Dead I Well May Be

By: Adrian McKinty

Narrated by: Gerard Doyle

Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

"I didn't want to go to America, I didn't want to work for Darkey White. I had my reasons. But I went."

So admits Michael Forsythe, an illegal immigrant escaping the troubles in Belfast, Northern Ireland. But young Michael is strong and fearless and clever, just the fellow to be tapped by Darkey, a crime boss, to join a gang of Irish thugs struggling against the rising Dominican powers in Harlem and the Bronx. The time is pre-Giuliani New York, when crack rules the city, squatters live furtively in ruined buildings, and hundreds are murdered each month. Michael and his lads tumble through the streets, shaking down victims, drinking hard, and fighting for turf, block by bloody block.

Dodgy and observant, not to mention handy with a pistol, Michael is soon anointed by Darkey as his rising star. Meanwhile Michael has very inadvisably seduced Darkey's girl, Bridget, saucy, fickle, and irresistible. Michael worries that he's being followed, that his affair with Bridget will be revealed. He's right to be anxious; when Darkey discovers the affair, he plans a very hard fall for young Michael, a gambit devilish in its guile, murderous in its intent.

But Darkey fails to account for Michael's toughness and ingenuity or the possibility that he might wreak terrible vengeance upon those who would betray him.

A natural storyteller with a gift for dialogue, McKinty introduces to readers a stunning new noir voice, dark and stylish, mythic and violent, complete with an Irish lilt.

Don't miss these other noir thrillers in the Michael Forsythe series: The Dead Yard (Unabridged) and The Bloomsday Dead (Unabridged).

©2003 Adrian McKinty (P)2004 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"A profoundly satisfying book from a major new talent, and one of the best crime fiction debuts of the year." (Booklist)

Northern Ireland accent

was so distracting. Every sentence is ended with an up note or question tone. It is authentic but makes listening to the story hard and sounds monotone after a while. It might have been a good story but I'll never know.

Brilliant tale of revenge

Adrian McKinty is my favorite living author, period. This was my second or third reading of this, his first novel (how did I not review it before?) and every time I read it I hear more, more, more understated drama, more poetry, more wit, experiencing more of the ride inside Michael Forsythe's head. As a native New Yorker I can attest to the dead-on accuracy of his descriptions of the life and breath of my city. McKinty never relies on cheap suspense tricks at the expense of human truth, so his novels are full of the best kind of suspense, the kind that is fully character driven. Forsythe is a perfect anti-hero: intelligent enough to have grabbed at cultural smarts along with street smarts, he plays the nasty cards he's been dealt, and sets aside idealistic thoughts of being a better man to exact his revenge on those that have betrayed him. His grievous wounds are such that we can't help but cheer him on. He is, in many ways the flip side of RUC cop Sean Duffy, McKinty's most famous character. One of my favorite books, ever, worth reading just for the cracking dialogue and gorgeous writing. Brilliant.

Great listening, not a typical "gang" novel

If you could sum up Dead I Well May Be in three words, what would they be?

Educated writing and character development. Surprisingly good story, a thug yes but a thug with insights. Well written and well read. Not a wimpy story or winey. Good insights into the darker side of being a goon.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Dead I Well May Be?

There were a lot of memorable moments, the main character goes from being a total thug to being concerned with others and is appreciative in his own way. The journey through Mexico was very surprising and revealing.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Almost did this in one sitting as I was driving across country and needed something engaging to keep me going. Was very pleased with this book and drove around a few blocks more than once to finish a "session", so to speak.

I chose this title by mistake

I have read and enjoyed Adrian McKinty’s detective series and thought this was book 1 of a new one. WRONG! I soon learned this was a first person narrative of the life of a young, Irish gangster and murderer. What I didn’t bargain for was how good McKinty’s writing was. Every time I swore I was done, he would draw me back in. Gerard Doyle also played his part in the seduction well. But if there is a part 2, Michael Forsythe will have to go on without this listener. I don’t wish to see the world through this lens again.

Not his best

I liked the Sean Duffy series very much and this bears some resemblance to it. But it pretty much devolves into a travelogue of New York City and then into a story about a psychopath. Lots of violence but without purpose and unlikely situations that are exaggerated even more. Sean Duffy at least didn’t follow a character who just routinely kills people and then moves on. Won’t be reading the rest of this series. Violence is fine but only when it makes sense with the story, not when it is the story
Great reading though.

meanders pointless sometimes

dark, sometimes funny, mostly pointless. but i still listened to the whole book. enjoyable accent

unrealistic but entertaining

The main character, Michael, is a strange combination of low-life criminal and intellectual. The author pulls this off pretty well. There is a lot of suspense that kept me listening in spite of the violence and gore, which I don't care for. Character development is generally lacking except for the main character. This is a story about men - the only women in the story have minor roles and serve only to cause trouble for Michael.

The narration is excellent.

Great characters, great story

The story takes surprising twists and turns and the protagonist will delight you with his intelligence and wit. I can't wait to read/listen to the next book in the series!

I like Mckinty's writing style

My third book by Adrian McKinty. Sometimes I feel like McKinty is the best writer no one has heard of but he gets quite a few reviews written on his books so some know about him. I jsut really like his writing style. In this book, the protaganist is 19 years old, kicked out of the British army, goes home to Northern Ireland, gets into trouble and needs to leave for awhile so goes to America and New York City. There he can't find a normal job so goes to workk for an Irish crime boss and then his situation goes from bad to worse. In the end the Irish maxim, "Don't get mad, get even", come into play and becomes the dominant theme of the book.

Wow, this one was great!

I loved this. The story, the narrator, everything was excellent. Highly recommended.