Collusion

By: Stuart Neville

Narrated by: Gerard Doyle

Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

From the LA Times Book Award-winning author of The Ghosts of Belfast, Stuart Neville, comes the exciting sequel: Collusion

Collusion returns listeners to Belfast, where a new mystery haunts its underbelly. Jack Lennon is a Detective Inspector trying to track down his former lover, Marie McKenna, and their daughter, but his superiors tell him to back off. Bull O'Kane is a bitter old man who will stop at nothing for vengeance. The Traveller is an assassin without pity or remorse, who stalks Belfast, tying up loose ends. Forced into the center of it all is former IRA paramilitary Gerry Fegan, who must confront his past - and The Traveller - for the fight of his life.

The early reviews for Collusion are just as strong as those for The Ghosts of Belfast. And Gerard Doyle's narration complements Neville's taut, sinister, smart, and suspenseful story perfectly. Collusion is a feast for thriller fans.

©2010 Stuart Neville (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Irish author Neville follows his stunning debut with an even more powerful tale of revenge, violence, and redemption. Neville rides the perfect Celtic storm in an action-packed, cerebral thriller." ( Publishers Weekly)
"James Ellroy and Val McDermid were among admirers of Stuart Neville's corpse-filled debut [ The Ghosts of Belfast], and his follow-up Collusion is another mesmerising Belfast blood bath. The Traveller and O'Kane are memorably grotesque creations, and Neville's violent showdowns rival those in Jacobean revenge plays." ( Sunday Times)
" Collusion is a gripping thriller that transcends its genre through an unflinching examination of how 40 years of internecine strife has left unhealed scars that resonate in all levels of life in the North today." ( Irish Independent)

"As it lurches toward its bloody conclusion, the chapters of Collusion shrink, the world contracts, and, ultimately, all that remains is survival. The question Mr. Neville raises with singularly artful drama is whether survival is enough to keep one going." ( Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

"Doyle’s performance of Lennon’s grit and vulnerabilities gives credibility to both, and his portrayals of the brutal villains are downright terrifying." ( AudioFile)

BOOK 2 IN THE SERIES DO READ 1 FIRST- JUST SUPERB

Any additional comments?

Collusion starts where his first novel, the Ghosts of Belfast, leaves off, & book one is just incredible. The series is based in Ireland directly after the ongoing troubles with the IRA & the Loyalists.

A modern noir writer with an outlook as bleak as it gets. Every task, even when successful, is thankless. In this story, an Irish cop has to save his daughter from an amoral murderer who is stalking the girl and her mother. Not only is the cop up against a wily and savage killer, he is thwarted at every turn by the corruption of an Irish police bureaucracy that doesn't want him to upset any apple carts. This is terrific writing from a singular voice is very highly recommended.

Has the same wonderful and colorful characters that you grew to love and hate. Don't read this series out of order, big mistake. Neville is the kind of writer who starts out rather slowly, and you're reading along and all of a sudden, Wham! And you say to yourself, "Did I just read what I thought I read?" Lots of action and suspense. You'll love this series.

But do start with Book One.

Great book

Great series all 4 books in this series is well worth the money and time hard to put down

Good Book

A good book that is well narrated. I would recommend this to my friends and family. Thanks to Audible for having this in store.

Great Sequel

I loved Collusion and The Ghosts of Belfast. Pretty rough and gritty and read really well by the narrator. the only negative is the mouth noises in Collusion were quite bad at times. After listening to Ghosts of Belfast, I wonder if this is an Audible problem with editing, as the first book was narrated beautifully. Still it wasnt so bad i couldnt finish it. I hope Stuart Neville keeps writing more books like this.

Soooo good!!!

What can I say? I am a fan! I love the story, the writing and the narrator.

Not an American Ending...but close

What did you love best about Collusion?

It took me a little while to adjust to the reader and his accent. It's an Irish story after all. For readers/listeners who likes happy endings, be prepared. It's not an awfully sad ending but it is bittersweet.

Hard, violent, and Irish

This is the second book in Stuart Neville's Belfast Noir Jack Lennon series. The first book, The Ghosts of Belfast, really only featured Detective Inspector Lennon as a minor character - the main character was the anti-hero Gerry Fagan, a former IRA killer who was now haunted by the ghosts of his victims. Fagan was so crazy he scared everyone, and when "everyone" decided they wanted him dead, a bloodbath ensued.

Now, Lennon has settled into his new role as an underpaid detective on the force. His family has disowned him for becoming a "peeler" (cop), and he has few friends. Then he finds out that the "special branch" of the police has been concealing things, like the whereabouts of his ex (a Catholic girl who also suffered unpersoning for having hooked up with a cop) and his young daughter. Lennon does not hesitate to turn over rocks and derail his own career to find them.

Meanwhile, Gerry Fagan had escaped to New York where he wanted to just fade into the shadows, working as an undocumented laborer. Of course the boys back home aren't going to allow that. Bull O'Kane, his old nemesis, has put out a hit on him, and the hitman is a dangerous, almost unworldly assassin known only as the Traveller.

The Traveller stalks through this book like Anton Chighur, intrigued by Gerry Fagan, who seems like a man just as dangerous and fearsome as himself. The difference being that the Traveller is remorseless and conscienceless, while Fagan is trying to atone for his past sins.

Lennon's ex is caught up in all this - she was part of the feud that ignited the original bloodbath back in Belfast, so she's a loose end to be tied up.

Obviously, there is going to be a climactic showdown between Gerry Fagan and the Traveller. Jack Lennon is almost a secondary character in his own series.

The "Collusion" of the title is between all the parties in the still-violent and roiling world of modern Ireland, post-Troubles. Cops, criminals, unionists, IRA, everyone is now passing names and money to each other, selling each other out, all just trying to stay aboard the money train, while the few people who actually have principles - whether legal, like Detective Lennon, or amoral, like Gerry Fagan - are just more people in the way, putting their own loved ones in danger when they won't let the bodies lie. Neville's series is gritty and hardboiled, sour like whiskey, violent like Belfast, tough like the Irish.

Great follow up to Ghosts of Belfast

When deciding on which book book I wanted to spend my credit on I was choosing between Adrian Mcginty follow up to Cold Cold Ground or Stuart Nevilles Ghost of Belfast. I like the way Mcginty tells a story using time, place, and politics as the backdrop to really enhance the plot. However, I liked the story that Neville was telling.This book takes place in the aftermath of the Ghosts of Belfast where more than one corrupt faction does not want to let it go.Our anti hero,Fagan, was trying to get justice for the people he had killed. He was a young man literally haunted by past and one wee girl Ellen McKenna, helped him find some redemption. Now someone is after everyone involved in "the feud" and it is up to Fagan and Ellen's father DI Lennon to keep her safe. This book contained a lot of action and suspense along with heart. It is also beautifully narrated by Gerard Doyle. . Also if you like Nevile books you might also enjoy Adrian McGinty. They are both narrated by Gerard Doyle who has to be my favorite narrator.

Gripping from start to end

Great listen. Try to read in order author wrote. Character development is complex. Are there any truly good guys. Listen and determine for your self. B

Gripping Irish noir

In his second outing, Neville proves that his terrific debut novel, The Ghosts of Belfast, was no fluke. This is a well written, carefully constructed thriller full of dark and dangerous characters. The storytelling and pacing are near perfect. This is a book that stays with you after you've finished listening to it.

Gerard Doyle's brilliant narration adds immeasurable texture and richness to the reading experience. With his work on the two Neville books, together with his equally outstanding narration of Adrian McKinty's Michael Forsythe trilogy, Doyle has firmly established himself as the narrator of choice for Irish noir.