Broken Harbour

By: Tana French

Narrated by: Hugh Lee

Length: 22 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

In Broken Harbour, a ghost estate outside Dublin - half-built, half-inhabited, half-abandoned - two children and their father are dead. The mother is on her way to intensive care. Scorcher Kennedy is given the case because he is the Murder squad's star detective. At first he and his rookie partner, Richie, think this is a simple one: Pat Spain was a casualty of the recession, so he killed his children, tried to kill his wife Jenny, and finished off with himself. But there are too many inexplicable details and the evidence is pointing in two directions at once. Scorcher's personal life is tugging for his attention. Seeing the case on the news has sent his sister Dina off the rails again, and she's resurrecting something that Scorcher thought he had tightly under control: what happened to their family, one summer at Broken Harbour, back when they were children. The neat compartments of his life are breaking down, and the sudden tangle of work and family is putting both at risk.

©2012 Tana French (P)2012 Hodder & Stoughton

Critic reviews

"I've been enthusiastically telling everyone who will listen to read Tana French. Her novels are poignant, compelling, beautifully written and wonderfully atmospheric. Just start reading the first page. You'll see what I mean." (Harlan Coben)

"Every holiday needs a good crime novel and French's skilful thrillers are tailor-made to terrify." ( The Guardian)

"The queen of Irish fiction ... This is a writer working at the height of her powers. As always with Tana French, you can expect humour, pathos and well-observed social commentary, but above all, a cracking story that keeps you guessing until the end." ( The Sunday Independant)

"Establishing atmosphere is one of French's many strengths. Gradually, an emotionally jolting story of love, obsession and madness is played out to incredible effect. Since her first novel, In The Woods, was larded with awards in 2007 French has garnered a huge legion of fans and they will be thrilled with this, her fourth and possibly best novel." ( Daily Mail)

"The first thing that Ms. French does so well in Faithful Place is to inhabit fully a scrappy, shrewd, privately heartbroken middle-aged man. The second is to capture the Mackey family's long-brewing resentments in a way that's utterly realistic on many levels. Sibling rivalries, class conflicts, old grudges, adolescent flirtations and memories of childhood violence are all deftly embedded in this novel, as is the richly idiomatic Dublinese." ( New York Times)

"Nothing short of a masterpiece. French's first three thrillers were all brilliant but this is by far her best and reaches a level of spine-chilling, gripping moreishness that will leave readers open-mouthed with admiration. If I encounter a better novel than Broken Harbour before French publishes her fifth, I'll eat a milliner's shop full of hats." ( Sophie Hannah, Daily Express)

Not her best..

Overall this book could have been great. Except it’s at least 4 hours too long!
The self-pitying ramblings would have been fine but the same things are said/thought over and over and over till you almost know them by heart. And really, NOT putting your really sick sister in a hospital just because you feel bad is just cruel!

Good but got less gripping towards the end

Loved the plot at the beginning and I was really enjoying the character development most of the way, but ultimately it didn't wow me - ending good but not great. Narrator was fabulous, and the authors writing is beautiful - together they created intense imagery. I felt connected to the characters and their struggles - they were multi dimensional and not too predictable. But unfortunately the ending just wasn't as convincing as i would have liked. I'm hard to please in this sense though and often say that about crime plots. Definitely worth the read and overall enjoyed.

Deeply satisfying in every way

I can scarcely believe that I put this aside after a few minutes of the narrators voice. I went back and gave it a second try as I love Tana French, and as I became immersed in the story, I came to love the narrator and the story he told, right to the last minute.

Superb story, beautifully written, perfectly read

I love Tana French's Dublin Squad series. This story shows a different view of murder detective "Scorcher" Kennedy and delves into his past. I really appreciate the way French shows characters, like Kennedy, as bit players in other books -- Kennedy's generally shown to be a flashy jerk -- but fleshes them out in their own story elsewhere. This was an absolutely gripping read, and Hugh Lee was the ideal choice to portray male and female characters with all sorts of accents and backgrounds. Highly recommended.

Gripping story and amazing performance

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I already have! This series in general is notable for the amazing character studies, and Lee's reading truly makes it come to life.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The narrator. Lee truly brought out all his humanity.

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

I haven't, but I have already started looking at other pieces he's done.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It terrified me, it captivated me, it saddened me deeply-- all in the best possible way.

Best thriller for ages

Where does Broken Harbour rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Probably the best mystery/thriller I have listened to.

What did you like best about this story?

The narrator was excellent - his characterisation impeccable. It was easy to believe you were listening to an extensive cast.

Which character – as performed by Hugh Lee – was your favorite?

DI Kennedy - Scorcher.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

A modern Irish tragedy.

Very good book

Amazing Performance!
Story- good, heavy- could be a few hours shorter without loosing its quality
New the answer from the beginning but the book isnt just about looking who is guilty and who isnt

I really liked this book!

What did you love best about Broken Harbour?

The story was most unusual and I could really picture the suburban environment and characters as the narrator was very consistent with his voices and characterisations.
I like all the loose ends to be tied up in a book, and in this case there were a few left 'hanging' however that has given me food for thought...so not such a bad thing.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Richie Curran - empathy empathy empathy...read it and find out why!

What does Hugh Lee bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His Irish accents were really spot on...I particularly liked the voice of the nosey neighbour.

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

Yes

Any additional comments?

Really enjoyable all round.

A mixture of realistic and unrealistic

As much as I like the flowery descriptions, sometimes they really slow down the story and turn the very realistic characters into a mockery of themselves. I kept thinking: WHO TALKS LIKE THAT? Whenever a character described what happened. I did like this story. It was the best of the four novels I had read. The others didn’t have much story going on. This did feel like a haunted house novel in a way. It was entertaining, butt I am not sure if the author’s work is entirely my cup of tea.

Over 20 hours - perfect for the pandemic!

This is an excellent book, I wouldn’t give it anything less than five stars, but if you’re looking for a book to fall asleep too, this might not be the perfect fit. The voice work is excellent, just a little too invigorating to ensure a solid night of sleep. I ended up looking at the ceiling many nights, waking up to stressed out voices...combined with Tana French’s moody scenes, this book guaranteed sleepy morning.