Cliff Walk

Liam Mulligan, Book 2

By: Bruce DeSilva

Narrated by: Jeff Woodman

Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Prostitution has been legal in Rhode Island for more than a decade; Liam Mulligan, an old-school investigative reporter at a dying Providence newspaper, suspects the governor has been taking payoffs to keep it that way. But this isn’t the only story making headlines… a child’s severed arm is discovered in a pile of garbage at a pig farm. Then the body of an internet pornographer is found sprawled on the rocks at the base of Newport’s famous Cliff Walk.

At first, the killings seem random, but as Mulligan keeps digging into the state’s thriving sex business, strange connections emerge. Promised free sex with hookers if he minds his own business - and a beating if he doesn’t - Mulligan enlists "Thanks-Dad", the newspaper publisher’s son, and "Attila the Nun", the state’s colorful Attorney General, in his quest for the truth. What Mulligan learns will lead him to question his beliefs about sexual morality, shake his tenuous religious faith, and leave him wondering who his real friends are.

Cliff Walk is at once a hard-boiled mystery and an exploration of sex and religion in the age of pornography. Written with the unique and powerful voice that won DeSilva an Edgar Award for Best First Novel, Cliff Walk lifts Mulligan into the pantheon of great suspense heroes and is a giant leap for the career of Bruce DeSilva.

©2012 Bruce DeSilva (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[A] sterling follow-up to 2010's Rogue Island, which won Edgar and Macavity awards for best first novel.... Look for this one to garner more award nominations." (Publishers Weekly)

Awful

Compared to previous novels, unnecessarily filthy. Worst audible book I have listened to. Waste of time and money

Sophomoric--hard to listen to

I bought this book due to the hype that Audible seemed to generate about it. I had never heard of the author (aside from the similarity of last name to a really GOOD author), but, decided to take a chance. I haven't finished it--and probably won't waste my time.

First of all, it is poorly narrated by an "Opie" sounding person, who does a terrible job of on and off attempting to disguise his heavy Boston accent. Since he is located in RI, the lack of "R"s where they should be, and the addition of "R"s where they shouldn't be ("sawr" for "saw", "idear" for "idea") is annoying, unprofessional and distracting. The story is an exercise in over the top stereotypes, at least what there is of a story. Crudely spoken characters call women "dames" or "dolls" (!!!)--right out of Sam Spade, just not appropriate here or well-written. The wishy-washy protagonist, Mulligan, sounds like a prepubescent, with all the accompanying fascination with women's bodies.

A disproportionate and unneeded amount of time is spent in strip shows, with redundant and detailed descriptions of all that the strippers and lap dancers do. No woman is described without him watching her walk, describing her butt, or describing her legs as "going all the way to the floor". Unnecessary sexual references include an anonymous guy bumping into Mulligan's date at a crowded club, and Mulligan was "sure" he was grabbing her breast. The ridiculous glib "Spadey" banter includes "I like them in all colors..." referring to "dames". He finds ways to continually mention, for no rational or story-related reason that "cleavage is in again this year".

In short, it is agonizing to listen to, and is a juvenile exercise in stereotypes, with very little, if any, intrigue or mystery. Don't waste your credit if you are into listening to professional narration of professional authors' works.

How different we all are!

I decided on this book because of the great reviews. Let me start by saying, if I had read the review that said, definately read the first book before this one, I might have. I wouldn't have bought this one tho, because I truly disliked this book. The reporter, Liam..I have no idea what to say. Trying so hard for Bogart's Phillip Marlow ..definately missing the mark. The man asks once and his bidding is done, women, men and dogs. Half of them don't even know him for goodness sake, even the dog! Found it irritating and I never finished this because of its lack of sensibilty and the constant sexual references. The story line was confusing because of all the other things that kept distracting me. I disliked the narrator immensly. Creating a different voice for the players is acceptable. Over acting those voices is not. And he did. I wouldn't listen to him again. It amazes me how everyone has such opposite ideas of a good book. Decide on this one for yourself. There are alot of reviews on this one. Read the good and the bad and figure out what is most important to you in the books you listen to. Don't get sucked into the hype. You might be wasting your time.