I can't imagine anyone else narrating McKinty stories.
Bottom line, whether you listen or read a hard copy, get a copy of this book. Now.
By the way, I listened to this novel via Audible and the narrator Gerard Doyle nails it. I can't imagine anyone else narrating McKinty stories.
Bottom line, whether you listen or read a hard copy, get a copy of this book. Now.
jlmb's review against another edition
3.0
Entertaining thriller. Nothing to gush over but a solid story that holds your interest.
oakleighirish's review against another edition
4.0
The Dead Yard is a compelling yarn, excellently told. Ultimately it's brilliant exercise in tension building and suspense.
auspea's review against another edition
4.0
Travis McGee of the Irish underworld, but more poetic. A good fast suspenseful read.
cdcsmith's review against another edition
4.0
Yep. Liked this one too. I've got the last one in this series (in paperback this time) on hold at the library.
Poor Michael. So smart and focused and I just can't believe that he keeps managing to get back up. He's flawed, definately no saint, but I absolutely love the way McKinty let's us really get inside Michael's head. I'm going to be a bit sad leaving this character after the last book is done, I think.
Poor Michael. So smart and focused and I just can't believe that he keeps managing to get back up. He's flawed, definately no saint, but I absolutely love the way McKinty let's us really get inside Michael's head. I'm going to be a bit sad leaving this character after the last book is done, I think.
clambook's review against another edition
4.0
Didn't really take four weeks to read -- Overdrive reclaimed the download and I had to wait to renew. Anyway, lively mix of character, humor and gore, perhaps too much of the latter. Ably read by Gerard Doyle. I'll be back for the last installment of the trilogy.
realbooks4ever's review against another edition
4.0
Adrian McKinty’s THE DEAD YARD is the second novel in the Dead Trilogy starring Michael Forsythe, an Irish mercenary.
Michael is trying to lie low in order to avoid being sent back to a Mexican prison he escaped from. Unfortunately, he gets picked up in Spain, where he is given a choice to either infiltrate an Irish terrorist cell in the United States, or go to Mexico. He chooses the U.S. assignment.
The story is told from Michael’s POV and he can be very funny in his comments (in between the torture/murders of the terrorists).
The pace is fast and I love the main character. Having read all three books in the series, I’m sad that Michael’s adventures have ended, but I’m looking forward to McKinty’s new book, FIFTY GRAND, coming out in April 2009.
~Stephanie
Michael is trying to lie low in order to avoid being sent back to a Mexican prison he escaped from. Unfortunately, he gets picked up in Spain, where he is given a choice to either infiltrate an Irish terrorist cell in the United States, or go to Mexico. He chooses the U.S. assignment.
The story is told from Michael’s POV and he can be very funny in his comments (in between the torture/murders of the terrorists).
The pace is fast and I love the main character. Having read all three books in the series, I’m sad that Michael’s adventures have ended, but I’m looking forward to McKinty’s new book, FIFTY GRAND, coming out in April 2009.
~Stephanie
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