Scan barcode
cdcsmith's review against another edition
5.0
If I read this book by itself, I still would've liked it, but more of a 4 star than 5 star book. What puts it in the 5 star category (in my opinion) is the ending. Could not have asked for a better one even if he had asked how I wanted it to end.
I've really enjoyed this series, one of my favorites, and I am sad to see it over. At the same time, I'd rather it end now on a high note, than the way some series I've read have gone.
General things I've liked in the series: Our man is flawed. Seriously flawed, near broken sometimes. He's a good cop - smart and willing to bend the rules for justice to be served. But he's got issues.
This book went off te path a bit with his locked room mystery. There were times I felt like that was being brought up too much, not the mystery, but the fact that I kept being told that was what it was. Then again, if this crime had taken place in real life, any fairly well read person probably would be bringing it up, talking about it, etc.
I'm okay with the story (Sean's) ending where it does. It would only be a matter of time before his luck runs out and I would rather remember him this way - with some sense of control over his life.
I've really enjoyed this series, one of my favorites, and I am sad to see it over. At the same time, I'd rather it end now on a high note, than the way some series I've read have gone.
General things I've liked in the series: Our man is flawed. Seriously flawed, near broken sometimes. He's a good cop - smart and willing to bend the rules for justice to be served. But he's got issues.
This book went off te path a bit with his locked room mystery. There were times I felt like that was being brought up too much, not the mystery, but the fact that I kept being told that was what it was. Then again, if this crime had taken place in real life, any fairly well read person probably would be bringing it up, talking about it, etc.
I'm okay with the story (Sean's) ending where it does. It would only be a matter of time before his luck runs out and I would rather remember him this way - with some sense of control over his life.
izabrekilien's review
5.0
Adrian McKinty didn't let me down with this instalment of his Sean Duffy series. It's captivating, catches you right from the start, let's take a look at the beginning :
"The beeper began to whine at 4.27pm on Wednesday, 25 September 1983. It was repeating a shrill C sharp at four-second intervals which meant - for those of us who had bothered to read the manual - that it was a Class 1 emergency. This was a general alert being sent to every off-duty policeman, police reservist and soldier in Northern Ireland. There were only five Class 1 emergencies and three of them were a Soviet nuclear strike, a Soviet invasion and what the civil servants who'd written the manual had nonchalantly called 'an extra-terrestrial trespass'."
I love Sean's character, even if he's an Irish Catholic working for the RUC and living among Protestants, how unusual ! A lover of music and of all kinds of things to be smoked, a cultivated man, too. I love that the series takes place in the 80's, with the troubles, Thatchers, the miners's strike. The plot is interesting. The whole series is great !
"The beeper began to whine at 4.27pm on Wednesday, 25 September 1983. It was repeating a shrill C sharp at four-second intervals which meant - for those of us who had bothered to read the manual - that it was a Class 1 emergency. This was a general alert being sent to every off-duty policeman, police reservist and soldier in Northern Ireland. There were only five Class 1 emergencies and three of them were a Soviet nuclear strike, a Soviet invasion and what the civil servants who'd written the manual had nonchalantly called 'an extra-terrestrial trespass'."
I love Sean's character, even if he's an Irish Catholic working for the RUC and living among Protestants, how unusual ! A lover of music and of all kinds of things to be smoked, a cultivated man, too. I love that the series takes place in the 80's, with the troubles, Thatchers, the miners's strike. The plot is interesting. The whole series is great !
mhanlon's review
4.0
I really like the Sean Duffy character, I think he's a great, layered character with whom you're willing to hang out over the span of a few hours.
But if you liked the first three, or any of McKinty's Michael Forsythe books (As Dead I Well May Be, The Dead Yard, Bloomsday Dead), you'll likely enjoy this story. More great stuff from McKinty.
But if you liked the first three, or any of McKinty's Michael Forsythe books (As Dead I Well May Be, The Dead Yard, Bloomsday Dead), you'll likely enjoy this story. More great stuff from McKinty.
skinnypenguin's review
4.0
Sean Duffy is brought back to police work with Special Branch trying to find a terrorist who Sean had grown up with. He visits the family of the terrorist's exwife and makes a deal with the mom. He will look into her youngest daughter's death in exchange for where to find her former son in law.
