Broken Harbor

A Novel

By: Tana French

Narrated by: Stephen Hogan

Length: 19 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

From Tana French, author of the forthcoming novel The Searcher, a New York Times best-selling novel that “proves anew that [Tana French] is one of the most talented crime writers alive” (The Washington Post).

“Required reading for anyone who appreciates tough, unflinching intelligence and ingenious plotting.” (The New York Times)

Mick “Scorcherˮ Kennedy is the star of the Dublin Murder Squad. He plays by the books and plays hard, and thatʼs how the biggest case of the year ends up in his hands.

On one of the half-abandoned "luxury" developments that litter Ireland, Patrick Spain and his two young children have been murdered. His wife, Jenny, is in intensive care. At first, Scorcher thinks itʼs going to be an easy solve, but too many small things can't be explained: the half dozen baby monitors pointed at holes smashed in the Spains' walls, the files erased from the familyʼs computer, the story Jenny told her sister about a shadowy intruder slipping past the house's locks. And this neighborhood - once called Broken Harbor - holds memories for Scorcher and his troubled sister, Dina: childhood memories that Scorcher thought he had tightly under control.

©2012 Tana French (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“French ...[is] drawn not just to the who but also to the why - those bigger mysteries about the human weaknesses that drive somebody to such inhuman brutality. What really gives Broken Harbor its nerve-rattling force is her exploration of events leading up to the murders, rendered just as vividly as the detectives’ scramble to solve them.” [Entertainment Weekly (A- rating)]

“Broken Harbour is a novel, of course, but it's also a headline...it's good to see contemporary literature engaging a crisis that has had such an impact on the lives of so many. This is, in fact, what good literature does. It makes us look at our world and perhaps forces us to see what we have chosen to ignore.” (Los Angeles Times)

“Ms. French creates haunting, damaged characters who have been hit hard by some cataclysm...This may sound like a routine police procedural. But like Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, this summer’s other dagger-sharp display of mind games, Broken Harbor is something more... she has irresistibly sly ways of toying with readers’ expectations.” (Janet Maslin, The New York Times)

Mental Illness in layered tales

Just dig in…
This author will open you up to chaos and make you think differently

Broken Harbor

As always, Ms. French draws me in to almost the exclusion of everything else I’m doing. This was a sad story and it felt sad all the way through. I guess the combination of a family being killed, the life of the main character and his responsibilities to his family, and finally the disappointment with his trainee were so well defined it was hard to find many happy spots. Her ability to draw one into the lives of her characters is astounding. That he finally gave in to the deception that he had managed to avoid during his entire career was heartbreaking. It does speak to the dilemma of that job and the difficulty those people face constantly. Where does one believe it okay to cross the line? Does one listen to the gut and still stick to the rules even though he knows it’s wrong regardless of what the evidence shows?
Stephen Hogan did a wonderful job with the narration. I could feel the emotion of the characters. It continues to fascinate me how well so many of these narrators can transition from one character to another. I may notice at the beginning when I’m meeting them for the first time, but it does not take long before I reach the point that I don’t even realize that just one person is reading. I guess that comes of an incredibly well-written story and the talent of these actors.
As I said before, for me, this was a sad story, and certainly did not have a fairytale ending. But it is so realistic that I feel Ms. French has somehow infiltrated the lives of Dublin detectives and is able to relay their lives through her writing. Always a good story.

Just when it seems too long

I feel like Ms. French’s mysteries are about one long chapter too long. She is a tad repetitive in her stories. But somewhere in those last three long chapters my understanding of human nature, life or maybe just a literary parallels brings a very satisfying end to the story

Intense

Tana French does it again! Scorcher is a guy you want to hate but makes loads of sense on why he does the thing he does. This story was tragic and wild and still left me wondering. All in all I couldn’t stop listening.

Broken Harbor and Broken Ending

I've listened to other books from this series and I agree with other reviews that the ends are not always satisfying in these books. BUT that said the descriptions and stories are very intriguing.

This book will wreck you

This book will snag your mind and pull you under it’s spell. Make sure you’re in a good place, psychologically, when you start this one…you won’t be at the end.

Great Narration Good Story

I love listening to the narrator's voice. The story was generally engaging. A bit sad.

Murder Mystery as Literature.

Outstanding narration with a complex story line that contrasts how individual interpretation of the facts leads to different moral truths. Poignant story for today's economic uncertainty and how life can unravel so quickly.

Love this except...

The narrator did the sisters voice too loud. I can see the tone being annoying, but I didn’t want to have to change the volume every time she spoke.

It’s hard to do good narration! This was excellent except for that!

good but not my favorite

I was pretty sure this wouldn't be my favorite Tana French and I was correct although this is only my third read (watched into the woods). I love Tanas writing and the characters but I struggled at the beginning and the very end actually felt a little rushed to me. I thought maybe there would be surprising twist at the end but there wasn't really and I prefer a nice wrapped up ending which there was kind of but not completely. i also found the premise of the murder a little far fetched, but the details were great! still a very good story and worth the read/listen. for now the likeness is my favorite and I'll see about the next Tana book!