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Falling Glass  By  cover art

Falling Glass

By: Adrian McKinty
Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
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Editorial reviews

By now, Adrian McKinty’s reputation for solidly crafted Irish crime novels is well-established. Equally familiar is the context into which this latest narrative is dropped. McKinty spent his childhood in Belfast at the height of paramilitary conflict there, and Falling Glass centers around a minor character from his Michael Forsythe trilogy that is steeped in precisely those historical influences. Killian, a legendary IRA heavy, emerges from retirement for what appears to be an easy money job of rescuing some rich businessman’s kids from their drug-addled mother. Naturally, complications abound and Killian soon finds himself in fierce competition with an apparently invincible Russian hit man on a case that evolves into something much uglier than a straightforward kidnapping scheme.

Throughout this debacle, Killian’s Pavee senses of humor and realism never abandon him. He has the dry wit and keen improvisational reflexes of a man raised among the Irish gypsies, which gets him into and out of trouble in equal measure. McKinty has a discerning ear for Killian’s banter, colorfully supported by Gerard Doyle’s authentic brogue. Doyle has won numerous audio awards, but perhaps more importantly, has also been with McKinty every step of the way. As narrator for the entire Michael Forsythe trilogy, Doyle is not only aware of this new novel’s background, but has also already established a clear sense of voice for many of this novel’s chief characters.

Although Forsythe takes a back seat in this story, fans of the previous trilogy will be gratified by the return of Doyle’s vision for the voice work, and find a credible set of new developments among beloved characters. But this novel is also quite capable of standing alone, and listeners who are coming fresh to Adrian McKinty’s work will not have any trouble picking up the story’s thread, thanks in part to Gerard Doyle’s confident hold on the reins of the narration. McKinty and Doyle obviously have a good chemistry going, and the conclusion of Falling Glass satisfyingly leaves plenty of room for the development of a Killian trilogy. Megan Volpert

Publisher's summary

In this noir thriller by a New York Times best-selling and Edgar award-winning author, a retired IRA fixer takes a lucrative last job finding the ex-wife and daughters of a wealthy airline owner.

Richard Coulter is a man who has everything. His beautiful new wife is pregnant, his upstart airline is undercutting the competition and moving from strength to strength, his diversification into the casino business in Macau has been successful, and his fabulous Art Deco house on an Irish cliff top has just been featured in Architectural Digest.

But then, for some reason, his ex-wife Rachel doesn’t keep her side of the custody agreement and vanishes off the face of the earth with Richard’s two daughters. Richard hires Killian, a formidable ex-enforcer for the IRA, to track her down before Rachel, a recovering drug addict, harms herself or the girls.

As Killian follows Rachel’s trail, he begins to see that there is a lot more to this case than first meets the eye and that a 30-year-old secret is going to put all of them in terrible danger.

McKinty is at his continent-hopping, well-paced, evocative best in this thriller, moving between his native Ireland and distant cities within a skin-of-his-teeth timeframe.

©2011 Adrian McKinty (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about Falling Glass

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The End

Narrator was fine. Story was fine until the end. I listened to that several times to try and understand but I still don't like it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This was an incredible spiritual, wonderful, THRILLER.

This author is something very different and beyond very special. The thriller is itself captivating, but it is voiced in language and history and politics. And through it all, is the our discovery of the morays of the Pave, a barely understood and much maligned travelled Community that is being ironically killed off by Ireland's absence of poverty, (in the old fashioned sense of the word).
Like the Sean Duffy series, the narration is critical- indeed it completes the perfection of this novel.

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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic. Gets you right out of box

Keeps you captivated right fro
The start. You don’t want it to finish on bad note. In fact. You want a sequel like right now. You don’t want this story to end.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Great Narration enlivens Middling McKinty

Falling Glass is a serviceable mystery/thriller helped by a brilliant narration.
The major flaw in the novel is the inconsistent intelligence of the protagonist. When it suits the plot, Killian is an incompetent, failing to take even the most rudimentary care against the man following him. At other times, he is brilliant.
Along with the terrific performance of Gerald Doyle, the chief strength of Falling Glass is it’s setting among the Pavees or Irish Travelers. That sets it apart from other mysteries.
Doyle is a pleasure to listen to and is an excellent voice actor. I would listen to anything he narrates.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Get it.

Superb reader, great story, wonderful characters. McKinty comes through again and you've got to love Gerard Doyle.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Listen to the Sean Duffy novels instead

OK but no where near the caliber of the amazing and excellent Sean Duffy novels by this author. Reader is the same as on those books and is very engaging.

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Entertaining, Worth Listening, Not McKinty's Best

This is pretty typical Adrian McKinty and is worth listening to-- lots of Irish culture and interesting perspective on being an immigrant. Also lots of action and violence. For me, it wasn't as good as his books set during the "Troubles", but it was still good.

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Way better than the Forsyth series

I was not a fan of Michael Forsyth but I am glad this one off redeemed the author. I will read more of his work.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Terrific book, perfect reader

As always, McKinty's gritty story of Northern Irish mobsters gets the ideal voice in Gerard Doyle. I've both read and listened to McKinty's books, and there is no question that it is a richer experience when you get to hear it in Doyle's lilting Irish brogue. The story has lots of twists and turns and the main character is a worthy successor to Michael Forsythe of the earlier trilogy, who makes a couple of cameo appearances. Really fun to listen to.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I love reading whatever McKinty writes.

Where does Falling Glass rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's among the top. I love McKinty's characters and the language he uses. He makes the story so compelling.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I loved Kuillian's relationship with the younger sister. It shows such humanity. That is one of the reasons he is my favorite character.

Have you listened to any of Gerard Doyle’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes. This performance is just a great as the others I have listened to. I would listen to anything he does.

Any additional comments?

What is with that ending?!!!

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1 person found this helpful