Sean has a locked room mystery to figure out. When he does he then gets the info on where to find the terrorist. He is working with police from Great Britain and runs into lots of problems along the way.
Set during the time of the troubles it is an interesting story.
Sean has a locked room mystery to figure out. When he does he then gets the info on where to find the terrorist. He is working with police from Great Britain and runs into lots of problems along the way.
Set during the time of the troubles it is an interesting story.
guiltyfeat's review
5.0
Third time has all the charm for me with this excellent entry in the Sean Duffy series. Our hero crosses paths with real characters from recent history and gets plausibly involved in real news events which I remember happening. Within this framework, there is a wholly believable locked room mystery which namechecks the best locked-room stories in literature and gets resolved with real policework and deduction. Thoroughly satisfying, leaving me properly excited about the rest of the series.
catmum's review
4.0
Sean Duffy annoys his superiors one too many times and is dismissed from the RUC, only to be quickly recruited by MI5. A group of IRA prisoners has broken out of the Maze and the leader is a childhood friend of Sean's. If he can track down this master bomber, Dermot McCann, he just might get himself reinstated to the RUC.
mepitts's review
4.0
Very good read. The protagonist is of a very popular type these days—complex and troubled—but in a way that feels organic and authentic. Love the insights about Northern Island, the rich historic context and the generally strong writing. Highly recommended.
clambook's review
5.0
Maybe the best of the Sean Duffy series (I've read four, with No. 5 on order). Writing that's vivid and spare, smart plotting and a highly engaging protagonist. I value McKinty's writing for many of the same reasons I'm partial to Alen Mattich's Marko della Torre - all of the above, set against a powerful backdrop, the Troubles for McKinty, the unraveling of Yugoslavia for Mattich. Both series are highly entertaining and nutritious as well.
theresab's review
4.0
This one has a few belly laughs, though I was disappointed that he saved the witch.
It's so refreshing to read something that normalises the experiences I grew up with, but I do wonder just how awful it mist sound to an outsider.
It's so refreshing to read something that normalises the experiences I grew up with, but I do wonder just how awful it mist sound to an outsider.
bookchickjlm's review
4.0
The Troubles Trilogy by Adrian McKinty is a series of detective novels set in the author’s hometown during the same time period as his childhood – the early 1980s in Northern Ireland. They follow the career and cases of Sean Duffy, a Catholic police detective working for the Protestant Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) in Carrickfergus (near Belfast), who is torn between the two warring factions. Each novel tells the story of a specific detective case, but the backdrop of the violence in Northern Ireland adds historical interest, complications, and increasing danger for Duffy. Well-written and fast paced, these books are the best of the police detective genre and I find myself extremely disappointed that the author decided to end this series as a trilogy!
In In the Morning I’ll Be Gone, Sean Duffy, demoted and ready to be run out of the force completely, gets a break. When his childhood friend, Dermot McCann, an IRA leader and an explosives expert, breaks out of prison M15 recruits Duffy to find him. If he can, they will clear things with the RUC, getting him his old job back. When he finds Dermot’s mother-in-law she promises Duffy a lead – but only if he can solve the mystery of her daughter’s death first. She’s convinced that what appears to be an accidental death is actually a locked-room murder, and she wants to know who killed her daughter. It seems like even Sean Duffy won’t be able to figure it out. And if he does will she lead him to Dermot? And will it be in time? And in the end what will it all mean? And of course, Margaret Thatcher is due in Brighton to give a speech at the Conservative Party Conference…
See more at www.watchingthewords.com
In In the Morning I’ll Be Gone, Sean Duffy, demoted and ready to be run out of the force completely, gets a break. When his childhood friend, Dermot McCann, an IRA leader and an explosives expert, breaks out of prison M15 recruits Duffy to find him. If he can, they will clear things with the RUC, getting him his old job back. When he finds Dermot’s mother-in-law she promises Duffy a lead – but only if he can solve the mystery of her daughter’s death first. She’s convinced that what appears to be an accidental death is actually a locked-room murder, and she wants to know who killed her daughter. It seems like even Sean Duffy won’t be able to figure it out. And if he does will she lead him to Dermot? And will it be in time? And in the end what will it all mean? And of course, Margaret Thatcher is due in Brighton to give a speech at the Conservative Party Conference…
See more at www.watchingthewords.com